Home New Zealand – August 01, 2019

54 HOME NEW ZEALAND

LeftandoppositeThesteelform

ofMitchell’sanechoicchamber.

BelowleftPaperlistsunfold

onthefloorinthelibraryat

PalazzinaCanonica.

BelowThelandingatthetop

ofthestairsinside the Palazzina

Canonica.

real– orphysical– andpoetic.Forinstance,when

I workwithfragrance,I’mthinkingabouthowobjects

penetratethebodythroughthenose.Whenwe

experiencesmellwe’realsoencounteringobjects

• havinganexperiencewitha molecularform– and
  I’minterestedinhowthesemolecularsculpturesmight
  becomeholographicshapesinsidethebrain.I also
  thinktheunseenoftenhasa politicalweight; it has
  a socialdimension,ora socialquality.

Comparedtootherrecentprojects,I reallynoticed

a subtlepoliticaldimensioninPosthoc. Alotof

reviewershavereadthisasecologicalpolitics.But

itfeltwidertome– somethingpoeticaboutlossand

obsolescence,whichseemedrelevantina citylike

Venice,whichissolayeredandancient,butalso

threatenedbyclimatechangeina veryrealway.

I wasreallyinterestedinthinkingaboutboththe

physicalandphilosophicalweightofallthesegone

“things”,andthere’scertainlyanecologicaldimension

tothis.Veniceisa slowlyvanishingplace;it’sbeing

losttothelagoon,sointhiswayit wastheperfect

contextforPosthoc. Butthelistsalsoincludethings

likecureddiseasesandobsoletescientifictheories,so

they’re not reproaches against humanity’s impact on

theplanet– theworkisn’ta morallesson.They’retoo

variedandcomplextobeassignedtoa singularcause.

Andthey’realsobeingbroadcastfromquitetoxic,fake

trees.But,thelistsdotestifytoa growinglackoffaith

inthenotionof‘progress’– thehistory of which looks

morelikea historyofobsolescence.

Posthoc isa kindofinvasion– maybeevena

colonisation– ofVenice.You’vegotthemainvenue

atPalazzinaCanonica,intheheartofBiennale

territory,neartheGiardini.Butyourcreepy‘pine

tree’celltowersaredottedthroughoutthecity.Talk

methroughthelocationchoices.

Withthetrees,I wasthinkinga lotaboutthe

GiardinidellaBiennale– oneoftheBiennale’smain

venues– whichisa garden.Agardenisa kindof

fiction;it’snotstrictlynature.Ofcourse,naturegrows

there,butit’sa fabricatedenvironment.TheGiardini

inVeniceisalsointerestingforitspoliticallevelof

fabrication.Withitsnationalpavilionsforart,it’sa

geopoliticalmapof20th-centuryculturalpoliticsand

diplomacy.NewZealanddoesn’thavea pavilionthere;

wearea kindofabsence.Thatgotmethinkingabout

whata hiddenpavilionintheGiardinicould look like:

it would be a tree, it would mimic nature.