CoCA - Centre of Contemporary Art

It’s been a really exciting month at CoCA installing and opening Vertigo Sea by John Akomfrah and Tirohanga by Bridget Reweti.  The scale of the install for Vertigo Sea was one of the most ambitious gallery change overs I have been involved in; we went from the bright open gallery space of Precarious Balance on 8 May, to the immersive, darkened cinematic experience of Vertigo Sea by 19 May. This remarkable change-over was made possible by a group of Christchurch businesses getting behind CoCA, as well as the skill of our remarkable technicians James Oram and Mike Boulden.

The first step to darkening the Mair Gallery required the construction of a temporary wall across the width of the gallery. The 4 x 13m structure was designed by Lewis Bradford Engineers. Vertec competed concrete scanning to ensure Leighs Construction didn’t hit any power or support cables as they installed the prefabricated wall sections supplied by Carters using scaffolding supplied by Access Solutions. This structure went up in four days, overseen by Craig from Leighs who did a phenomenal job to deliver the wall ahead of schedule.

At the same time, Signtech was hard at work blacking out the skylights. Signtech’s Peter Inder – who has contributed to so many art works in Christchurch he deserves an award – designed a special access platform for CoCA to allow the installation and de-installation of the vinyl between the pyramids on the roof. Applying the adhesive to the skylights at the end of the building required a knuckle boom, supplied by Porter Access.

Once the wall was underway, we had a team from Competitive Painters in to transform the gallery from white to Resene Barista. This colour was selected by John Akomfrah’s production team to help absorb the light given off by the three high spec Panasonic projectors which Strawberry Sound helped us source.  Competitive Painters were remarkably efficient, completing the main gallery in less than two days, and they went above and beyond to come back and complete an extra section of wall outside of their original scope to ensure the light quality in the gallery was optimal.

Technicians James and Mike oversaw the installation of the work, including designing and building the screens, installing the surround sound system from B & W Sound, and wiring everything into the Hyperdeck; a custom built player for the work which travelled to CoCA from Lission Gallery in the UK. Finally, The Flooring Centre installed the 190m2 of carpet tiles they’ve loaned us for this exhibition, and Vision Systems installed the emergency exit lighting.

David Lawson, of Smoking Dogs Films, visited for the final three days of installation to ensure that the audio and visual aspects of the film were finely tuned. He also gave a wonderful, insightful talk to CoCA’s Volunteer Gallery Assistants, so that they can engage with our audiences throughout the exhibition about the work.

It was an amazing experience to work with so many people to deliver this exhibition. When you enter Vertigo Sea, the film takes over; the sublime, beautiful imagery fills your vision and the soundscape washes over you. As they should, all the alterations to the gallery become invisible because they have been done so well. CoCA extends its gratitude to all of the contractors and sponsors who came on board, who found solutions, answered questions and delivered to a really tight deadline in good humour. It is wonderful to have the backing of local business as CoCA starts this new chapter; we couldn’t do it without them.

-          Amelia Hitchcock, Curator