This weeks blog is inspired by London based artist Dryden Goodwin. Dryden is a British artist whose works often encompass intricate drawings in combination with photography and live action video. He creates films, gallery installations, projects in public space, etchings, works on-line and soundtracks. His works practise reflects of the ethical dimensions of looking at the world and beyond. Dryden’s work Breathe is currently being showcased in our exhibition Precarious Nature here at Toi Moroki Centre of Contemporary Art .

Dryden Goodwin’s Breathe is an animation of over 1,300 pencil drawings of his five year old son, inhaling and exhaling. The boy progresses through fluctuating breathing patterns, at some moments regular, and at others more laboured as he stares out from the frame. Through emphasising the physicality of the act of breathing it the work draws attention to the vulnerability of children, whose developing respiratory systems are is most at risk from pollution, and who will live with the long term physical and environmental effects of our current lifestyles.

This work is taking a critical stance on air pollution and air quality, particularly in London, but it also has significance for us here in Ōtautahi. London, a much larger and condensed city, is the one of the most polluted cities in Europe, with it costing the population approximately £2 billion annually. The air pollution in London is so uncontrollable that it has been shown to cause more premature deaths than both smoking and traffic incidents combined. 

The guideline for pm10 in Ōtautahi had been exceeded an average of thirty times a last year, whilst the carbon monoxide guideline is often exceeded ten times a year. Similarly to Christchurch, London has consistently exceeded its yearly limits of PM10 emissions and nitrogen dioxide. An article released 6 days into 2017 reported that London has already breached its annual air pollution limit for the year, which highlights how toxic the air pollution is in the highly condensed city. 

Image Source:  Putney High Street on 3 January 2017

Air pollution in Ōtautahi (Christchurch) is the worst in Aotearoa New Zealand, with majority of it coming from domestic use of wood and coal burning for heating. The impacts of air pollution are not only damaging on the environment, but also people’s well-being and health - in particular, children. Clean air is made up of approximately 78% Nitrogen, 20% Oxygen, .9% Argon and .03% carbon dioxide. When the air is polluted, the levels of toxins increase, which increase the likelihood of morbidity and mortality. Pm10, also known as particulate matter, is a particle that comes in a variety of sizes and has the ability to travel deep into your lung. People in areas less socioeconomically advantaged are more likely to live next to hazardous sites in comparison to those in areas that are socioeconomically advantaged - this is often referred to as environmental racism.

Environmental racism is a type of discrimination that is closely tied to residential segregation, where people who are of low-income or minority communities are more likely to live or be forced to live in areas that are in close proximity to hazardous sites and toxic waste due to race, class and gender. These areas have much higher levels of air pollution, with people, particularly children having ongoing health implications because of it. As mentioned, children and infants are much more vulnerable to the risks of morbidity due to air pollution. The effects that high levels of air pollution can have on children are often long lasting, and can decrease the quality and length of a persons life. The risks associated with air pollution include the increased likelihood of strokes, asthma, cancer, wheezing, bronchitis, reduced lung development, high blood pressure, arteriosclerosis and heart attacks.

Above is a map highlighting the geographic distribution of PM2.5 air pollution levels at a global scale. The full sized interactive map can be found here where you can zoom into countries or cities you are curious about. It also allows you to see where the dirtiest power plants are situated. Along with this, it gives you a more in depth explanation of what Particular Matter is (PM) and the harmful effects it can have on peoples health and wellbeing. 

Some Ōtautahi Christchurch based not-for-profit organizations we are working with include 350.org and Generation Zero. 350 Christchurch are a local group of volunteers committed to taking action on climate change. Generation Zero is a nationwide movement of young New Zealanders working together to get our country on the path towards a zero carbon future.

350.org focuses on the wider social and economic changes we now urgently need to tackle climate disruption. They are a global grassroots climate movement that can hold our leaders accountable to the realities of science and the principles of justice. Their core goals include hitting the 90% renewable energy by 2025, cute green house emissions, improve insulation levels and many others. Generation Zero is a nationwide movement of young New Zealanders working together to get our country on the path towards a zero carbon future. They campaign for smarter transport and urban planning, and independence from fossil fuels. Both organizations have a central goal of New Zealand becoming less or completely independent from fossil fuels as it is a major factor in carbon emissions and our high levels of air pollution. You can support them by going to their website and signing petitions, donating or volunteering

This week on the blog we have Christchurch based artist Zina Swanson. Zina is  known for investigating and interrogating the relationship between humans, their surrounding environments and the natural world. Her work Plants from the sale table is exhibited in Precarious Nature. The specimens in Plants from the sale table have been sourced from the ‘reduced to clear’ stands in large DIY stores around Ōtautahi Christchurch.

A few generations ago, we would have swapped cuttings from our back gardens to propagate new plants, and faithfully stored seeds from each crop for the next rotation. It was survival to grow your own food. But times have changed, especially for city dwellers. Rental properties may not allow gardening, our urban populations are more dense and land is scarce. Resources to create gardens and the knowledge of how to do so have been restricted and monetised. Now, if we are lucky enough to be able to afford both the time and cash resources to garden, more often than not, we buy good soil from plastic bags and garden in pots with little thought to permaculture that might sustain us better.

In saying that, there have been efforts to create a cultural shift to get us ‘back to basics’ with gardening of late. Timely, as global politics sit precariously and so much of our food is now imported. New World supermarket’s ‘Little Garden’ promotion, for example, where one receives a tiny, biodegradable pot, dehydrated soil and seeds to start off your vegetable garden have been a great hit. A mere $40 worth of groceries gets you one pot and the scheme has been lauded as a positive move away from their previous, plastic collectables. However, the campaign is only accessible to a certain class, and the wait time on maturation for many of these seeds is 60-90 days; if they sprout at all. Gardening is a commitment. It remains to be seen if this campaign will inspire a future generation of gardeners so used to instant satisfaction. 

It’s not all bad however - There are lots of movements to help people get back in touch with plants and the land.

Organisations such as the Canterbury Community Gardens Association are able to direct you to the closest community garden in your area. In Canterbury alone there are almost 30 community gardens for you to get involved in. They envision to  “Strengthen and nurture existing community gardens, and support new initiatives, in order to build strong communities and encourage these by respecting and fostering human and environmental diversity.” 

Another organisation that aims to Employ, Educate and Regenerate is Trees for Canterbury. They are strongly linked to the local community, providing environmental education, providing native plants and undertaking planting’s with community organisations and schools throughout Canterbury. Trees For Canterbury uses recycled materials -  this often includes the use of “old greenhouses, hessian pretending to be shade cloth – all features of a shoestring budget in combination with a recycling ethic.” To get involved or donate to the non-for-profit organisation you can click here to view their website or like their Facebook page here. 

As well as supporting these local initiatives, there are also an abundance of farmers markets during the weekend in Canterbury which allow you to buy local and to support local businesses. These include the Christchurch Farmers Market, Lyttelton Farmers Market and the Opawa Farmers Market.

Above we have a video that gives tips on how to maintain and sustain an urban vegetable garden. This includes information on fertilizer, planting your seeds or plants and taking care of your garden in an urban environment. 

This week we take inspiration from the work of artist Hayden Fowler. Born in Te Awamutu, New Zealand and now currently based in Sydney, Fowler’s work explores humanity’s relationship with the natural world and the broader historical and cultural concepts that influence this engagement. He often touches on themes involving desire, freedom, loss and ‘the romantic hope for a return to nature’. His work New World Order, 2013, is currently exhibited in Precarious Nature.

In New World Order, a series of sliding vignettes show exotic, peculiar birds perched in grey woodland. Preening and calling, these are rare heritage breed chickens, their unusual plumages markedly different to the domestic fowl. The scene is bleak, inducing and engaging with Solastalgia, a term coined by the philosopher Glenn Albrecht, which describes the sense of helplessness and distress induced by the loss of our environment, natural ecosystems and biodiversity. This work also draws on contemporary discussions around ecological destruction, genetic modification and the alienation of an increasingly urban society from the natural environment. These themes inspire this week’s blog. 

Our Gallery Coordinator, Jennifer Shields was lucky enough to attend Hayden’s talk here at CoCA. Below is a short text she has written about the work.

“Hayden Fowler’s New World Order is so incredibly immersive and realistic that it was not until his artist talk late last year that I realised it was a set, painstakingly crafted in his Sydney studio. At the same time, however, the landscape depicted seems so alien that I found myself, when watching the work beforehand, wondering where the hell on earth it could possibly have been filmed. Everything is incredibly grey and hazy, and the chickens so varied and obviously pedigree that I thought of some farm or reserve in the days immediately after a forest fire.”

Solastalgia: a sense of helplessness and distress induced by the loss of our environment, natural ecosystems and biodiversity

Anne Finegan’s text Solastalgia and its Cure delves deeper into the meaning of Solastalgia. In it, she states, “The cure for solastalgia lies in reconnecting or recreating the community of the commons - cultural and natural resources of the land, water air etc.”  The full text is definitely worth a read can be found here.

The emergence of Solastalgia is linked to the Anthropocene; a a new epoch in earth’s geological timeline. The Anthropocene refers to a phase in the earth lifecycle where all aspects of the earth’s systems are greatly influenced by human induced activity. Above is a video which explains how we have got to this stage in the earth lifecycle and why. This video touches on neoliberalism, industrialised capitalism and climate change. 

Image Source

In Aotearoa, we have lost 42 percent of our terrestrial birds since human settlement 700 years ago; 57 species have gone extinct (read more here). The strange birds in Fowler’s work are heritage breed chickens, domesticated birds which have travelled with humans around the world. Their bizarre appearances in the landscape of his work make them seem alien, imaginary; the landscape could be a future where naturally occurring evolution doesn’t exist, and only breeds selected by humans continue. Maybe these breeds we create will outlast us. 

With the continuing process of mass industrialisation and intensive land clearing, there is still pressure on the survival of our remaining native birds. Changes in habitat, climate change, draining and clearing of wetlands for agriculture, and predation by possums, stoats and rats all threaten vulnerable populations.  

Forest and Bird is a long standing non-for-profit organisation here in Aotearoa, they have been around since 1923 and have helped establish protection for a third of our country’s land in parks and reserves, put an end to logging of our native forests and helped bring species such as the kakapo and kokako back from the brink of extinction. To support the work they do for our native birds and natural environment you can donate to their organisation here or like them on Facebook to get updates of events they are holding. Or if you would rather get involved with the great work they are doing around the country, you can sign up to be a volunteer here. 

Climate change will and is having a large impact on the livelihood and survival rates or our native birds. Forest & Bird are currently holding events surrounding the Paris Agreement in lieu of the incoming Climate Change Minister - Paula Bennet. Forest & Bird have stated, “Paula Bennett, the incoming climate change minister, has a big challenge to match the ambition of the Paris Agreement by increasing New Zealand’s efforts to prevent climate disruption”. You can find out more about it here and can also check out their upcoming events here. 

This weeks blog is inspired by artist Taloi Havini. Taloi is of the Nakas clan, Hakö People. She was born in 1981 Arawa, Autonomous Region of Bougainville and emigrated to Australia in 1990. She lives and works in Melbourne, Sydney and Buka. As an interdisciplinary artist, her practice centres on the deconstruction of the politics of location, and the intergenerational transmission of Indigenous Knowledge Systems. Her triptych Sami and the Panguna Mine
from the Blood Generation series is currently exhibited in Precarious Nature.

In her research, Taloi engages with living cultural practitioners and Oceanian material collections and archives. She often responds to these experiences and sites of investigation with experimental ceramic installations, print, photographic and video, making both solo and collaborative works. The Blood Generation are the children born into and following the civil war over land in Taloi’s native Bourgainville. Buka youth are documented in their landscape, by Taloi and photographer Stuart Miller, including in the devastated area around the Panguna mine. The series depicts the ravages of open-cut mining, as well as the deep connection to land that her people have; their cultural resilience in the face of colonisation and government-sanctioned forced removal from their ancestral homelands. 

The triptych Sami and the Panguna Mine revisits the time when Sami’s aunties and other women landowners in Bougainville stood against mining on their land. Women leaders are still fighting to be heard on the unresolved issues of social, economic and environmental impacts of reopening the mine. They reject agreements which saddle them to the original PNG 1988 Mining Act, in which there is no acknowledgement of women landowners

Colonisation and Capitalism have played a hefty role in the exploitation of indigenous land over the past 500 years up until today. Talal Asad (1991) states, “It tells of European imperial dominance not as a temporary repression of subject populations, but as an irrevocable process of transmutation, in which old desires and ways of life were destroyed and new ones took their place” (p.314). 

The University of Otago published Maori and Mining in 2013; a document which looks at the way “Māori have responded to the issue of mining in three main ways: as an economic opportunity, provided that there are environmental safeguards; as a discussion around Treaty rights; or as an environmental issue requiring strong opposition in order to carry out traditional and enduring relationships with Papatūānuku, Tangaroa and future generations.” - Page 4. 

They assert that the issues facing Māori are the issues facing all Indigenous peoples globally.

Close to home: Oil exploration

Earlier this year an article was released announcing that a large area off the coast of Canterbury as well as large coastal areas surrounding the North Island will be offered for oil and gas exploration. The image above shows some of the proposed sites. The risk of oil and gas exploration is tremendous, not only does it threaten our natural environments and coastlines, it places immense pressure on sea life and marine environments. It also threatens traditional food gathering sites and areas of spiritual significance to mana whenua.  

A local not-for-profit organisation called Oil Free Otautahi is fighting back against government pressures to engage in deep sea oil drilling around our coast. Oil Free Otautahi is a Christchurch based organisation dedicated to stopping dangerous deep sea oil drilling in New Zealand waters. They have been around since 2011, organising events such as the Christchurch version of Hands Across the Sand. They often hold protests, workshops, meetings, as well as educating people about the dangers of oil drilling not only in Aotearoa but at a global scale. For more information about their organisation and how you can join the cause, you can visit their Facebook page here. 

Drilling for oil, gas and minerals is a global issue. A more recent, well known example of this happening is the North Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). The North Dakota Access Pipeline starts in North Dakota and travels south-east towards Iowa. The pipeline runs through an ancient burial ground, which is sacred to the Sioux as it holds ancestral ties. Protests have been occurring around the country, with almost daily protests on the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. Not only does this pipeline run through ancient burial sites, it also poses environmental risks such as the poisoning of water, soil and air. In an article posted 12th December 2016, it was reported that 1760,000 gallons of crude oil had leaked into a creek not far from the protest grounds. For more information on what is happening in North Dakota and how you can help you can check out Rezpect our Water who have an abundance of information and petitions you can sign. 

Below is a video that was posted in this article here, of a Native American women (Anishinaabe), Winona LaDuke discussing why we need to move on from Fossil Fuels, the Sandpiper Pipeline and why some tribes have been forced into cooperating and depending on the fossil fuel industry for economic stability. 

This week’s blog is inspired by Glacial Creep - Haupapa Tasman Glacier (2016) (stills above courtesy the artist), by Tim Knowles - a U.K based artist living and working between London and Bristol. His works seek to understand the natural systems of the earth through drawing and visual media.  Tim’s work allows the audience to critically engage with the earths natural systems and understand how fragile it is to changes from external forces. For Precarious Nature, Tim created a new work called Glacial Creep, which captured his traverse down the Haupapa - Tasman Glacier through thousands of images taken on a custom made digital pinhole camera. 

Glaciers are an important component in the global ecosystem,  intrinsically linked with the water cycle. They are formed by layers of snow, which are compressed over thousands of years and driven downward under their own weight. Their behaviour influences ocean- atmosphere circulation, sea level, landscape, and climate. In recent years, these rivers of ice have become a key signifier for anthropogenic climate change; glaciers have been documented in rapid retreat worldwide. Glaciers store about 75% of the world’s fresh water, and cover about 10% of the land. If all land ice melted, sea levels would rise approximately 70 meters (230 feet) worldwide.

New Zealand’s glaciers are no exception to the global trend. In the video above, generated by Victoria university, a time lapse shows the retreat of Te Moeka o Tuawe/Fox Glacier in the span of one year from January 2014 to January 2015. The Haupapa Tasman Glacier which Tim Knowles traversed has lost 6km length and approximately 200 metres in height in the past 25 years. Fluctuations in the length of our glaciers have been linked to El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), which is a naturally occurring process that alters hemispheric ocean-atmosphere temperatures and patterns. Although this is a significant factor, the overall reduction in length is attributed to anthropogenic climate change in the twentieth and twenty first century. 

The images are above are taken in 2008 (first) and 2012 (second) of the Kā Roimata o Hine Hukatere/Franz Josef Glacier in Aotearoa. This image is from this article released in 2012 outlining the rapid retreat of one of the most significant glaciers in our country. The image below shows the differing levels of retreat in the past 10 years of the Te Moeka o Tuawe/Fox Glacier from 2005 to 2015. 

Ice caps and glaciers are melting around the world. On Tuesday 13th December 2016 the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) released a report highlighting that “unprecedented warming air temperature in 2016 over the Arctic contributed to a record-breaking delay in the fall sea ice freeze-up, leading to extensive melting of Greenland ice sheet and land-based snow cover.” This is exceptionally frightening as the older and thicker ice in the Arctic is melting at a much more rapid pace than younger ice. Older ice is no longer living out its expected life span of up to nine years. For more information and visual resources on this recent report you can check out the media releases here and here.

Last week Greening the Rubble installed planters outside CoCA and LUX cafe. Greening the Rubble (GtR) is a charitable trust that grew after the Canterbury earthquakes. GtR creates and maintains temporary public parks on cleared sites in Christchurch. Each garden contributes to the rejuvenation of our city and is a positive, green sign of recovery! They have many other projects propped around the city including, Xeriscape, Kua Hua Ake Te Ao and Herbal Dispensary.

The wicking planters are made from recycled timber and are planted with endemic native species found on Banks peninsula and the Canterbury plains. We designed the planters to reference the benches inside Lux cafe mirroring the vertical curves. Wicking planters are self contained with built in reservoirs that supply water from the bottom up - meaning that you only need to water infrequently. Water is drawn upwards from the reservoir via natural soil osmosis or through the roots of plants in the bed.

This week on the blog we consider one of the issues Melissa Macleod’s work addresses: Sea level change. Melissa is a Christchurch based artist living in New Brighton - a suburb that has been substantially effected by rising sea levels. Her recent works Drill and Weight examine these issues surrounding the Eastern Christchurch community where she lives, and the psychological impact of impending waters. 

Drill, relocates a snapshot of what is practised at South New Brighton School; students completing an emergency drill. This is a very necessary and basic response to the recent earthquakes and potential of tsunami. Where as Weight, explores a further layer in connection with the sea and coastal existence. Determined by capturing tidal water that overflows the gutters, Weight responds to the effects of lowered land (post earthquakes) and increasing sea levels.

Melissa Macleod and Habitat for Humanity are giving a talk tomorrow, 10 December, at CoCA, 2pm - Free. 

The video above gives an idea of what coastal areas around the globe will look like in the case of all of the Arctic and Antarctic ice sheets melting. Radio New Zealand also has an article and podcast, which highlights the risk of rising sea levels in Kiribati and Tuvalu in the Pacific where the United Nations warns could be completely submerged within decades. 

Sea level rise is a great threat to Aotearoa, global increases of greenhouse gas emissions and temperature rise have resulted in an increase of polar ice sheet melt and prompted the rise of global sea levels. Sea level rising is a very recent issue, as we have not faced this problem prior to industrialisation. It has been predicted that ice loss from Greenland and the West Antarctic ice sheets is the most prominent source of sea level rise in the Twenty First Century. And within the coming years many islands in the Pacific will likely become the first victims to sea level rising. In the past 100 years New Zealand has seen an average sea level rise of at least 1.6mm a year and is continuously doing so. For us in Christchurch, we will feel the effects of sea level rise quite substantially due to land subsidence across the city from the 2010 and 2011 earthquakes. The land has been estimated to have dropped from at least 0.1 metres to over 0.5 metres in some areas. The risks and hazards that stem from sea level rise and land subsidence include the increased risk of flooding and shoreline retreat in low lying areas, such as New Brighton, South Shore and Sumner. This has been associated with greater risks and frequency of extreme tidal levels, and increased levels of rainfall. This will have a damaging effect on the surrounding community’s social and cultural ties with the coastal area due to loss of land and livelihoods.

Here we have an interactive map which allows you to see to see the effects of sea level rise of up to 60 metres around the world as pictured below. 

In the case of a 25 metre sea level rise in Aotearoa, Banks peninsula would no longer be attached to the South Island, as shown in the image below. For more information on rising sea levels in New Zealand you can view this report from the Parliamentary Commission for the Environment released in November 2015 which highlights different aspects of sea level rise and how we are adapting and preparing for it. 

Source

Below is a video from NASA about sea level rise: 

Our second blog is inspired by Anne Noble’s work No Vertical Song and Bruissement  #10  #11, which are being showcased in our current exhibition Precarious Nature. Anne’s work engages with contemporary environmental issues such as the decline of global bee populations, and our relationship to land and place.

Her work encourages us to think about the rise of global bee population decline - reminding us of how fragile and dependant we are on food production that rely on bees and other pollinating insects. It also discusses how monoculture industrial agriculture, the use of pesticides and climate change are having adverse effects on our biodiversity and ecosystems. 

Since the 1990’s there has been a dramatic decline in honeybee populations across the globe. Honeybees play a vital role in sustaining our ecosystem as they pollinate ⅓  of the fruit and vegetables in our diet. The consequences of the decline of the honeybee are astronomical for food production and our global food web as they not only sustain our food production, but also the food that we use to feed livestock. In a report released in 2015 it was noted that many bee colonies in the Coromandel had been declining, with an estimated loss of up to 65% of their crop production. This is alarming as this had not been a problem for beekeepers in New Zealand in previous years.

Greenpeace currently has a petition that you can sign here to show your support in aiding the repopulation of bee colonies and the banning of bee killing pesticides. For more information on bee population decline you can check out Ted Talks, which has a great playlist of videos on bees, the Greenpeace website and the pamphlet below.  

Thank you to Torfrida Wainwright from 350 for the leaflet below

Welcome to our first blog discussion of the environmental issues that the artists from Precarious Nature are exploring in their work. 

This week, we’re looking to Alex Monteith’s work, which often explores the political dimensions of culture engaged in turmoil over land ownership, history and occupation. Her work, Rena Shipping Container Disaster, (2011-ongoing, pictured above, photo: Daniela Aebli) is being showcased in our current exhibition Precarious Nature, and as the title suggests, it was filmed during the Rena Disaster during 2011 and 2012. 

The work engages with the difficulty of cleaning up after an oil spill, serving as a reminder of the difficulty of containing a limited fuel spill, especially when there is so much interest in oil exploration of our tectonically active coast. The disruption of Mahinga Kai, the local ecosytems on which we’re reliant, was huge.  

Greenpeace has more information on their website about these issues, you can watch the video below, and you can sign their petition against deep sea drilling here. 

Rena Disaster:

October the 5th 2011 marks the date that the MV Rena collided into the Astrolabe Reef, 22 kilometres away from the coastal area of Mt Maunganui in the Bay of Plenty, Aotearoa. On board, there was a total of 1733 tonnes of oil, of which 1300 tonnes was spilt into the surrounding coastal area. The worst spill from the vessel occurred on the 11th October, just under a week after the initial spill. The clean up effort included a team of 500, employed from the New Zealand Defence Force and 8000 volunteers from the Volunteer Engagement Team. The clean up efforts lasted at least 1 month, starting on the 9 October until the 15 November. This included manually combing the beach for lumps of oil/sediment mixtures, which were then bagged and taken off site. The spill has had significant effects on the biological communities, marine life and the physical environment, but also the social and cultural ties with the land and sea.

Click here to listen to Alex talking about her experience of documenting this event. 

Each day, hundreds of similar shipping containers are travelling around the globe. The website Shipmap shows the movement of global cargo routes in 2012. The interactive map allows you to see statistics such as CO2 emissions, (in thousand tonnes) the maximum freight carried by each of the vessels (varying units) and the varying ship types. 

Shipmap was created by London-based data visualisation studio Kiln and the UCL Energy Institute 

There are lots of great local initiatives you can get involved with such as Oil Free Ōtautahi,  350 Christchurch and Generation Zero, who are actively finding ways to challenge the oil industry and lobbying for change. Check out their contributions to Precarious Nature in the Ground Floor Gallery, and see their websites for more detailed information on what they do. 

350, Oil Free Ōtautahi and Greenpeace worked together to install this amazing banner on our gallery. It’s been taken down due to high winds but may make another appearance. 

Throughout Precarious Nature we are working with many local not-for-profit organizations and we will be sharing the great work that they do on the blog every week. Stay tuned for more!