German artist searches for novel couple to front art project
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What could a promo girl and a retired man have to do with public art? Berlin-based artist Ines Tartler will visit Auckland for two weeks in May to present a new public art project in the city. What could a promo girl and a retired man have to do with public art? Berlin-based artist Ines Tartler will visit Auckland for two weeks in May to present a new public art project in the city. But she needs help because it takes place in a public car park and the artist wants to encourage people to participate.
Project curator Rob Garrett says “Ines wants a young woman and an older man to front the project and assist people to participate. Ideally we are looking for a woman in her 20s and her actual grandfather. This is harder than you’d think!”
“I think people will wonder what sort of art project would need such a novel couple?” says Garrett. “Well, the artist has made some unusual art works: three gold lame car covers. We’re going to put these on cars parked in the Britomart car park. But we actually want to invite people to participate in this project. So our two attendants will go up to people who park their cars at Britomart and ask them if they’d like to join in. The attendants will ask people to “host” one of the car covers on their car. That way their car and even the car owner, become part of this cool international art project. Everyone who takes part will be photographed with their covered car and the two attendants.
The art project by Ines Tartler is called Auto Garage: The Golden Garage Service. It has been developed from earlier projects that the artist did in Germany and England. “We think this project will appeal to people’s sense of fun. But we also think people will respond to the symbolic aspects of the art work.” The gold car covers will make the cars and the car park really noticeable. Tartler is interested in making things we take for granted or walk past everyday, stand out in a new way. She is interested in hiding and revealing things, or in making things that may have become invisible to us, suddenly more obvious.
Ines Tartler’s art project is one of series of temporary public art projects that is being commissioned by the Britomart Arts Foundation. Other projects have involved local and emerging artists. This is the first international project.
When does the art project take place?
5-16 May 2009
Mon-Wed: 10am – 5pm
Thu-Fri: 10am – 9pm
Sat: 10am – 3pm
Where will the art project happen?
Britomart public car park
Entrances off Galway and Tyler Streets, Auckland CBD
More about the artist Ines Tartler:
Ines Tartler (b. 1969) is a German installation and public art artist based in Berlin.
Tartler studied at the Gerrit Rietveld Academy in Amsterdam (NL) and has exhibited extensively throughout Europe since 1998. Her site-specific projects and installations have occupied public spaces, galleries and museums in Germany, The Netherlands, Italy, Great Britain, Belgium and Japan.
Tartler has received various scholarships including from Senatsverwaltung Berlin (Germany), Emma Ricklund Foundation (Sweden) and Schloß Plüschow (Germany).
More about the curator Rob Garrett:
Rob Garrett has more than 30 years experience in the visual arts (as artist, teacher, writer, curator and arts manager) and has long experience especially in commissioning artist projects, and in curating and project managing installations by a wide range of visual artists.
In 2009, as curator of special projects for the Auckland Art Fair, he has commissioned emerging artist Joanna Langford to create a new work for the 20 x 10 x 7.5 metre entrance hall of the Fair. He is also curating an international public art project called Auto Garage: The Golden Garage Service by German artist Ines Tartler for the Britomart Arts Foundation.
In 2008 he curated the biennial sculpture exhibition, NZ Sculpture OnShore, which raises funds for NZ Women’s Refuges and including works by more than 100 artists.
Garrett has a long history of commissioning artists to create new and innovative projects. Between 1993 and 2002 Garrett curated and managed the Artists at Work international artist residency programme (which he also founded) at the School of Art Dunedin. The programme included new work commissions and exhibitions and / or temporary site-specific public installations by Coco Fusco and Nao Bustamante (USA), Su Xinping (China), Su Grierson (Scotland), Ed Osborn (USA), Anne Ferran (Australia), Richard Crow (UK), Margaret Roberts (Australia), Gisela Genthner (Germany), Georganne Deen (USA), Ruth Hadlow (Australia), Adrian Hall (Australia) and Roger Palmer (Scotland).
Garrett also initiated a partnership with Ngai Tahu to establish the Ngai Tahu Emerging Artist Residency programme which was inaugurated with a residency by Simon Kaan.
In 2005 Garrett led the artist / curator selection process and was the project team leader for New Zealand’s presentation at the 2005 Venice Biennale (et al’s the fundamental practice). Garrett also project managed Speculation, New Zealand’s unofficial presentation of 30 artists, selected by 8 curators at the 2007 Venice Biennale.
Currently Rob Garrett is leading a team that is co-commissioning, curating and project managing a programme of temporary public art projects, commencing in 2008 that will take place over the next 5 to 6 years in the 7-block Britomart development precinct in Auckland. The Britomart programme includes a series of paintings by emerging artists on construction hoardings; and an interactive light art work by John Radford called Lux Flux. Radford’s art work is located on one façade of Old Sofrana House at Britomart in Auckland’s CBD. The light-based and site-specific installation represents a unique contemporary engagement with built heritage and social history. It consists of two hundred small, clear LED lights and incandescent bulbs distributed over the façade of the building. At night, the movements of pedestrians through Britomart trigger the artwork, causing the lights to flash in a sequence of clusters, creating an atmospheric ‘sparkling’ effect.
Contact:
For further information, high-res images, and to arrange interviews with the artist / curator:
Rob Garrett
+64 21 586 900