Auckland Art Gallery Premieres in Pursuit of Venus

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki Premieres in Pursuit of Venus [infected] by Lisa Reihana

This May, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tamaki will stage the world premiere of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most ambitious screen-based art projects, immersing visitors in the sights and sounds of the Pacific.

Vast in its complexity and scale, artist Lisa Reihana’s (Ngapuhi, Ngati Hine, Ngai Tu) multi-screen panoramic video and sound work, in Pursuit of Venus [infected], 2015, uses the latest in film and editing technology to offer viewers a full-sensory experience.

Open from 2 May–30 August with free admission, the 25-metre long by four- metre high installation is the largest video work the Gallery has ever exhibited. Each frame of the 32-minute film contains more than eight million pixels.

in Pursuit of Venus [infected] animates a 19th-century scenic wallpaper, Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique, 1804–5, which illustrates an idealised European view of the South Pacific and its people, as well as the death of Captain Cook.

Created over six years, the film transports viewers to an imagined, pre- Colonial world inhabited by the life-size characters from Captain Cook’s voyages and encounters.

It is filled with dance, music and cultural ceremonies populated by people drawn from across the Pacific. Individuals are brought alive with remarkable precision through a series of scenes informed by Maori and Pacific practices and European histories.

Production involved more than 100 specialists including animators, technicians, costume makers, and PIPA - Pacific Institute of Performing Art students and performers.

Auckland Art Gallery Director Rhana Devenport says in Pursuit of Venus [infected] will be a memorable experience for visitors.

‘The technical sophistication of the film, the scale and clarity of the moving
image, and the captivating nature of its multiple narratives means visitors will be entranced.’ she says.
Artist Lisa Reihana says the project demanded the highest possible production values.

‘I’ve put a lot of attention into its seamless delivery, so viewers can let the stories wash over them without being distracted by the technology. The digital wrangling required has been huge,’ she says.

Reihana brings alive the characters and scenery of the wallpaper using green-screen techniques and multiple video channels. Rather than replicate the inaccurate, romanticised view of the 1800s, she speculates and imagines encounters that may have taken place between different cultures at the time.

The presentation of the video work is scheduled to coincide with the exhibition Printing the Pacific at the Gallery, which runs until 26 July 2015. Printing the Pacific includes the multiple-drop version of the Les Sauvages de la Mer Pacifique wallpaper, which is on loan from the Auckland War Memorial Museum.

(ends)

© Scoop Media