Nocturnal Projections and Other Small Happenings is an exhibition of sound and light, in the small nooks and crannies between buildings in Dunedin’s City Centre, showcasing some contemporary New Zealand artists with out door site specific art works.

 

This concept is a taster exhibition and if it is well received, we envisage it could become a growing biennial event.

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It is as much the intention of this exhibition to create a public interaction with contemporary art , art which is often missed by the public, as it is to help create a visual feast in and around Dunedin to warm the cockles of the winter blues. Following on the heels of my favorite festival in New Zealand , the Midwinter Carnival and Matariki, we can help give Dunedin a much needed boost in the icy months.

 

Due to the costs involved in organising and creating this exhibition, we are seeking support in the form of financial sponsorship. In return we will advertise your business in kind through our media.

 

Being located in the central city of Dunedin all of these sites not only have huge historical significance to Dunedin city and NZ  but they also boast a huge amount of foot and vehicle traffic, with up 26,000 cars passing the cenotaph in Queens Gardens alone (per week) .

 

The wide spread layout of the exhibition means we don’t have a mock-up of the intended exhibition. Instead I have supplied you with images of past works from the artists involved.

 

Also working me on this project are Social Media guru, Laura Bovey and  IT and website guru raz .

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I was a very young teenager and our oldest sister Kalo lived in Auckland with her finger on the pulse. Through her I was lucky enough to see many of the best bands from this era. The underground NZ music and art scene really was so exciting and really radical especially within context of those times. The 1980's was a time of extremes and from the extremes radical change in New Zealand Culture. Before and after the polarisation of values we experienced as a country with the Springbok Tour,  the majority of New Zealand was ultra conservative and  the underground concurrently was ultra radical. All my work and thinking is and was formed and influenced by the dinosaurs from those years. There was the Dunedin sound and there was the Auckland or North Island one  including the Childrens Hour, Fetus Productions, The Tall Dwarves, The Body Electric, The Abel Tasmans , the Boogadaggas, Pet Cemetary;  (to name but a few). And amongst them were Nocturnal Projections, a band from that tiny little town near New Plymouth called Stratford.

This exhibition’s name is derived directly from this band and references for me not only the band but also  one of the most exciting eras of New Zealand Music. I would like to thank the originator of the the name Brett Jones  for allowing me permission to use the name and the band of course, for using it. Within context of this Jed Towns presence in this exhibition becomes apt. It links the islands, bridges the music and of course is perfect as part of the title for a sound and light exhibition.

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Thank you very much Brett Jones and the band Nocturnal Projections for giving me permission to use your name.

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Cath Cocker