Meet the space makers
Four Dunedin artists — Kim Pieters, Aroha Novak, Charlotte Parallel and Megan Brady — are transforming spaces at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery in very different ways in an exhibition celebrating contemporary art in the city. Rebecca Fox discovers the new skills three have learnt in the process.
WIELDING a rugtufting gun, Megan Brady can almost feel her muscles start to ache, but despite this the gun has been her saviour.
Brady’s installation at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery centres around the creation of walltowall carpet and is titled ‘‘A Quiet Corner Where We Can Talk’’.
‘‘I had no idea how to make carpet. I wanted to see what it felt like to make it.’’
The recent Dunedin Art School graduate has been inspired by the anonymity of transitory public places, and how by not wanting to offend anyone, they are so stripped back they cater to noone.
‘‘I was drawn to, entertained by these furnishings — the carpet at the airport, covers on bus seats.
‘‘There is so much I find interesting about our surroundings. It all informs this work one way or another.’’
So when she saw the space at the gallery, she was drawn to the Lshaped space.
‘‘It has developed very much from the physicality of the space and how you respond to it — I spend many months drawing the floor plan so I knew it had to be incorporated into the work somehow.’’
So the walltowall carpet in its neutral colours features a green outline of the space.
‘‘I wanted to feel the cushioning of the carpet so that you cannot necessarily hear footsteps in the space.’’
It will be complemented by soft wall colours and custommade elevator music — another aspect of public spaces that is stripped back so it fills a void with comfortable, calm, soft sounds.
‘‘It can’t be too jazzy, rocky or swingy.’’
The space also influences the music Brady is recording herself using a software program, with the beat, counts and length of the track all drawn from the measurements of the room.
‘‘It correlates nicely with the carpet design, which is to be seen but not looked at, and the music, designed to be heard but not listened to.’’
To make her ideas a reality required learning how to make a carpet.
She started by physically handtying knots in the way of a Turkish rug.
After two days of solid work, she realised there was no way she was going to be able to make a carpet on the scale she needed in the time she had.
‘‘It wasn’t going to be physically possible.’’
Then she found the ‘‘amazing machine’’, a hand tufting gun, which enables her to work much faster.
‘‘I’ve been doing it consistently day and night for two months.’’
Finding enough wool has also been a mission. It meant her dreams of soft yellows and beiges and pastels had to be sacrificed for what she could find off internet trading sites and op shops, until two anonymous donors came on board.
‘‘So many different people have helped me get over the obstacles and problems.’’
It has been a challenging project for Brady, as it has required quite a bit of physical work.
‘‘I’ve witnessed my body adapting to the physical action. I’ve needed lots of massages and baths.
‘‘It’s been a very difficult project physically, mentally and emotionally.’’
With a fascination for the people who decide and match names to paint colours, Brady often uses the seasonal predictive paint colour charts companies put out.
The predictive colours she discovered were mostly whites and neutrals — colours that, again, please everybody.
The project has been a major one for the Wellingtonbred artist, who moved to Dunedin five years ago to study art after stumbling upon the Dunedin School of Art while visiting a friend. She specialised in sculpture and finished her master’s degree last year.
It has enabled her to continue her other love, working at the Margaret Freeman Gallery, a space for Dunedinbased artists with intellectual disabilities.
Brady discovered the inclusive art space during the Otago University Students’ Association Art Crawl a few years ago and began volunteering there.
‘‘It’s the coolest place.’’
She is now employed as an arts facilitator at the Gallery’s Studio 2, supporting those in the day programme.
The work helped her remember simple creativity without the overthinking and critical thought that came with her studies.
‘‘It’s a blessing. It reminds you to make because you like to make. To purely express yourself.’’