White noise I
On 26 February 2011 the public was invited to spend a day on New Zealand’s Te Henga / Bethells Beach, to assist the artist in planting 500 white flags in the sand. At the close of the day, the flags were removed and brought to the city to be re-installed in an enclosed space.
Both a simple piece of visual and auditory poetry and a gesture toward the complex history of public protests and engagement with land, foreshore, and public space in New Zealand, White Noise responds to the specific location of Auckland and the site of Bethells Beach
By the time of the British colonization of New Zealand white flags were used as landmark to delimit land ownership.
During the day of the action at Te Henga / Bethells Beach a spontaneous symbolic gesture occurred, when a Māori Tino Rangatiratanga flag was briefly planted amongst the white flags by a visitor to the beach. This flag has a significant history as a symbol of Māori ambitions for self-determination and land rights, flown over the years at many protests. It reinforces the politician-criticisms intentions of the White Noise.
Special thanks to: Ariane Craig-Smith, Gabrielle Amodeo, Simon Glaister, Sam Hamilton, Amarbir Singh, Mark Ruka, Mei Cooper, Alex Campbell, Heather Crawcour, Michelle Beattie, Loren Marks, Nastashia Simeona, Sarah Carson, Anya Zvezdina, Chanel Breen, Louise Tu’u, Rose Meyer, Victoria Szerdi, Fiona Wilson, Elena Wenn, Ada Leung
White noise II
After a full day of installation at Te Henga/Bethells Beach, the flags were removed from the beach and reinstalled in Shed 6 (warehouse located in the center of Auckland City).
Contained in an enclosed space, they stand motionless, in stark contrast to their previous location, forming a concise comment about the kinds of freedom available to works in public spaces in contrast with installation in private controlled spaces.
Flags were removed because Auckland City Council gave only one day of permission to make the installation at Te Henga/Bethells Beach, originally was planned to keep the flags installed for 3 weeks.
