Metropolis Dreaming

Living Room, Auckland Council’s annual 10-day public art event, kicks off again in April and will feature artists from all over the world, as well as some well known local faces branching out, with Mint Chicks guitarist Ruban Nielson taking part in a poster project.

Living Room 2011: Metropolis Dreaming runs from 8-17 April in various public places in Auckland’s CBD. There will be a mix of installations, performances, sound art, video projections and a poster project. Acknowledging that the city is both a cultural and technological hub, the programme will include social projects that highlight the human dynamics of urban life.

This year’s theme, Metropolis Dreaming, encourages people to expand their reality through a celebration of post-industrial urban life. The Italian Futurist movement and their excitement about the clamour and bustle of the machine age inspired the theme chosen by guest curator Andrew Clifford. He hopes the planned artworks will encourage us to re-imagine our day-to-day urban surroundings, and thereby rediscover ordinary, overlooked and hidden details of the city.

Metropolis Dreaming projects will spotlight the actual mechanics of the city’s systems, transforming its functional, everyday structures from a routine backdrop into imaginative possibilities.

“This is a really exciting event for the Auckland Council to inherit, especially since it’s so accessible for people” says Councillor Alf Filipaina, chair of the Culture Arts and Events forum.

“Anyone who comes into the city will be able to experience some of the art works.”

A strong feature of this year’s Living Room is an eclectic mix of artists, including Ruban Nielson, best known as guitarist for the Mint Chicks, and Scottish artist David Shrigley, whose distinctive cartoons appear in publications such as the Guardian and New Statesmen, as well as music videos for Blur and Bonnie Prince Billy. Similarly, collectives and new collaborations are a unique feature of Living Room 2011, pairing emerging sound artist Sam Hamilton with senior painter John Reynolds; animation artist Gregory Bennett with musician and large-scale projection guru Michael Hodgson (Pitch Black); as well as the appearance of Korea-based collective Young Hae Chang Heavy Industries; and a community crochet project from Rarotonga-based artist Ani O’Neill.

The artists confirmed for Living Room 2011 are:

Ujino (Japan)

YOUNG HAE CHANG HEAVY INDUSTRIES (Korea/USA)

Sam Hamilton (NZ) with John Reynolds (NZ)

Gregory Bennett (NZ) with Michael Hodgson (NZ)

Ani O’Neill (NZ/Rarotonga) and

Disinformation (UK).

Contributing to the poster project are:

Sara Hughes (NZ)

Peter Madden (NZ)

Ruban Nielson (NZ/USA) and

David Shrigley (UK).