Setting stones, Window Gallery, The University of Auckland 2021
Unlabelled, slightly hidden from view, this collection of rocks situated outside the University of Auckland General Library has held my attention for some time. These rocks have been treasured and moved around by various staff of the University. An article traces the discovery of the concretions to earthworks taking place in Whangaparoa in 1971; similar rocks can be found throughout Auckland’s rich volcanic landscape.1 Concretions have long been a curiosity. Historically they have been interpreted as dinosaur eggs and extra-terrestrial debris; they often contain fossils. They are a collection of igneous and sedimentary rocks; igneous rocks are formed from lava flow and concretions are formed in sedimentary rock.
The project is part of an ongoing series that uses photographic reproduction and sculptural form to explore objects and their histories whose categorization sometimes falls outside of the common notions of art objects. Photography can make us look again - help us to see more closely. These ancient forms provoke thoughts as to their past and future. Image and object, or image of the object, foster connections assembled by the viewer.
I think of these rocks as a perceptible misinterpreted version of hyperobjects.2 Timothy Morton defines hyperobjects as objects whose existence stretches beyond the human lifetime. He refers to human-made objects such as plastics, contributing to the age of the Anthropocene, and the most threatening hyperobject that pushes our sense of the word is global warming.
A reverence of nature, and a homage to the people who have collected, moved and cared for them. Consideration to karesansui3 (Japanese rock gardens and their physical references to features of the landscape) and the relationship to the institutional space and its archival nature have informed the approach to the way that these artworks have developed.
I see in these rocks a set of codes, symbols, or physical references pertaining to art language and our current cultural reality. The lens of reproduction allows us to put onto these ancient forms our individual interpretations and wonderings. The solid mass and weight of these sculptural and symbolic forms hold grandeur and value that outspans our lifetime.
1 Uni News, September 1990. See image.
2 Timothy Morton, Hyperobjects, 2013
3 The title ‘setting stones’ is a reference from Sakuteiki, a Japanese text written in the 11th century.