New art space for Polytech

The Otago Polytechnic School of Art is the proud owner of a new white cube space. Reporter Allison Rudd unravels its significance to students and staff.

With its industrial feel and pervading smell of new paint, the Otago Polytechnic's new professional art gallery looks as if it could easily double as a workshop or garage.

While spacious and light, the 100sqm room is functional - almost austere - concrete floor, white walls, and white ceiling punctuated by steel spotlight fames hiding lighting and electrical cabling.

But art school staff say the room, housed in its just finished art annex building, is exactly what it is supposed to be - a white cube space.

The term, common in art gallery parlance, refers to a deliberately abstract space which cuts all references to an outside world and allows the artworks to dominate.

"The white walls offer a kind of resistance. There are no excuses for not being professional about how works are displayed or hung," Head of School Bridie Lonie says.

Print-making tutor Neil Emmerson, one of several staff members on the committee which will manage the gallery, explains further.

"The idea is for the space to impact as little as possible on the art. The less you notice the space the better,"

But however unobtrusive, all the functionality and versatility required for the contemporary artist has been provided.

Three-pin plugs and computer data points abound overhead, on the walls and in the floor, while the floor-to-ceiling windows can be quickly screened when necessary.

In the adjoining storeroom, a complex-looking control panel enables a lone person to effortlessly adjust lighting, exterior light and data projection.

Over-height, double-width doors between the gallery and the storeroom, and between the storeroom and the yard, provide easy access for large artworks and sculptural pieces.