Visitors to Blaine Western’s latest exhibition, "Grammars", will get to see his most recent work but not as they might expect.
His work will not be hanging on the wall or standing on a plinth but there will be plenty to see.
It is other artists’ work that will be on exhibit: national and international artists such as Wendelien van Oldenborgh, Jill Magid, Heinz Peter Knes, g. Bridle, Katrina Beekhuis, Andrew Kennedy, The Estate of L. Budd, Zac Langdon Pole, Georgina Watson, Gregory Kan, Henry Babbage, Will Pollard, and Matthew Galloway.
Some of the work is new and has been produced as part of Berlin-based Western’s 12-week residency at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, during which time he has been researching and exploring the cultural material held in the gallery and at Otago Museum.
"I feel very privileged each institution has been very open to this dialogue," Western says.
The idea behind the exhibition was to think about the collections held in galleries and museums raising questions about authorship, the power and limits of collaboration, the complexities of institutional collections and the intersection between contemporary practice and historical objects.
By taking on the role of the curator he wanted to "blur the limits" of the role and the conversation it has with the artist.
"It’s created a professional respect for the curatorial practice, it’s increasingly labour intensive. It’s been an incredibly valuable experience."
While some might wonder where Western’s "work" is in all of this, he believes the exhibition itself is his work.
He had played a key role in designing the space and where and how the works will be displayed right down to moving a wall in the gallery that had not been moved since 1997.
"It is a kind of work in a way. It is a creative artistic process in itself."
Those who want to see work by Western, as it is more conventionally understood, will not be left wanting, as alongside "Grammer", he is producing his own exhibition, "Masques".
When the Otago Daily Times spoke to him it was still very much a work in progress.
However, an outline of the exhibition stated it will "question the tensions that lie between conservation, restoration and legibility in the built environment. It provides a speculative avenue into ways of reading and interpreting aspects of Dunedin’s architectural heritage and investigating the relationship between the built environment and social histories".
It is a process that had its origins in a visit to Dunedin to exhibit "Ornamental Labours" with Kennedy at the Blue Oyster Gallery in 2014, Western says.
The architecture, memories and histories of the place made an impression, "the materiality of heritage implicit in restoring buildings that have been damaged".
Globally, restorers relied on photographs or archives for what things looked like in the past.
"I’m interested in history being short-circuited. That is not a criticism. It is fascinating how we remember the past through the built environment."
The concept for the exhibition meant unlike "Grammars", Western had to get his hands and his jeans dirty.
He has been teaching himself to do plasterwork, which has involved splattering a fair quantity of plaster over his shoes and jeans.
"It’s been a bit of a failure so far but in the process I’m learning."
While he enjoys the "cerebral, conceptual" work like that in "Grammars", he continues to return to the hands-on.
"I have this need to dematerialise art, take the stress away, but I keep coming back to this labour-intensive process.
"There is this desire to learn and understand a process that already exists. For me it is really important to understand the technical aspect of art production."
Western, who grew up in various towns in the North Island and for a time in Santa Barbara in the United States, is known for his sometimes challenging work, such as the cantilevered bus shelter entitled Parallel of Life and Art that he and Michael Parr created to win the 2012 National Contemporary Art Award.
The judge that year said the winners had clearly challenged the usual ways in which art is made and presented.
Once his residency is over, Western will head back to Berlin and the next project.
"It’s home. I’ve been living there under a year. It’s a very relaxed city. Every day is Sunday there."
To exhibition
Blaine Western, "Masques" and "Grammars", Dunedin Public Art Gallery, until November 20.
