The protagonist, a doctor, of Camus “The Plague” says at the end of the book that we can only combat pestilence with decency. They defined decency as doing our job: believing in what we do, and doing it with kindness, humility and determination.
The pandemic has given a broader awareness of the work people do. Front line workers such as supermarket staff are appreciated more now than pre-Covid, and one hopes this more equitable valuing of the work each person does continues post-Covid.
I certainly struggled with the worth of being an artist during last year’s introduction to living in a pandemic. Was art just “nice to have” next to the essential work being done by medical professionals, civil servants, and border security?
However, seeing the newly risky business of working in a supermarket elevated in our minds to an essential service (surely it always has been crucial) reminded me of Camus’ observation – that society needs all types of jobs fulfilled to exist in the face of destruction, to behave the best way it can – with decency.
Being an artist in times of crisis is what Nobel Laureate Toni Morrison posits as their most important duty: “This is precisely the time when artists go to work. There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal.”
The last 12 months have been about ignoring the cancelled exhibitions and now impossible events, instead focusing on making the best work I can. I’m fortunate to have had some exciting projects to work on, including a 3D piece for Artweek Auckland (now rescheduled for November) supported with the kind support of Creative New Zealand, and a major commission for MC, the Office of the Crown Solicitors, who move into their new eco-building on Auckland’s waterfront shortly.
Six artists have been asked to create works for MC that “Celebrate Contemporary Aotearoa” and that express six values of the Crown Warrant. My brief was, as an artist, to convey my interpretation diversity of who we are today.
To reflect this, I have made an expansive 2m x 5m painting comprised of ten square canvases. These are individual panels that can act alone yet join to form one whole; they can also be reconfigured to offer fluctuating viewpoints, and even swapped out for replacement panels to show the ever-changing demographics of our country. The abstract nature of my work allows each individual viewer to bring their own experiences to the work, so any meaning belongs to whomever sees it, rather than me.
In the brief for this commission, in words that again remind me of Camus, MC state as part of its Crown Warrant that... “Manākitanga is behaviour that acknowledges the mana of others as having equal or greater importance than one’s own, through the expression of aroha, hospitality, generosity and mutual respect. In doing so, all parties are elevated and our status is enhanced, building unity through humility and the act of giving.”
And that’s how we’ll get through this.(EVAN WOODRUFFE/STUDIO ART SUPPLIES)
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Published 3 September 2021