Question: "What is The Destiny of the Universal....? (Ernesto Laclau)

"What is the destiny of the universal in our societies? Is it a proliferation of particularisms ...or their correlative side: authoritarian unification - the only alternative in a world in which dreams of global human emancipation are fading away?"1.

1. Laclau, Ernesto; Butler, Judith, and Slavoj Žižek. Contingency, Hegemony, Universality: Contemporary Dialogues on the Left. London, New York, Verso Books 2000:86

Another week

I have had some difficulty accessing materials to reproduce the untitled (float/glider) work from 1972. New railway ties (sleepers) are hard to come by and after contacting several steel suppliers, 'spring' steel, in the form required for the reproduction of this work, is also scarce. I am following up some leads but may have to import the two spring steel bars from Australia. It wasn't this difficult in the early 70's! At MSVA I have presented three lectures on relational aethetics, dialogical, littoral and operative art practices with this coming week, a presentation on art and ethics. I have met some very interesting young artists and made contact with some friends and colleagues and look forward to meetings with family and friends in coming days and weeks. It has rained almost everyday and I had forgotten how wet an Auckland winter can be.

Found Situations

Several of my "Found Situations" photographs have recently been published with an accompanying text in the art journal ZX#4 Situations edited by artist colleagues Paul Cullen and Grant Thompson. I am very happy about the layout and design of the pages and the content of the journal is exceptional.

MSVA Artist in Residence

Now in Auckland as a visiting artist in residence at the Manukau School of Visual Arts, MIT (Manukau Institute of Technology). I am producing work for forthcoming exhibitions in Auckland (te tuhi) and Artspace Sydney. Thus far I have been reviewing my work from the 1970's which is a salutory/solitary experience. Emma Bugden, curator at te tuhi (the mark gallery) has requested reproductions of some early work and I am researching access to materials to reproduce an untitled sculpture piece from 1972 dubbed "Glider" and "Float" in my notes from that period. Other work I am reproducing at MSVA includes my Found Situations 1970-72 and Audience Arrangements (1974-78). These works seem so far removed from my present work but I am enjoying the process of interrogating my past.