New art installation in Auckland gives nod to Kodak legacy

New installation gives nod to Kodak legacy and captures New Zealand’s ‘Kodak moments’

Kodachrome Presents by Mladen Bizumic is the latest sculpture for Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki's Edmiston North Sculpture Terrace opening 10 August.

The artwork marks the end of Kodak film company’s production of their legendary Kodachrome 12-colour film in 2012. Twelve modified museum stanchions painted in the colours of Kodachrome will sit on the terrace supporting black and white photographs of tourist moments in New Zealand’s recent past.

The work invites viewers to take pause and enjoy ‘Kodak moments’ from the vantage point of the terrace. The images are sourced from a 1991 German publication GEO, promoting New Zealand to a European audience, and features local scenes offering a unique snapshot of life as it was.

Auckland Art Gallery Curator of Contemporary Art, Natasha Conland says the installation works in harmony with the position and identity of the space, with the Gallery’s terrace offering a ‘tourist look out’ that plays on aspects of the photographic display.

‘The positioning of Mladen’s work invites engagement, encouraging people to think about the dominance of digital colour imagery or to make their own images on smart phones and digital cameras. People will discover new ways of looking at the dimensions within this thoughtful work.’

Vienna-based New Zealand artist Mladen Bizumic says he wanted to pay homage to Eastman Kodak’s Kodachrome film as the preferred medium for professional photographers for over 70 years – a film he has used often and is fond of himself.

‘I wanted to evoke a sense of nostalgia, while also commenting on today’s obsession with digital. Viewers will see scenes from the past captured using old technology, while also being present in the space. The work comments on the speed at which technologies become obsolete.’

Kodachrome Presents is one in an ongoing series of sculpture commissions by New Zealand artists proudly supported by the Chartwell Trust. Previous artists in the series have included Kate Newby, Sriwhana Spong and most recently James Oram.

Kodachrome Presents will feature on Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki's Edmiston North Sculpture Terrace from 10 August to 6 April, 2014. Entry is free.

About Mladen Bizumic
Artist Mladen Bizumic was born in former Yugoslavia, immigrated to New Zealand as a child and is now based in Austria. His projects in sculpture, photography or video show an ongoing exploration into the complexity of human relationships to their surroundings.

His work has been shown in the 5th Busan Biennial (2006); 10th Istanbul Biennale (2007); the steirischer herbst festival, Graz; the 9th Lyon Biennale (2007); Zacheta – Museum of Art, Warsaw; CAC, Vilnius; MAK – Museum of Applied Arts, Vienna (2012); Foundation d’entreprise Ricard, Paris(2009); ARTSPACE, Auckland; 1st Auckland Triennial; Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth; MOCA, Belgrade; and Adam Ant Gallery, Wellington amongst other venues.

He is a doctorate candidate in Art Theory and Cultural Studies (Prof. Diedrich Diederichsen) at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna; was awarded a Creative New Zealand Grant in 2009; an artist-in-residence at the Künstlerhaus Bethanien, Berlin in 2006-2007; the 2004 Frances Hodgkins Fellowship at the University of Otago; and received his MFA in 2003, and BFA in 2000, from Elam School of Fine Arts, University of Auckland.

He has upcoming exhibitions at Kunstmuseum Thun, Switzerland; and is represented by Georg Kargl Fine Arts, Vienna and Frank Elbaz Gallery, Paris.
www.mladenbizumic.com

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