Bodies of Work /

the city of gold and lead

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the city of gold and lead, installation view, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, 2013.

2013

I was six years old when the Computer came into use. Ann Shelton would have been nine. Even as children, I think it’s fair to say that The Wanganui Computer loomed large in our collective imaginations. Indeed, growing up in Auckland, I think the Computer was all I really knew about Whanganui in those childhood years, which only enhanced its mystique.

The fact that The Wanganui Computer housed criminal records allowed it a place in our young imaginations. Never mind that it also held details of drivers’ licences, or the fact that criminal records would of course have been kept prior to its advent. There was just something about the mysterious ‘computer-ness’ of those records that instilled a frisson of fear and excitement in young minds. The notion that, once your details were stored there, it was game over. In our own juvenile way, we tapped into this in the schoolyard, equating disobedience with data entry. The logic went that if you did something bad, it wasn’t out of the question that you’d end up on the System.

And what then?

Kyla McFarlane
anniversary
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, 2013. Set of 8 digital C-type photographs, 782 × 630 mm.
we
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
have
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
maintained
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
a
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
silence
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
closely
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
resembling
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
stupidity
Anniversary, “We have maintained a silence closely resembling stupidity” Neil Roberts 1982, detail, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 782 × 630 mm framed.
Blue Room. Two channel, HD digital video, colour, 16:9, channel 1, 24min 17sec and channel 2, 1min 9sec, continuous loops, Blu-ray, 2013.
Blue Room. Two channel, HD digital video, colour, 16:9, channel 1, 24min 17sec and channel 2, 1min 9sec, continuous loops, Blu-ray, 2013.
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Golden Dawn, freshly gilded foundation stone, the Sarjeant Gallery Te Whare o Rehua, 8 July 2013. Gold leaf on existing foundation stone, 2013. Gold leaf on existing foundation stone.
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Heavy Metal #1, Platinum, recovered scrap metal from the remains of the decommissioned Wanganui Computer, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 1350 × 1088 mm.
heavy-metal-2
Heavy Metal #2, Palladium, recovered scrap metal from the remains of the decommissioned Wanganui Computer, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 1350 × 1088 mm.
heavy-metal-3
Heavy Metal #3, Palladium, recovered scrap metal from the remains of the decommissioned Wanganui Computer, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 1350 × 1088 mm, and not sure .
heavy-metal-4
Heavy Metal #4, Palladium, recovered scrap metal from the remains of the decommissioned Wanganui Computer, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 1350 × 1088 mm, and not sure.
blue-boy
Blue Boy, computer part from the Wanganui computer, 2013. Digital C-type photograph.
punch-cards
Punch Cards, computer coding cards from the Wanganui Computer, 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 1170 × 1135 mm (framed).
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Big Brother, computer disc from the decommissioned Wanganui Computer. Disc 204 mm x 204 mm, (front), 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 945 × 1350 mm.
big-brother-2
Big Brother, computer disc from the decommissioned Wanganui Computer. Disc 204 mm x 204 mm, (reverse), 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 945 × 1350 mm.
little-brother-1
Little Brother, computer disc from the decommissioned Wanganui Computer. Disc 133 mm x 133 mm, (front), 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 945 × 1350 mm.
little-brother-2
Little Brother, computer disc from the decommissioned Wanganui Computer. Disc 133 mm x 133 mm, (reverse), 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 945 × 1350 mm.
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Stand In, Gold Nugget (front), 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 230 × 300 mm.
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Stand In, Gold Nugget (reverse), 2013. Digital C-type photograph, 230 × 300 mm.
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the city of gold and lead, installation view, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, 2013.
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the city of gold and lead, installation view, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, 2013.
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the city of gold and lead, installation view, Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui, 2013.
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the city of gold and lead, installation view, Dark Matter, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2016. Photograph by Sam Hartnett.
web-4523photo-sam-harnettinstallation-view-ann-shelton-dark-matter-aag-2016-17-photo-sam-harnett
the city of gold and lead, installation view, Dark Matter, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2016. Photograph by Sam Hartnett.