Tiffany Singh: Double Rainbow: Pre(Serve)

14 January 2012 - 26 February 2012

Concept

Pre(serve), will consist of a series of coloured beeswax-cast wax figures that represent different religious idols, and symbolically reflecting the diversity of New Zealand’s cultural identity. These forms aim to speak of sustainability and environmental conscious at the heart of their materiality.

The waxworks will be set up in an exhibition to inhabit the space of the gallery as a complete installation. This installation (comprised of individual artworks) will then become available for exchange. Following the opening event, the wax sculptures will be open for barter whereby audience members can choose and take one wax figure in exchange for a jar of food, preserve, homemade or pre-loved toy which will replace the votive in the installation for the remainder of the exhibition.

This will create a work of art grounded in an economy of gifting and sustainability, subverting commercial systems of exchange. At the same time, public engagement will cause the appearance of the installation to change constantly. At the end of the exhibition all the jars of food will be collected and gifted / donated to community food bank with the toys going to the community centre, and Hawke’s Bay Regional Hospital. The idea behind the cyclical process of giving and receiving is to generate community spirit – through the contents and remains of the work providing sustainability and community outreach on a practical level.

Alongside the exhibition free classes will be held in which the public can learn how to make homemade toys.  This is an effort to promote a particular food consciousness, and to educate people to save money and eat well with easily grown and available local produce that they can share within their own communities.