October 05, 2016
Animal reading wins top art prize
This year’s Walters’ Prize winner says it’s too early to say what effect holding New Zealand’s top prize for contemporary art will have on his work.
Shannon Te Ao works were Two shoots that stretch far out, a video of him reading a translated Ngati Porou moteatea to a selection of animals, and Okea ururoatia (never say die), a selection of pot plants jammed into the centre of the Auckland City Art Gallery.
The Ngati Tuwharetoa artist says the combination of spoken text and image is a way to raise questions about the way people communicate.
"The text kind of plays out it's own narrative what becomes uncertain is whose playing which role within that narrative and the relationship between myself and each animal. Each group of animal is fluid and uncertain at all times," says Shannon Te Ao.
The Walters Prize entrants will be on show at the Auckland City Art Gallery until the end of the month.
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