A review by Ruth Allison for the Nelson Mail
by RUTH ALLISON
Last updated 10:42, February 18 2015
REVIEW: This Was Now Here! Jason McCormick, Master’s Exhibition, photographs and film, Salt Gallery, February 2015
It’s a shame about the exclamation mark because if it needs anything, this exhibition certainly doesn’t need one of those.
These understated, quiet and beautifully executed photographs speak for themselves. They invite reflection and a certain self-congratulatory pride especially if you are a Nelsonian. McCormick has captured the essence of four significant central city heritage buildings in a limited edition of 8 Lambda digital master prints.
The high quality of these prints ensures a precise, clear image and control over tone and colour. For McCormick this translates as photographs which are worth spending time in front of.
At first look they appear to be photographs of the interiors of empty buildings but on closer inspection the scale models which McCormick built and then photographed become apparent.
The Supreme Court is the only building that no longer exists but the model, crafted from an old photograph and a Christopher Vine sketch, will remind viewers lucky enough to remember, of one of New Zealand’s finest wooden buildings.
The view into the roof and upper windows of Bishop’s School will similarly evoke memories of the old classroom but even outsiders will recognise the power of those old teachers to wreak havoc on young minds.
The Community Hall also speaks of times past. The light through the doors and windows invite speculation about what went on in these buildings; who wielded the power, what decisions were made, who was affected by these decisions?
In Cathedral 2 the raw edge of the material McCormick used in his models is clearly visible highlighting the artist’s intention. In his statement he is says he is exploring the idea of power and control and that there are ‘hidden meanings within this architecture’.
By photographing models of the interiors rather than the interiors themselves the artist is indeed creating a second layer of meaning but the warm sepia tones and the diffused light drifting in at strange angles, the singular lack of people but a palpable sense of their presence mean that the photographs stand alone, in no need of an artist’s statement to make sense of them.
The photographs are accompanied by Assembly, an 18 minute film which brings all 8 images together in a series of slow motion exposures accompanied by an equally slowed sound track.
The hymn accompanying Cathedral has a recognisable melody and the distorted sound adds to the drama of imagined power struggles. The barely recognised violin in the Supreme Court tells of the many events that took place after it lost its role as a dispenser of justice.
This is an exhibition of quality and intellectual acuity; exhibitions that are often sadly lacking in Nelson’s rather conservative art scene.
– The Nelson Mail
