Kerrie Poliness

Over the last few weeks, the technicians at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, Jay Hutchinson and Chris Schmelz, have been installing three drawings from Kerrie Poliness’ Black O (1997) on the Gallery’s Big Wall. Part of the Gallery’s permanent collection, Black O is a conceptual artwork, existing as a set of detailed step-by-step instruction booklets for six abstract wall drawings, as well as a general manual that describes materials, tools, timeframes, technical notes, and other details required to install the work.
 
Hand drawn directly onto the wall with two different sizes of black poster markers, the drawings can be installed by single or multiple collaborators. They are scaled to specific sites, depending on their location in the Gallery. For this installation, Jay and Chris have created Drawing #5, Drawing #1 and Drawing #3. While the work exists as a set of instructions, these incorporate the interpretation and skills of those installing it. This, combined with the need for the work to be responsive and adapted to a particular site, means that each drawing is slightly different every time it is installed. When speaking about her intention of the work, Poliness has said ‘just as leaves on a tree are the same but slightly different, my drawing systems reflect systems of mass production found in nature and materiality’.
 
 
Noho ora mai
Lauren Gutsell
Kairauhī Curator
Dunedin Public Art Gallery

[image: Kerrie Poliness, Black O Wall Drawing No.1 1997 (Installation view). Ink. Collection of the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. Gifted 2022 by Jim Barr and Mary Barr.]