Defunct Mnemonics
2012 - Sculpture (Sculpture)
Peter Robinson
Defunct Mnemonics (2012) plays off woodworking traditions found in indigenous art in order to create a body of formally minimal objects that are both beautiful in their restraint and profoundly moving in their associations with the totemic. Resembling large pick-up-sticks, the complete work is comprised of 126 vertical sculptures wrapped in fabric with alternately monochromatic and graphically patterned dyes and prints. Leaning against a wall and arranged side-by-side, they could be mistaken as highly decorated mallets for use in an undetermined ritual or game. These associations with faith and repetition are entirely intended: as part of Robinson’s process, each sculpture was hand carved and finished based on a case of spirit sticks housed at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, New Zealand’s national museum and art gallery in Wellington. In order to produce another layer of tactile experience and texture, Robinson wrapped every stick in a roll of concentric felt, in some cases switching between fabrics as means of creating a richly heterogeneous finish to the work. The visual and aural codes at play in Defunct Mnemonics are a reminder of how repetition can help us order ourselves through more deeply felt rhythms. At once both playful and meditative, Robinson’s work encourages us to slow down and retrain our focus through considered visual and metaphorical stops and starts.
Peter Robinson is an artist whose work explores the various cross-sections between materiality, identity, and the indigenous. Many of his works utilize motifs found in Maori art, and his use of woodworking and felted wools often riff on culturally specific materials based in communal craft practices. His clean lines and deliberately restrained forms, though, could be easily placed alongside Minimalist sculpture and feel unselfconsciously modern. Robinson studied at the Ilam School of Fine Arts and has exhibited extensively throughout New Zealand. In 2001, his work was included in the exhibition bi-polar at the Venice Biennale.
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Focus on Aging: Beate Sass: I Belong to You and You to Me - LENSCRATCH Fine Art Photography Daily Subscribe / Contact / About Home Photographers Browse All Browse Alphabetically Browse by Genre Browse by Subject Browse by Place Browse by Process Features Publisher’s Spotlight The States Project Alaska Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Content Aware DEVELOPER Mixtapes Art and Science Competition: The Heart of the Matter Book Reviews Geometry In the Dark Insecta Magic Night The Natural World/Nature Women and Earth The Art of Healing Lenscratch Student Prize Winners 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 Notes from a Curator Exhibitions Interviews Articles Photographers on Photographers Resources Artist Residencies Calls For Entry Lenscratch Library Portfolio Reviews Photo Festivals Online Magazines Print Magazines Sites of Interest Organizations and Institutions Photography Charities Grants Submit About Submissions Submit to Lenscratch Exhibitions Submit To Art and Science Award Submit to Student Prize Submit Your Project Shop Home Photographers Browse All Browse Alphabetically Browse by Genre Browse by Subject Browse by Place Browse by Process Features Publisher’s Spotlight The States Project Alaska Alabama Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Connecticut Delaware District of Columbia Florida Georgia Hawaii Idaho Illinois Indiana Iowa Kansas Kentucky Louisiana Maine Maryland Massachusetts Michigan Minnesota Mississippi Missouri Montana Nebraska Nevada New Hampshire New Jersey New Mexico New York North Carolina North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina South Dakota Tennessee Texas Utah Vermont Virginia Washington West Virginia Wisconsin Wyoming Content Aware DEVELOPER Mixtapes Art and Science Competition: The Heart of the Matter Book Reviews Geometry In the Dark Insecta Magic Night The Natural World/Nature Women and Earth The Art of Healing Lenscratch Student Prize Winners 2023 2022 2021 2020 2019 2018 2017 2016 2015 2014 2013 Notes from a Curator Exhibitions Interviews Articles Photographers on Photographers Resources Artist Residencies Calls For Entry Lenscratch Library Portfolio Reviews Photo Festivals Online Magazines Print Magazines Sites of Interest Organizations and Institutions Photography Charities Grants Submit About Submissions Submit to Lenscratch Exhibitions Submit To Art and Science Award Submit to Student Prize Submit Your Project Shop Focus on Aging: Beate Sass: I Belong to You and You to Me by Ruth Steinberg February 12, 2024 ©Beate Sass, Dad at Water Aerobics, from: I Belong to You and You to Me Introduction to Aging Series I met Aline Smithson at a portfolio review in the fall of 2023 when I showed her my project about my father...