Avon Avon : an exegesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Fine Arts at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand

Abstract

No abstract. Excerpts from preamble:

Throughout the process of this work I have been reflecting upon my own opaque recollections and the (equally) vague mythical narratives that form around histories of place. I place particular focus on the tension created between the haunting of ourselves––culturally and personally––and on the ruptures unveiled––both temporal and physical––within a re-collective narrative. What do these ruptures look/sound/feel like? Moreover, how might I evoke them? I began with an investigation of site through memory, or really, memory through site, and as such it is very much situated as a response from a self-reflexive position. What started as a self-reflexive response eventually broadened and produced a series of works that engage with, and work to articulate, the 5 binary and uncanny moments that have revealed themselves along the way. Over the two years of my Master of Fine Arts Studies, I have split my focus into two separate, but related, sets of methods and concerns. For the purposes of this exegesis, I am going to focus on the latter part of my research, in which I have spent the past year considering and producing the final work for exhibition. The most significant works over both years will be annotated in an appendix, to provide some developmental context. AVON AVON is not a work about earthquakes, although it is true that earthquakes drew me back to Christchurch,