Martyn Reynolds and Richard Frater share shoes, shirts, and studio location

Currently they also share an exhibition ‘This serene machine’ at the Film Archive in Auckland.

Richard spent days and nights on his knees designing, cutting, fitting, and gluing the carpet mural that occupies the floor of the exhibition room. [He nearly wore through the knees of his pre-faded jeans.] When standing, Richard would squint at the mural, before dissecting part of a ‘lung’, gluing the skeletal jaw down, or popping a swan on either side to mess up the symmetry. He had the fever of a young medical student discovering the workings of our inners.

Martyn’s contribution to the show is the projection of trees swaying in the breeze. Martyn came in, put his DVDs into the DVD players, and shifted the projectors. It was “easier to do than I thought” he said. He looked from one projection to the other, and in the quest for a colour match he fiddled and fiddled with the remotes. The two large [colour matched] projections in the room cover the whole wall, including the doors, but unlike the carpet it doesn’t disguise the surface completely. The projection gets on your face, and your face shadow gets on the wall.

These two artists are very different, but what makes them equally impressive in this instance, is their confidence to make art based on a series of clues, or a hunch. “I think it might just work” said one to the other. — Amelia Harris

This serene machine is on at the Auckland Offie of the Film Archive, Level 1, 300 Karangahape Road, Auckland Central.
6 December - 22 February 2008
[ps – The Film Archive in Auckland is closed 21 Dec-4 Feb 08]