Overview
Wrangling nearly 3km of white walls and hundreds of halogen lamps is all in a day's work for Auckland Art Fair's director Jennifer Buckley. The logistics of organising New Zealand's premier art event is something I can't begin to fathom, but with more than 20 years experience in galleries and arts management and a great sense of humour to boot, Jennifer is definitely the woman for the job. Concrete Playground catches up with Jennifer Buckley for the low down on New Zealand's one and only art fair.
What's new for Auckland Art Fair 2013?
One of the things with the Art Fair this year's that's particularly interesting is the prevalence of new media in contemporary art. Making it is one thing, but how do you go about displaying it? Storing it? Redisplaying it? Collecting it? There are so many variables there and I'm really fascinated with that. The art fair has a public programme and series of panel discussions, one of which is about collecting new media. One of the speakers on the panel is Dick Quan from Sydney, who collects some of the most challenging things you could ever see. I look forward to hearing what he has to say.
We have a dedicated video space called The Video Zone. No games! But all of the galleries were given an opportunity to submit videos made by the represented artists. We've chosen 16 films that run in a 90 minute loop and there are seats to sit down. This year we've invited projects by artists which is a new thing too. In previous exhibitions we had a sculpture court, but it was time to change things up. All the project works are 3Dimensional.
Most of us have probably never been to a vernissage....
It's really just a fancy word for the opening gala, but it has an interesting history. It's an archaic French term which means 'the final flourish' and it's a derivation of the word varnish. When Salon painters completed a big commission, they would give it a final varnishing to show the patrons before it was unveiled to the public. About 25 years ago it was co-opted to the art world to describe the opening of a big art event. It's a great night; about 1000 people—artists, writers, collectors, curators, partners and friends. It's the art party of the year and an excuse to wear a frock!
What impacts and successes has Auckland Art Fair had over the years?
Introducing 'vernissage' into the lexicon!
Well, the Auckland Art Fair was developed by the NZ Contemporary Art Trust and the driving reason was to support the primary market; artists. Galleries and artists have a symbiotic relationship which is critical for the development and sustainability of the art market. We're keen to help people understand the role that galleries play and also to make contemporary art more accessible. We want people to understand how it all works, not to be afraid to engage in it, to ask questions. All our panel discussions are set up to engage with the big questions people might have.
The first fair was in 2005, we had 15 galleries and it was in a tent in Britomart. By the next fair two years later, we were up to 35 galleries and we were in the boat sheds. Ironically, we've come back to Britomart and we're still in a temporary building, although it's a bit bigger than a tent! Now we have 40 galleries, which is a good size. There's pressure to expand, but leaving it at 40 keeps it fresh and keeps the calibre of the work high.
What sets the Art Fair experience apart from visiting a regular gallery?
The Art Fair is one of the few occasions when the industry gets together and it gives you a real sense that you're part of a community. I think visitors pick up on that. You see people just rocking up and talking to each other. They're standing looking at a painting and the person besides them says, "I don't know about that yellow...what do you think?" and they just engage in a conversation right away. They wouldn't do that in a dealer gallery.
What our hope is, is that by visiting the Art Fair people will gain confidence through familiarity. If you go along to the Art Fair and you see some work you like or you make a connection with a gallery, when you visit that gallery, you know the people, you know the art that you like, so it takes away that whole anxiety about not knowing where to start. The Art Fair's only four days, so we hope that people will take away that little kernel and go forth with it, sign up to galleries' mailing lists and keep up with what's going on.
What's one of your most memorable art fair moments?
In 2007 Michael Lett did a project with Eve Armstrong and I watched it being installed over the three days. Eve was working then almost exclusively in cardboard, cardboard boxes and things. Just before the doors opened for the vernissage, one of my volunteers came running up in a complete fit saying, "Jennifer, Jennifer, somebody's left all the rubbish, all the boxes in that stand. I said, "No, that is the exhibit!" We had a good laugh about it and that was thing everybody would say; "Oh, that's a load of rubbish!"
The fascinating thing for me was watching over the three days this slow, meticulous progression and assemblage of the work. It was categorically no different than watching a painter go from preparing the canvas and building up the layers to finishing the work. People could say whatever they liked about it, but the one thing they could not say is that it isn't art.
What's the biggest myth about art?
One of them would be the more expensive it is, the better. Bollocks.