Internation-
al Foodcou-
rt / Global
Classic

4 June - 9 July 2016

Opening Friday 3 June, 5.30pm

Artist talk Saturday 4 June, 12 noon

International Foodcourt/Global Classic represents a dialogue between two artists based around working day jobs and the physical processes of making. Together Annie Mackenzie and Dave Marshall explore the notion of being ‘international’ or ‘global’ in order to look at what is close by, gathering material inspiration from their immediate surroundings.

Marshall’s work reflects on his experiences working in an international foodcourt in Wellington, New Zealand. Although this setting may be a symbol of globalisation, cosmopolitanism and ‘fast living’, Marshall presents text-based work, photographic records, ceramic vessels and sculptural components that are specific to the atmosphere and relations he encountered as a foodcourt employee. Many of these objects traverse the ‘high’ world of sculpture and ‘low’ world of functionality.

Produced on a loom, Mackenzie’s handwoven textiles consider how knowledge and symbols are passed hand to hand within the practice of weaving, as well as within capitalist systems. These textiles are based on the standardised designs of woven dishcloths mass-produced in factories in Asia. In New Zealand, these cloths are sold in home and living stores under brand names such as ‘Classic Living’. Turning to traditional techniques, Mackenzie reworks the patterns and motifs that are appropriated and circulated through the production of mass consumables.

Examining complex relations between the local and international, the handmade and mass produced, International Foodcourt/Global Classic invites us to consider how these play out in our everyday lives.

Annie Mackenzie's artistic practice focusses on the intersection of material cultures, handworked labour and the dispersal of traditional knowledge. Recent exhibitions include Who Opens The Door, Blue Oyster Gallery, Dunedin and Pay for the Printer, Triple Major Shanghai, China. She graduated with a Bachelor in Sculpture from Ilam School of Fine Arts in 2009. Annie Mackenzie was the 2016 recipient for the Creative Fibre New Weavers Award.

Dave Marshall is an artist working between conceptual practice and pottery, both and neither. He acquired a BFA in Sculpture from Ilam School of Fine Arts in 2010. He currently lives in Wellington, firing kilns at the Wellington Potters Association and working on an instruction manual for alternative lifestyle festivals.