Toxic Gains

Following on from her previous outing under the anonymous moniker Eco Disposals (2000) Ltd at the Otira project early last year, Christchurch artist Pauline Rhodes continues her exploration of the nature/culture dichotomy in this impressive and sprawling installation. Throughout her career Rhodes has maintained an interest in the changing processes of implosions of matter and materials, finding multiple, symbiotic and ambiguous relationships within seemingly random juxtapositions.

In assuming the title Eco Disposals (2000) Ltd, the artist simulates the bland facade of a corporation or industry, a sterile exterior belying the rhizomatic chaos of Rhodes' organic layerings within the gallery. The work suggests a concern with the earth's entropic processes, particularly in regard to toxic gains, the disposal of waste, and the resulting contamination and degeneration of the environment.