“COLONY” Art

If you’ve walked/driven down Symonds Street before, you have probably noticed Colony. That’s the name given to the supposed artwork through the window of the Engineering building at Auckland Uni. I see it all the time, but I didn’t realise there is actually a meaning behind the scribble-like neon mess. I was waiting outside my lecture theatre today when I noticed the plaque next to the artwork with a description by the artist. The description read:

COLONY 2004

I made COLONY to enhance the counterpoint the monumentalism of its site: the lecture theatre and surrounding buildings in the Faculty of Engineering. This expansive neon light-drawing adds a sense of transition and movement to the space. Clustered elements radiate from a point, then unravel towards the perimeter, morphing from semi-figurative motifs to abstract-surrealist gestures. Rendered in my trademark graphic style, a synthesis of writing, pictograms and abstraction, the forms appear random, chaotic or free-form, but are actually highly considered and carefully placed. The title suggests a collection of related entities with similar goals cohabiting in a new found territory. I chose neon gas for its vital “living flame” quality. The incendiary persimmon colour of the tubes is the chromatic opposite of the tinted green glass encapsulating the space.

Paul Hartigan
10.03.2005

Sounds like quite a masterpiece right? You would think so with such in-depth analysis. The thing that amazes me the most is how someone managed to extract that much out of what seems like random squiggles with no meaning. You can decide for yourself…