Things that go bump in the night

Group shows are a bit strange anyway, all those different viewpoints put into a room together, but The Blue Room is even weirder, an offbeat construction of a group of artists working to the theme of occult practice.

The exhibition runs at Te Manawa ART until October 11.

Curated by artist Pippa Sanderson for the Blue Oyster Gallery in Dunedin, the exhibition topic was one she fell into, discovering a book dated 1927 about The Blue Room, a site for seances set up by Clive Chapman, a Dunedin journalist, the town then an apparent hotbed of spirituality. The Blue Room was moved to Masterton in the 1930s.

Despite the variety, not just with 13 artists' voices but featuring a diverse range of media including video, video projections, photography, a framed multimedia work, large drawings on paper, printed silk fabric and mini-installations, it curiously holds together in a surprisingly cohesive fashion. As a body it has a similar "feel", a contemporary aesthetic that makes things match up.

Sanderson's group is drawn together from a mutual interest in each other's artistic practices, the artists themselves involved in different degrees in the theme as spectators, sceptics and believers.

Sanderson may be drawn to such a topic she has ancestors who were spiritualists in the Hokianga. Her work in the exhibition, altered Polaroid photos, refer to the spirit photography of the 1850s where, in the hunt for empirical evidence for signs of communication after death, photographic effects were earnestly studied for unusual signs.

Two small installations are some of the more whimsical entries. The work by Leek and Faigan, Across the miles I see you clearly, a primitive thought experiment set up with benches and notebooks, and the wilder Wishland by du Chatenier, which features a giant woollen mat and covering lumped over a rounded form, skulls and candles, odd flowers constructed of bone and a pile of cards of spells, have a sense of childlike fascination.

As a theme it lends itself to technology. Easy Chair, by Rebecca Pilcher, nicely sited around the corner in is own small room, has a cushion that moves with a strange chanting soundtrack. This and other works strongly rely on atmosphere, possibly the integral point with such a theme.

One of the most delicate and elegant pieces is a simple video projection featuring a moving image that slowly develops, or sometimes makes a sudden appearance. It is a woman, about life-sized, in flowing white dress, a pretty romantic ghost that dashes, laughs, plays with us; a presence we become aware of behind us as we move around. Titled Hauntology.101, by Johanna Saunders, it is a gem.

The lesson with this is not to take it too seriously it is more fun folly than anything else, with aesthetic merit and interest.

- © Fairfax NZ News