Andrew Drummond
Aotearoa New Zealand, b.1951
Filter Action, Aramoana
- 1980
- Inkjet on archival paper
- Purchased 2007
- 750 x 1939mm
- 2007/024
Location: South Gallery
Tags: marshes, men (male humans), monochrome, protesting
Aotearoa New Zealand has a long tradition of environmental protest, often centred on the shoreline and with artists at the forefront. Aramoana, near the entrance to Otago Harbour, was proposed as the site of a large aluminium smelter by a New Zealand and foreign-owned consortium in the 1970s. The Save Aramoana Campaign was formed in 1974 and involved many well-known artists. The smelter proposal was eventually abandoned and the saltmarshes designated as a reserve.
In 1982, Andrew Drummond’s 1980 performance Filter Action, Aramoana referenced the area’s importance as a filter bed. By burying a sheep kidney in the saltmarshes, he connected them with the body’s own filtering mechanism.
(Te Wheke, 2020)