The period following the earthquake of 4 September 2010 was a strange moment in the history of Ōtautahi Christchurch. Rocked by aftershocks and still processing what had been lost or changed, the dazed city began to regroup and rebuild, unaware that a larger, more destructive earthquake lay in store. With her usual studio routines disrupted, Miranda Parkes recorded a series of ‘one-take’ videos, thick with the surreal emptiness of the moment. In this work, plastic used to protect an unfinished building from the elements tears free to flap in the wind, unravelling in an endless limbo.

(Absence, May 2023)