Media and Links

Six Years After the Christchurch Earthquake, a Homegrown Memorial Faces an Uncertain Future

http://hyperallergic.com 22nd February 2017

As the official memorial to victims of the 2011 Christchurch earthquake is unveiled, an unofficial but beloved installation commemorating the dead remains in limbo.

You can see traces of visitors' interactions in the flowers, cards, stuffed animals, and even jewelry left beside the chairs — more marks that liken them to headstones. With these small gestures, the installation continuously evolves, just like the built environment around it that has welcomed sleek, modern buildings.

"Brian Eno's definition of installation art is that it is art that is unfinished — it is added to and changed by those who engage with it," Majendie said. He recalled one particularly memorable day when he saw "half a dozen young guys, all in business suits, sitting on the bar stools within the installation and silently raising their cans of beer in a salute.

"The installation transcends the actual event of the earthquake," he added, "and offers a place of reflection and healing for all kinds of loss."

Artist Pete Majendie unveils design for permanent installation of 185 Chairs

www.stuff.co.nz February 14th 2017

Artist Pete Majendie has unveiled his design for a permanent 185 Empty Chairs installation. The design involves casting each chair in aluminium and placing them on a black concrete pad. The pad would be underlit with a pattern reminiscent of cracks in the earth or human nerves.

He said one important distinction was that there would be no names on the artwork, and no chair represented any particular victim of the earthquake.

"There are no chairs representing relations. They're representing absences."

Why 185 White Chairs is a fitting memorial

www.pressreader.com February 8th 2017

Peter Majendie's installation remains convincing as an engaging and meaningful experience, writes Warren Feeney.
There are many good reasons for Christchurch to retain Pete Majendie's memorial sculpture, 185 White Chairs. This is an art installation that needs no words to make its point, just the experience of being a participant, walking around it and through it or sitting and talking to others.
Majendie's 185 White Chairs have drawn thousands of unprompted responses from the public as an artwork which has made tangible the reality of the loss and absence of family and loved ones to many visiting the central city since February 2012. Praise for 185 Chairs in the 35 commentary books that the artist has collected since its installation has been spontaneous and sincere.

Artist calls for 185 white chairs to become permanent memorial to Canterbury earthquake

The artist behind Christchurch's 185 white chairs has indicated he wants the installation to become permanent. Majendie said the permanent installation might be at a different site. The artwork is currently on Government-owned land earmarked for a new sports stadium.

Majendie said a permanent installation would have to be cast from aluminium and powder-coated white.

In the meantime, a working bee was planned from 9am on February 11 2017 – weather permitting – to repair and repaint the chairs in time for the sixth anniversary of the earthquake, he said.

185 Empty White Chairs - Earthquake Memorial, Christchurch ...