Song of Seeing Hands: A molecular encounter with taonga and tupuna / art and ancestors in Aotearoa New Zealand

Abstract

This thesis starts out as a politically-inflected enquiry into what art can do (for its viewers). It pursues this question through an examination of the workings of aesthetic perception – drawing upon the ‘molecular’ philosophies of Henri Bergson, Gilbert Simondon, Gilles Deleuze, Felix Guattari and Brian Massumi – and focuses especially on the part played by the imperceptible in perception, and in art. Aside from philosophical analysis, the main methodology is an iterative one of conducting close readings of artworks by five contemporary artists from Aotearoa-New Zealand: Lisa Benson, Daniel Crooks, Francis Upritchard, Alex Monteith and Lisa Reihana. But as the encounter with each artwork unfolds, and the art begins to affect (and at times, disorient) its viewer (that is, the writer of this thesis), new methodologies are required for perceiving fully, and grappling fully with the singularity of the artworks. Hence one of the sub-themes of the thesis is how to write about art, or, how to write art; and each chapter evolves its own style, its own writing constraints, its own point of view, its own voice, its own story in response to the artwork in question. A cultural theme is also threaded through the thesis and in this regard it becomes a personal (but also micro-political) journey for the writer, who finds that some artworks demand much more of her than anticipated. As she is compelled by the art to confront her own M"oritanga (M!ori culture and heritage), the theoretical and discursive underpinnings of the thesis undergo further revision and transformation, reorienting her towards indigenous and postcolonial concerns. By the end it is clear that art can powerfully affect its viewer – if we are willing to surrender to its effects and join it in an act of co-creation. But more than this, we learn that every artwork carries its own kaupapa or ethic of encounter, and can teach us rich and nuanced kawa or protocols – much needed in today’s hybrid world – for listening to and engaging with the voices of others both past and present.