ALEX MONTEITH

Temporary Mechanisms is Alex Monteith’s first solo exhibition with Gow Langsford Gallery. Monteith is a prolific contemporary film maker known for her technically sophisticated video installations that reflect contemporary sports, cultural and social activities. Her works are typically performance and time-based; employing media such as film, sound, and video, and are often create in extreme or large-scale geographies.

In Temporary Mechanisms a 5-channel video installation titled 2.5 Kilometre Mono Action for a Mirage (2011) dominates the gallery space. In a spectacle of flux, balance and illusion, the protagonist, a Moto-X rider, pulls a continuous wheelie for three and a half minutes along 2.5 kilometres of idyllic New Zealand coastline. The wheelie is a notably delicate manoeuvre for a rider to execute over longer durations. Shot at a location north of Muriwai Beach, west of Auckland, the action was conceived specifically for the landscape’s inherent atmospheric conditions.

The second aspect of the exhibition is a collaborative project for which Monteith invited artists to create temporary exhibitions to be installed in the tray of a Toyota Hilux – or Artute. Displayed at the front of the gallery the matt black, lowered Ute acts as a mobile social art project. In a second aspect of the Artute initiative sound artists were invited to contribute audio works to be played in the cab via the trucks sound systems.

These exhibitions within the exhibition will rotate on a weekly basis beginning with John Ward Knox (26.02.13 - 04.03.13), followed by Sarah Monro (04.03.13 - 11.03.13) and lastly Judy Darragh (11.03.13 - 16.03.13). For the ART UTE project: audio for a good car stereo programme Monteith has lined up Rachael Shearer, Sean Kerr, D.A.N.C.E Art Collective and Linda T.

With thanks to BATTERY logo/name

Monteith’s new publication Accelerated Geographies, published by the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery will also be launched by Rhana Devenport at the exhibition preview, Tuesday 26 February, 5 – 7pm.