See our Summer- Autumn 2013-2014 - Govett-Brewster Art Gallery

EXHIBITION
Ann Shelton:
doublethink
28 September 2013 –
2 February 2014
Midhirst, New Plymouth,
Whanganui
On 18 November 1982, educated anarchist and
young punk Neil Roberts took a planned, radical and
finite step – he attempted to blow up the ‘Wanganui
Computer’ at Wairere House on the Whanganui
River. A then-powerful symbol of ‘Big Brother’, the
computer was the physical manifestation of the
New Zealand Government’s first foray into archiving
digital data on its citizens.
Informed and deeply concerned by social
developments in early 1980s’ Aotearoa New Zealand,
Roberts’ extreme action tapped into public ill-feeling
towards the computer and its mythical status
throughout the country. Roberts lost his life in the
bombing.
(now Bolivia), as it declared its independence from
the Spanish Crown.
Written with sparklers in the night sky and
photographed in Whanganui on the 30th anniversary
of the bombing and Robert’s death, Ann Shelton’s
work doublethink reiterates and repositions this
graffitied message, asking questions about its
relevance, problematic status and meaning in
today’s social landscape.
Posters are available at Cafe Govett-Brewster, New
Plymouth and Sarjeant Gallery, Whanganui.
Curated by Meredith Robertshawe
www.annshelton.com
Shortly before the bombing, Roberts graffitied the
words “WE HAVE MAINTAINED A SILENCE CLOSELY
RESEMBLING STUPIDITY” on a nearby public
toilet wall. This phrase is translated from the 1809
revolutionary proclamation of South America’s first
independent government, the Junta Tuitiva in La Paz
Image: Ann Shelton doublethink ‘We have maintained a silence closely
resembling stupidity’ Neil Roberts 1982 2013 (installation view, State
Highway 3, Midhirst). Photo Bryan James
#doublethink