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Container or music series
The Shoreward Surge of the Sea
Wellington 2019
Claire O'Loughlin, Marcus McShane
Immigration is rising, ocean levels are rising, anger is rising, and women are rising up. As history has shown, there is no stopping the shoreward surge. In this large-scale text light projection work an endless scroll of women’s names moves up the seaward wall of Te Papa, like waves coming in from the sea, rolling over the land and disappearing into the sky. Inspired by the work of US conceptual artist Jenny Holzer and the physical NZ Suffrage Petiton scroll, this work attempts to visually capture the sheer number of women in New Zealand who have made a difference, no matter big or small. It gives presence and visibility to them and says clearly: there is no stopping us. We are going to keep coming. Everyone is invited to submit the names of women who inspire them at www.shorewardsurge.com
Claire O’Loughlin is a writer and theatre-maker from Wellington. She is a founding member of experimental performance company Binge Culture, and Co-Director of their participatory street-theatre show Whales, an inactment of a whale stranding.
Claire was born and grew up on a small sailing yacht and sailed around the
world with her family, returning to NZ when she was 15 years old. In 2017 she
wrote a memoir of her sailing childhood for her Masters in Creative Writing at
the International Institute of Modern Letters and was awarded the Jean Squire
Project Scholarship. The sea is common thread in all of Claire’s work.
Marcus McShane is one of New Zealand’s most prolific lighting designers, having completed over 400 designs and installation works for theatre, museums and galleries around NZ. His designs have been presented internationally in Australia, China, New York, Venice and more. Marcus has won numerous design awards, most recently the Judges’ Choice Award at the Bay of Plenty Awards, for his permanent outdoor interactive lighting artwork Wash, situated on the Tauranga waterfront. An avid cyclist, vegetarian and writer, Marcus’ works interview text, light and environmental themes in innotative and provocative ways.
Partners in life as well as art, Claire and Marcus have collaborated on many projects together, including Nests (NZ Festival 2016 and Light Nelson 2018) and The Dead Writers Retreat (Basement Theatre and Lōemis 2018).
Christie O’Loughlin (graphic and website designer), Charley Draper (AV design), and more to come
Funded by Creative NZ Creative Communities / Supported Wellington City Council Public Art Fund
