Passing Time, 2010/11
Passing Time
Biography:
Anton Parsons, New Zealand
Auckland based artist Anton Parsons is one of New Zealand's leading sculptors. He graduated from the University of Canterbury School of Fine Arts in 1990. His work is held in public and private collections throughout New Zealand.
Parsons’ practice has embraced a wide range of media and modes: industrial materials, readymade objects, photography and installation. His works engage physical space in profound, often unsettling ways through the apparently very simple means. Parsons makes his audience powerfully aware of the physical as much as conceptual demarcations imposed by architecture and the power that resides in social spaces. The audience is implicated in the works by virtue of having to negotiate a way around them.
Public works by the artist include Invisible City in Lambton Quay, Wellington (2003), The Longest Day, located in the Q&V Building, Queen St, Auckland (2004) and Numbers, a recent commission for the Palmerston North Public Sculpture Trust.
Anton Parsons’ Passing Time, which was created for the 6th SCAPE, was installed only a few days prior to the earthquake of 22 February 2011—not long before the 6th SCAPE was due to open.
Although the city centre was shaken during the Christchurch earthquake, Passing Time continues to stand tall.
The work, commissioned by the Christchurch City Council’s Public Art Advisory Group, CPIT and the CPIT Foundation, features twisting boxes depicting each year between 1906 (the founding of CPIT) and 2010 (the date of the sculpture’s production).
Location - Wilson Reserve, CPIT
Further information: www.antonparsons.co.nz
Anton Parsons, 'Passing Time', 2010/11. Image courtesy of the artist and the Art & Industry Biennial Trust.