September 2023. Aotearoa New Zealand's first digital public artwork, HALO, is suspended high above the legendary harbour Te Whanganui-a-Tara in the capital city Wellington. The stone monument proposes a circle of unity connecting earth, sky and sea. At the leading edge of creative technology, this giant sculpture is viewed in 3D, at full scale in real time and space. It disperses sun and moon-light, and casts a shadow on the sea. Created by each person using their mobile phone or tablet at three site-specific locations, HALO is revealed through extended reality. Visitors to the waterfront can scan QR codes to view the artwork on Te Aranui o Pōneke / The Great Harbour Way – from the Te Papa Tongarewa Museum of NZ Bush Walk harbour-front terrace, and from two seaside promenade sites: in front of Te Papa, and outside the Star Boating club. Commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust as a 40th anniversary gift to the people of Wellington NZ, look for signs at Te Papa and on the harbour’s edge, and step into the Metaverse! 

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8 September 2023.  Gill Gatfield’s new virtual sculpture HALO is unveiled at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa by the Wellington Sculpture Trust at a special celebration at Rongomaraeroa. The marae is named after a place in the heavens where atua (Māori gods) meet in peace to discuss and settle issues. Created by master carver Cliff Whiting and the Te Papa Māori advisory group, Ngā Kaiwawao, the marae embraces the concept of mana taonga (the role of communities in the understanding and care of collections) and the principles of Te Tiriti, the Treaty of Waitangi. HALO was commissioned by Wellington Sculpture Trust to commemorate 40 years of trailblazing public art in New Zealand’s capital city.

Sept. 2023. Excitement is building and preparations underway for the unveiling of a new public artwork to be located between the sky and sea. The virtual monument is commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust to celebrate 40 years of enriching public art in Aotearoa NZ’s capital city, and will be launched at a special event at Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. The large-scale work carves new dimensions in digital and physical space.

July 2023.  Activations from dawn to dusk on Mt Aenos, the highest mountain peak in the Ionion Islands, bind In Absentia to the ancient rock as the glass I-figures reach for the sky. In the Global UNESCO Geopark, Mt Aenos is a designated International Dark Sky Park and Greek national park with unique ecology, biodiversity, and cultural heritage. Bringing the Metaverse to the Mountain, the transient sculpture reflects the mountain's micro-climate, mystically appearing and disappearing on cloud-covered ridges and cypress and pine clad slopes.

12 July 2023. A sunset opening and heartwarming reception for In Absentia in Farsa, a village of two parts beside the Ionian Sea. Presented in a circle in the village square, the activation drew together a community focussing on the future as it rebuilds its heritage, reconnecting with Old Farsa, a C16th century stone fishing village on the mountainside that was abandoned after the devastating 1959 Earthquake. The digital sculpture is activated throughout July in unique locations in the UNESCO geopark Island of Kefalonia with its welcoming people, mythical landscapes and deep cultural histories. In Absentia in Farsa is presented by Ionion Center for the Arts & Culture and Farsa Village Council with ‘We Are Nature' International Festival 2023 and UNESCO GeoPark Kefalonia.

After three years of research and studio experiments, a new shape-shifting monument In Absentia is launched in Greece – the first activations of a series of international presentations. Supported by the Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa Global Digital New Work programme, the virtual sculpture invites audience engagement and participation. Created through mobile phone technology, In Absentia will be physically experienced in real time and space, in specific locations worldwide. The work explores how futuristic forms can create new possibilities and connections between humanity, environment, technology, time and place. Site specific research and activations take place in Greece (June-July 2023) and UK (August 2023).

In Absentia 2023
crystal glass, Acropolis marble, extended reality
3.53mH x 3mDia.

6 July 2023. 'In Absentia' has been selected for presentation in the inaugural 'We Are Nature' International Festival, a multidisciplinary arts and culture event in Kefalonia Greece. Combining light installations, forest weavings and cultural activities, the festival is supported by the Greece Natural Environment and Climate Change Agency  (NECCA), Ionion Center for Arts & Cuture, and Kefalonia municipal authorities. The festival will run in special sites across the Island from July-September 2023.

June 2023. Site specific research and development of the new virtual sculpture In Absentia will start in UNESCO Geopark sites of the Ionion island of Kefalonia supported by a one month residency and exhibition grant awarded by the Ionion Center for the Arts & Culture Greece. Gatfield's residency project includes experimentation and activations of the digital presence in sites of antiquity and special significance in geology, ecology and culture in the Geopark, a gem in the Ionion sea imbued with ancient history and philosophy. The Ionion Center's programmes are designed and led by international artists and academics, including curatorial lead Dr Haytham Nawar, aiming to advance and promote creative collaborations across the fields of research, arts, technology, science and the environment.

2023 Artist in Residence is awarded to NZ based international artist Gill Gatfield by Poison Creek Sculpture Project. High on the foothills of Mount Pisa in Te Waipounamu / South Island NZ. Poison Creek hosts a dynamic contemporary sculpture collection that celebrates and supports Aotearoa's finest sculptors and rising stars. Gill Gatfield's residency project will evolve across two seasons in this wilderness landscape, experimenting with new materials and ideas and exploring the healing and spiritual powers of this magical place as she creates an enchanting site-specific work that connects with Poison Creek's unique ecology and cultural landscape.

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