For information about M\u0101ui dolphin conservation from the experts and what we can do to save our local Hectors dolphins from the same fate, including vital legislation changes in the fishing industry, please visit https:\/\/whaledolphintrust.org.nz\/take-action\/participate\/<\/a>, https:\/\/www.mauihectorsdolphins.org.nz<\/a>, https:\/\/wwf.org.nz, and fundraising page https:\/\/givealittle.co.nz\/cause\/help-protect-maui-and-hectors-dolphins <\/p>\n\n\n\n Petitions everyone should immediately sign are as follows This work uses mundane repetitive tasks of filling, freezing, removing, wrapping and re-filling moulds dozens of times to emphasise futility. I am freezing my fingertips and splashing water all over the floor and wasting plastic for weeks just so that the work can survive for just long enough to take a photograph of. Soon we will only have photographs of the living, breathing M\u0101ui too. Casting multiples of a form emphasises a poignant number – the estimated population remaining in the world of Ma\u016bi dolphin – and visually illustrates how few that actually is. The multiplicity of the work echoes pop repetition while the material is very much contemporary. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The materiality of the piece comes down to three facets; Ice, plastic and wood. The ice is ephemeral, more so with global warming than ever before, it will melt as the work is viewed. It is a transitional material moving from water to formed ice and back into water, shifting its energy through form. The ice represents the fleeting nature of something valuable that is slipping through our fingers. The plastic mould, while not visible in the final piece is still a large part of it, alludes to microplastics in water, non-renewable resources, imported materials and petroleum-based manufacturing. The PETG plastic is partially made from previously living carbon forms (dinosaurs, dolphins?) and speaks to man-made interference with the natural cycle of life – animals do not naturally decompose into usable plastic sheeting. The macrocarpa wood used to carve the original M\u0101ui dolphin is secondhand, recycled and sustainable. It\u2019s a nod to traditional methods of creation, once upon a time I would have carved 54 wooden dolphins, but then we invented plastic and silicone and modern materials that have cut time and the value of craftsmanship down. The work 54 <\/em>opens conversations about hypocrisy and nihilism in art. Does the end (exposure of a cause) justify the means (using plastic)? I’m not sure I have an answer to this. <\/p>\n\n\n\n While 54 <\/em>is an ephemeral sculpture that was designed to melt and disappear completely while onlookers were unable to do anything to stop it, a direct representation of how I feel about the M\u0101ui dolphin, I have plans in the future to re-use the custom moulds to create pieces that will last longer than a few hours. It is possible I could recreate this ephemeral piece in ice again, it would take ten days to make this many a second time with four moulds. I will certainly be making more art in response to environmental and ecological subject matter that is dear to my heart in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201c54<\/em> is as complicated as you want to interpret it\u201d the artist has stated. \u201cIt can be understood simply as a sadness of the possibility of losing a beautiful animal from existence, an experimentation of temporary materials, or a public outcry for legislative changes in the commercial fishing industry who are demonstrably the most culpable\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The work was publicly viewable from 4:15pm on Wednesday the 18th of June in the lower Octagon in Dunedin and while now melted, it exists in photographs and an accompanying poem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Mandatory cameras on commercial fishing vessels<\/a>
Ban trawl nets in shallow dolphin habitat waters<\/a>
Protect Hector’s dolphins through your regional plan<\/a>
Stop bottom trawling in dolphin habitats <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/otepotirenaissance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/IMG_20250618_194205-1024x1024.jpg?resize=1024%2C1024&ssl=1\")
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Contact: Jemma Edenborough otepotirenaissance@gmail.com<\/a> Instagram <\/a>@otepoti_renaissance
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