ia | flow with Kirsty McNeil, 2019-2020 Nathan Homestead Pukepuke
'Moments', 2019
Unfired recycled commercial clay
Installation view showing 'Leaves' and Kirsty McNeil's 'Cadence', 2019
Papier-mache and photocopy paper
'Leaves', 2019
Photocopy paper
Driveway at 'The Hill', Manurewa, ca 1935 (Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections, Footprints 06239), 2019 Screenprint with earth from the grounds of David Nathan Park
Recent Species at Lightscape, for Artweek 2019 Comet Project Space
To nest is to make a home; a place of comfort, warmth and protection.
Nests are temporary homes. While they may be inhabited by different generations, they are not permanent. They are havens for time-being; spaces for nurturing, for privacy, for rest.
Nests don’t come with white ware, or built in storage, but they have excellent natural ventilation systems. They’re sustainably built from organic locally-sourced materials, they’re environmentally friendly and they make the most of small spaces. Plus, 9 times out of ten they come with a fantastic view.
Nests are never bigger than they need to be. They are sometimes fussy, but never overstated. They are perfectly designed for their purpose – to meet what Maslow defines as ‘basic needs’, essential for both physical and mental well-being.
Somewhere along the (bright) line we seem to have lost sight of this. While the rich get richer, wage earners who can’t afford homes themselves pay for criminals to have rooves over their heads, clean sheets, three meals, hot showers and underfloor heating. Article 25 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights recognises that “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, medical care and necessary social services and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.”
The New Zealand Bill of Rights Act (1990), which is based on the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, acknowledges the right to freedom of expression, religious belief, movement and the right to be free from discrimination, but fails when it comes to meeting the basic physiological needs that a home provides.
There’s no reason for our people to be sleeping in cars, or on the streets. There’s space enough for everyone. The average person doesn’t need a 200 square metre houses, they need a place to rest their head, a place where they can nest.