Survival River Series: Whanganui - Gold Waters

Survival River Series: Whanganui - Gold Waters | Brydee Rood 2016 | Te Whare O Rehua Whanganui - Sarjeant Gallery Whanganui New Zealand.

Floating with a composition of survival blanket pieces on the Whanganui River, I became a caretaker and guardian of the river, seeking balance within a fragile relationship between man and river, the precarious materiality of the pieces an ever shifting dialogue. Survival River Series speaks to the state of emergency faced by many rivers across the world and our complex role as poisoners and potential saviours.

Video stills x2 detail x1| Survival River Series: Whanganui - Gold Waters

There is something very fascinating to me that exists between ritual and habit; of the things we do habitually versus an act of ritual, it seems pretty murky and vague sometimes, maybe some old habits become rituals and some old rituals become habits - the conscious, unconscious, practiced and learnt knowledge that inherently develops our mentality and belief structure and the age old questioning of why we do the things we do? Man’s contemporary relationship with water is questionable, underscored by geopolitics; viewed as a resource to be used, polluted, wasted and consumed at a price all be it economic, social and environmental. The work seeks to quiet the imposed value of water within a capitalist structure, to evoke an alternative value and express a reverent positive memory exchange with the body of water existing within us and connecting us to the earths Rivers.

Sarjeant Gallery Podcast In this episode of the podcast host Sarah McClintock talks with artist Brydee Roods about her practice, performance art, and her new work in the exhibition Still Water Goes Stagnant.

Survival River Series: Whanganui - Gold Waters

Still Water Goes Stagnant - exhibition view | Curator: Sarah McClintock

Survival River Series: River Flag 

Still Water Goes Stagnant - exhibition  view | Curator: Sarah McClintock 

Images: Brydee Rood 2016