Cushla Donaldson / Quentin Lind

Neighbourhood of Truth (trailer) (2021)

Single channel / Digital Video / Colour / Sound

Taking its starting point from an episode of settler colonial Satanic Panic in 1996, this 2021 film asks: "how artists might, in collaboration with their subjects, begin to create communities of truths?" — Mark Amery, 'It gets weird out there' (2024)

    Other works by Cushla Donaldson

    A man behind a counter in a device repair shop.
    Cushla Donaldson

    Heads: attempted and successful recovery of data (2016)

    The artist visits tech stores or help desks in an attempt to get the information off a computer that has given up the ghost.

    Heads: attempted and successful recovery of data
    A band performs in a red and gold lit room, a naked man throws something from the corner.
    Cushla Donaldson

    Supergroup (2014)

    An all-girl-led fest of gender swapped, multi-media madness.

    Supergroup
    A CGI cruiseship sails at dusk.
    Cushla Donaldson

    composite for a happiness that forgets nothing (2018)

    The glossy interiors of cruiseship marketing videos are decontextualised by an audio interview with an performance artist worker on a cruiseship.

    composite for a happiness that forgets nothing
    Bronze carbonated liquid pours from a CGI glass slipper.
    Cushla Donaldson

    501s (2018)

    A 2018 Melbourne Art Fair commission which hosted text messages from 501 detainees, interrupting a sleek, 3D rendering of an historical event.

    501s
    Cushla Donaldson on CIRCUIT

    Related essay

    A older person wearing sunglasses stands downhill from a hilltop watertower. She appears to be speaking to a memory of the place.

    It gets weird out there

    Essay
    By Mark Amery · January 24, 2024

    Mark Amery considers the role of moving image in giving voice in the work of artist Cushla Donaldson, with a focus on the 2021 film, Neighbourhood of Truth.

    Mark Amery on Cushla Donaldson

    CIRCUIT is the
    leading voice
    for artist moving image
    practice
    in Aotearoa New Zealand,
    distributing works,
    critical review and
    dialogues
    which reflect our unique, contemporary
    South Pacific context.