Anaerobic Video is a programme of ten video works shown between 2016 and 2022 on Masons Screen, Wellington’s public video art screen.
Featuring recent commissions by Louie Zalk-Neale, Gabriel White and Jamie Berry, Anaerobic Video looks at the nature of the commons. Topics addressed range from the mundane to the cosmological, taking in e-scooters, Matariki, and the open spaces of work and the city. Other video works in Anaerobic Video trace departures and returns, from the daily commuter climb up Masons steps, to the sweeping migration of birds from coast to coast.
'Anaerobic' is a word often associated with high intensity workouts, such as climbing stairs. Here, Anaerobic Video also refers to the endless cycle of looping artworks on display for passers by.
Masons Screen is a large video monitor stationed halfway up Masons Steps, a walkway that connects the nodes of transport, government, and retail in the Wellington CBD. Since 2016, Wellington arts agency CIRCUIT Artist Moving Image has been supported by Wellington City Council to programme a new artist’s video every month. The project has now shown over 50 works by 50 artists.
Anaerobic Video is presented at the Christchurch Arts Centre, and features works by artists with connections to Ōtautāhi Christchurch, including Canterbury artist and lecturer John Chrisstoffels, and former residents Bena Jackson and Claire Harris.
CIRCUIT Director Mark Williams says, ‘The screening at the Arts Centre is a great opportunity to reflect on how artists have used video to engage with public space. We are particularly looking forward to presenting this programme in Ōtautāhi Christchurch, which has a strong lineage of public art through its biennial SCAPE public art event. There are also several artists in the programme with links to Ōtautāhi and we are really happy to renew our partnership with the Arts Centre.'
