In Watery Features, artists Bena Jackson and Max Fleury traverse the streets and parks of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington. As one photographs the various water flows they come across—from splashing fountains to leaking pipes, and bird baths to sprinklers—using 110 film, the other documents this action through moving image.
The work was originally shown in their exhibition Blue Nylon at Homestead Galleries in 2024.
Blue nylon stemmed from the artists' study of the iconic Parnell Baths, and the elegant swimmers that adorn the walls in James Turkington’s untitled 1958 mosaic—and extended Jackson and Fleury's interest in the ways that communities craft, use, care for, and maintain public spaces. Casting a wide net, the duo wove together a range of pool-related references to consider fresh water in relation to leisure, decor, and urban infrastructure in today’s cities.
