One Day Sculpture is not an exhibition. It is a cumulative series of one-day public artworks commissioned across New Zealand over one year. Featuring new work by 27 artists from 18 countries, the series includes Thomas Hirschhorn, Roman Ondák, Javier Tellez, Michael Parekowhai, Lara Almárcegui, Paola Pivi and Rirkrit Tiravanija.

One Day Sculpture was developed within a contemporary art landscape dominated by large-scale international biennial exhibitions. Responding to the increasingly performative, event-based and dispersed forms of contemporary art, One Day Sculpture seeks to harness the energies of the one-off event or festival, but within a longer-term cumulative and collaborative project.

“One Day Sculpture sets out to challenge conventional curatorial formats,” Doherty suggests, “which tend to set newly commissioned works within the framework of a six-week thematic exhibition bound to a specific location. This series asks a range of visiting and resident artists to each produce a project for a single day in the public realm in one of five regions in New Zealand.

Whilst One Day Sculpture seeks to inspire new definitions of public sculpture, it does so as a series of fleeting interventions which, one after the other, then circulate beyond New Zealand entering the social imagination as documents, fictions and rumors.”

Led by the Litmus Research Initiative at Massey University and UK-based curator Claire Doherty, One Day Sculpture is realised in partnership with 12 leading arts organisations across New Zealand. The series runs through June 2009.

The ambitious series commenced in August 2008. 7 projects have been realised to date, with another 14 projects planned for 2009 by artists including Lara Almárcegui, Billy Apple, Bik Van Der Pol, Bekah Carran, Thomas Hirschhorn, James Luna, Roman Ondák, Michael Parekowhai, Paola Pivi, Santiago Sierra, Superflex, Javier Tellez, Rirkrit Tiravanija and Bedwyr Williams.

For commissioned responses to each of the projects, the audio archive of talks, an online reader and information on forthcoming projects, please visit >>.

One Day Sculpture: An International Symposium on Art, Place and Time :: March 26 – 28, 2009 :: Wellington, New Zealand.

This symposium brings together leading international curators, cultural theorists and historians, participating artists, writers and curators to address the principal ideas and contexts that have informed the development of the series. Speakers include Bik van der Pol, Paola Pivi, Professor Jane Rendell, Javier Tellez, Jan Verwoert and Mick Wilson. Registration is now open.

The One Day Sculpture book (co-edited by Dr. David Cross and Claire Doherty) will set the documentation of all 21 projects within a broader critical context. It will be published by Kerber in late 2009.

One Day Sculpture is a Massey University College of Creative Arts, School of Fine Arts, Litmus Research Initiative. Realised with major funding support from Massey University College of Creative Arts, Wellington City Council Public Art Fund, Creative New Zealand, Massey University Foundation, Chartwell Trust. Also supported by University of the West of England, Bristol; Asia New Zealand Foundation; Goethe Institut; Mondriaan Foundation; The British Council; SEACEX; Royal Netherlands Embassy; Wales Arts International; Otago Polytechnic, The British Academy and ProAm

Commissioning partners: Wellington: Adam Art Gallery, City Gallery Wellington, Enjoy Public Art Gallery, Litmus Research Initiative, Massey University, Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa; Auckland: ARTSPACE, Auckland Art Gallery, Cuckoo, St Paul St.; Christchurch: Christchurch Art Gallery, The Physics Room; Dunedin: Blue Oyster Art Project Space; New Plymouth: Govett-Brewster Art Gallery.