Dr Gabby O’Connor joins us for a two month residency to work in the Te Whare Hēra studio space, to work on several projects that involve testing and representing the water in Wellington Harbour.
Gabby O’Connor is an artist, transdisciplinary researcher, Antarctican, science communicator and educator. Her work operates across multiple disciplines and audiences– between contemporary art, science communication, social science and community action, and looks at different entry points to conversations to science, place and our changing climate. She frequently collaborates with scientists, other artists, researchers, policy-makers, audiences and school students, thinking beyond normal definitions of stakeholder and public. This strategy acts as an access-point for diverse communities to be part of the conversation around science with art as the delivery system.
Gabby has been working in the Te Whare Hēra studio and gallery space in a super productive way, with collaborators from science, art and education joining her in person and virtually. Her experimental approach has seen her working with scientific equipment, film gels, data, and photography / videography.
Roseneath School Ocean Workshop
Gabby invited a class from Roseneath School to visit for a workshop at the Collab-Lab at Te Whare Hēra gallery space. The students were amazing - so engaged, and asking such excellent thought-provoking questions, as they explored the intersection of art and science through responses to the ocean. We were so lucky to also hear from Dr Craig Stevens, who is a Principal Scientist (Marine Physics) for NIWA, and who gave a presentation about the salinity and layers of our sea. I think everyone, adults and kids alike, learned more than they ever dreamed possible during the workshop, and everyone came away with a renewed passion for the care of our oceans, and creatively full from the Lightbox generation of our own ocean strata. Gabby shared about her art practice in a way that was approachable, rich and creatively expansive.