To follow up his well-received "Suburban" exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria this past summer, Ian Strange is back with another interesting project that involves suburban homes entitled "FINAL ACT." In collaboration with Lord of the Rings cinematographer Alun Bollinger, locals, and volunteer groups, Strange was commissioned by Canterbury Museum to create light-based interventions inside four New Zealand homes that were damaged by the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the country's deadliest peacetime disaster on record.
The homes that Strange was given access to were located in a "red-zoned" neighborhood and were still deemed uninhabitable three years after the disaster. He worked with demolition and salvage teams to restore the homes close to their pre-quake state, then they cut geometric shapes out of the structures so that the beams of light (and life) could shine through. Strange and Bollinger spent the next few days filming and photographing the homes at various points during the night and day to document "the final act" for the structures that were once called homes. Of the project, Strange says, "this process of documentation is, in a sense, how they can live on, and I hope that this is something that resonates with the residents of Christchurch, with whom I made this work."
The exhibition of photographs and the looped film opened as a part of the RISE Festival at Canterbury Museum on December 20 and will run through March 23. Check out the "FINAL ACT" trailer below:
