'Watery Features' 2024 Moving image still. Max Fleury and Bena Jackson Photo: supplied
From the Cuba Street bucket fountain to the fake lake at Te Papa and the famous 1958 James Turkington mural at the Parnell Baths, artist duo Bena Jackson and Max Fleury have an interest in our relationship to public water features.
Their latest exhibition at Corbans Art Estate in West Auckland, Blue Nylon, featuring video and mosaics stems from a study of the Parnell Baths and their long term interest as artists in the way communities craft, use, care for and maintain public spaces. From Elijah Wood’s famed urination into the Cuba Street Bucket Fountain to the creative use of Flamingo Scooters.
Earlier this year Bena Jackson’s Urban Legends show at Pukuranga’s Te Tuhi Gallery referenced one of the country’s earliest malls at the Pakuranga Town Centre and its hedges and what is known locally as the ‘hack circle in Ōtautahi Christchurch’s Cashel Mall.
Work by Bena Jackson and Max Fleury at Corbans Art estate Photo: supplied
For Blue Nylon, they have gathered a range of pool and fountain-related references to “consider fresh water in relation to leisure, decor and urban infrastructure in today’s cities.”
It even includes reference to a classic 1968 film The Swimmer, where Burt Lancaster attempts to swim across his neighbourhood from one neighbour’s pool to another. That reference surely alludes to the absurdity of our resource-hungry use of water features in the modern era.
Max Fleury and Bena Jackson live and work in Pōneke Wellington, and grew up in Ōtautahi Christchurch.
This isn't the first time the pair have worked together; previous collaborations include Same thing every day, Window, 2020; and Those who go quickly.
Max Fleury and Bena Jackson join Culture 101 to discuss their new exhibition Blue Nylon which is currently on until 23 November.
Work by Max Fleury and Bena Jackson at Corbans Art estate Photo: Ralph Brown.
