Commissioned by The Physics Room (Christchurch, New Zealand) as part of Oblique: The Otira Project.



Description

• 26 rose bushes purchased with artist's fee;
• Garden path at the former Otira Playcentre.
  
  
  Supported by
  Creative New Zealand Toi Aotearoa
  
  
  With thanks to
  Marcus Moore

Oblique: Culture in Otira

Otira township lies on Highway 73, the West Coast route through New Zealand's Southern Alps. Formerly a resting point for stagecoach and then railway, by 1999 it was virtually abandoned.
Under the directorship of Julaine Stephenson, Otira hosted one of the most ambitious art projects the South Island had seen in recent years. Over 30 artists from New Zealand, Australia, Japan, Germany, and the USA contributed to the Oblique project to produce a month long festival of site specific installation, video, film and interactive performance.

At Home was a small plantation of twenty-six rose bushes that proceeded along the garden path of the vacant Otira Playcentre. The path extended from the road in a direct line to the front door of the house. I planted a block of fourteen white 'Iceburg' roses with another twelve coloured varieties. As is standard in rose growing, these roses had feminine names. For their particular qualities I chose - 'Nancy Hayward', 'Doris Tysterman', 'Lady Waterlow', 'Kathleen Harrop' and 'St. Cecilie'. There are also two Chinese roses called 'Mutabilis'.

It was my wish that the roses planted for At Home would grow and remain on this site, once they had become accustomed to the Otira climate – a highly optimistic idea in a landscape known for high rainfall and persistent gloomy weather. Wikipedia notes "A possible meaning of Otira is "o" (place of) and "tira" (the travellers). Another possible meaning is "Oti" (finished) and "ra" (Sun), because Otira Gorge is usually in deep shadow."