Sue Gallagher, Tana Mitchell, Kim Paton, onne terre and Elvon Young in conversation
Friday, 20 April, Midday, Gallery One.

Assembly began with an invitation to a mixed discipline group of artists, designers and architects: Sue Gallagher, Tana Mitchell, Kim Paton, onne terre and Elvon Young. We asked them to design and create an environment that supports the activity of fearless speech within the physical space of ST PAUL St Gallery One. Over a period of three months the design team has developed a series on interventions, structures and follies that interrogate the kaupapa of Assembly. The first week of Assembly is given over to building the Assembly environment and will culminate with a public discussion between Sue Gallagher, Tana Mitchell, Kim Paton, onne terre and Elvon Young about the structures they have developed.

Sue Gallagher
Sue Gallagher has a MA (Scenography) from Central St Martins, UK and a Bachelor of Architecture from the University of Auckland. She is currently the Associate Head of School of the School of Art & Design, at AUT University. In 2011 she was the New Zealand Curator for the 2011 Prague Quadrennial: 12th International Exhibition of Performance Design and Space (National and Student Sections).

Sue's research practice explores performance (and other unstable media) as a platform that transgresses many art forms. It is her understanding from training as an architect and scenographer that spaces are not static and fixed creations, but subtle, communicative and transformative. Her practice investigates relationships between spatial design and performance; specifically architectural and performative environments, including installation, exhibition design, and media arts. Performance, installation, video and other scenographic works have been exhibited in the Netherlands, Germany, Greece, Japan, Czech Republic, Canada and New Zealand.

Tana Mitchell
Tana Mitchell is an award-winning independent designer with over 10 years experience, both here, in New Zealand & overseas. Currently working independently as a brand and design consultant — Tana is focusing on developing strategies and creative outcomes for brand, innovation and experiential projects. Tana’s passion for typography precluded an ongoing relationship with the arts resulting in a long history of publication design — including artist’s catalogues, magazines, and theatre programmes. Tana has initiated several independent projects including Propaganda a sponsored community project that  connected young artists with the creative industry and more recently The Anablog a one day performance at the inaugural Laneways festival in Auckland. Tana also collaborated with Julia Deans in the first MakeSomething exhibition in 2010.

onne terre
Within a problem space, a problem is solved by starting at some initial state, transforming that state through the application of various elements until a state is reached that is recognised as being a desired state. It is through this activity of selecting and applying various elements that we solve problems. Our use of problem solving is meant to be generic, so that it includes calculating, reasoning, and similar activities that involve performing changes on spaces. http://onneterre.info

Kim Paton
Kim Paton is an artist and works as a Lecturer in Visual Arts at Wintec School of Media Arts in Hamilton and is currently the Curatorial Director for Wintec’s Ramp Gallery. Recent exhibitions include The Free Store Project for the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana, Slovenia, 2011, Collected Fictions, Waikato Museum, 2011, Free Store Project as part of the Letting Space series, Wellington, 2010, Break: Towards a Public Realm, Govett Brewster Art Gallery, 2009, Imagining Victories, Adam Art Gallery, 2008 and Telecom Prospect, Wellington City Art Gallery, 2007. She is the founder of the Free Store project in New Zealand and in early 2011 undertook a major collaboration with the Auckland Council and various West Auckland communities trialing the Free Store with the aim of establishing a long-term project. Her 2010 lecture with Economist Claire Dale After Supermarkets has just been published in the new book Dialogues with Tomorrow. She has a Fine Arts Degree (Sculpture) from Massey University in Wellington and is currently completing a Masters Degree in Business at Waikato University.

Elvon Young
Elvon has a background in Marketing, Architecture and the Arts. He has been involved in many competition winning architectural projects. Elvon specializes in digital and parametric design methodologies, in addition he is an exhibited artist, with his most recent works exhibited at the City Gallery Wellington and published by Urbis magazine as Interior Designer of the Year. Elvon is the Head of Spatial Design at AUT University and a Principal at Young+Richards.