Upgrade
Melanie Arnold






“I drive over Hingaia Bridge almost every day. After the install it was discovered this bridge was originally built in 1955 by a close Blundell family relative Uncle Whit, adding an uncanny, but beautiful family historical link to the work and it’s current site at Riverhaven in Clevedon. Relevant to their original position in Karaka these works have been upgraded and now sit at an elevated datam level exactly 100% higher than their original site.” Melanie Arnold
Title: Upgrade
Date: 2018
Medium: Discarded concrete bridge railings, steel
Artist Description:
These mundane moulded structures once supported the railing of Hingaia Bridge in Karaka, however their fractured frames were removed and replaced during it’s upgrade. They sit confidently now as sculptural forms, indicative of a potential that exists for matter and life to constantly transform, never complete, but continuing to unfold, to become something other than it was once intended to be. This action examines what we value and what we choose to discard, seeing the importance of interrogating social convention and tradition to suggest the potential held in alternative perspectives.
Bio:
Melanie Arnold creates sculptural installations that bring discarded industrial materials into conversation with a various exhibition platforms. Situating material in new contexts is a means for her to interrogate structures of meaning, underlying systems of hierarchy and associations of value.
Melanie graduated with her BFA in 2016 and is currently undergoing study for her MFA.
Exhibitions:
2019 (Solo) Threshole, DEMO, Auckland
2019 (Group) Intersect, Papakura Art Gallery, Auckland
2019 (Group)Small works for small spaces, Clevedon Community Centre, Auckland
2018 (Group) I can’t put my finger on it, DEMO, Auckland
2018 (Group) Oribtal, Comet Project Space, Ponsonby
2017 (Solo) Shift, Franklin Art Centre, Pukekohe
2017 (Group) Paperwork, DEMO, Auckland