This noticeboard used to stand at the intersection of Colombo Street and Edgeware Road. Anyway it has turned up as an artwork, minus any notices, by Los Angeles-based New Zealander Fiona Connor as part of the Scape Biennial, on the corner of High and Tuam Streets, opposite C1 under the title Common Co-op Coop.
It invites us to ” consider the way objects are used to create space and specific environments.”
The phone number on the board is that used/paid for by the Centre/Residents Association. The old centre has gone but the Residents Association, which managed the centre, remains.
Who owns the noticeboard? Is it the Residents Association or the Council? The community or the artist? I recall times when Centre staff put notices up on the board and had to use a key. Is it the original or a very good copy? If it is the original it would be interesting to find out how she came to possess it. There is probably a simple explanation.
Another work by Fiona references Abberley Park gates and combines this with a short length of the chaining that was installed in the 19th century along the banks of the Avon River (apparently to stop people falling in). I presume the gates are still at the Park.
NB: I am not questioning Fiona’s art practice but I am aware of unresolved issues between the old centre managers that date back to around 2008, ie: the Residents Association, and the Christchurch City Council, which has owned the land and buildings at 1047/1049 Colombo Street since the 1920s.
