‘Art’ the word

Press, 2 March 1984, Page 1

‘Art’ the word

The message of a Christchurch artist, Gail Wright, for the Christchurch Festival is that art is everywhere. Pictured yesterday outside the DJ.C. department store in Cashel Street, Ms Wright changed the first of many Christchurch signs — her part in the festival. She calls it “official graffiti” — no sign in town will be changed before she obtains permission from the manager of the store. Shopowners with the letters of the word “art” in their signs can expect to be approached by Ms Wright in the next few days. She is

asking to change the signs, highlighting those three letters in different colours, just for the duration of the festival, which will end on March 18. The brightly clad artist (“I feel like a bunch of flowers”) explained that she was not opposing the principle of the festival, which specifically removed the “arts” from its name this year.

“That was so that everyone could get involved in the festival,” she said. “It made me think about the word ‘art’ — it is not just an exhibition in a gallery with expensive framed works. It is so much more flexible than that," said Ms Wright. “I just thought I would do my thing for the festival and involve some more people in it. There are signs all over town with the word ‘art’ in them,” she said.

Ms Wright has had a mixed rection from the shops she has approached so far. She has permission to change eight and hopes to persuade more during the next few days. "A lot of people don’t understand what I am doing and cannot see that there is no catch in it. They think they have to pay for it, or that they have to do something.

“I am just doing it to make more people aware of the festival. It does not cost anything; it is just for fun. and I am going to remove

all the changes afterwards." One sign which she hopes to alter is the huge vertical neon sign above the Carlton cinema in Cathedral Square. She has permission from the cinema and has talked to neon experts about the alterations, but all she has to do is get the necessary elevation to reach it. Ms Wright said that she did not expect a big reaction to her work. "It will be subtle, but will provide a surprise element for anyone who notices it,” she said. After changing the signs, she will document the project with her camera, and hopes to publish that later on.