Hanging by a Thread II
| Artist | Jim Allen |
| Production Date | 2009 |
| Medium | digital print on canvas, photographic paper, bamboo, steel, hardwood, paper, hair, acrylic paint, wound dressings, digital video on DVDs, monitors |
| Size | 35 x 190 x 150 mm |
| Classification | Installation |
| Department | New Zealand Art |
| Accession Date | 30 Mar 2009 |
| Accession No | C2009/1/11 |
| Credit Line | Chartwell Collection, Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, 2009 |
Chartwell Notes
The website
Image and Text has a description of this work
written by the artist at the time of its original installation at Michael Lett Gallery in 2009.
"The work questions human values... The installation opens on a facing wall with a 2 metre high drawing of a ‘Mercury/Hermes’ like figure with the head silhouetted against a black nimbus inscribed with the word ‘Saboteur’. This feel/good messenger is a bearer of uncertain tidings."
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It also has a review of the work by Dr. Leonhard Emmerling:
"The theme described in this exhibition by Jim Allen’s works may be interpreted as suffering. Whatever the strand of hair, the gauze bandage, the small strip of paper, and the rag actually refer to, they can be formally understood as exponents of fragmentariness. How to further interpret these forms, whether as memorabilia, votive gifts, memories of past affections and injuries, or promises of healing, can remain open. The sculptures refer to non-specific individual suffering and grief, while the two prints of photos evoke suffering related to contemporary history: the Middle East conflict and the war in Iraq. "
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