On Now

Cold Listening: Jonathan Kay

'Cold Listening' is an exhibition by Jonathan Kay that contemplates the fragility of our landscapes through the surveying of Haupapa/Tasman glacier.

Kay began exploring these glaciers as a way of making sense of the environments in Aotearoa impacted by climate change. Over seven years and several visits, Jonathan has spent time on the glaciers, observed the lakes and icebergs that carve off during melting, and followed the streams and rivers that connect this water system. Through a range of photographic interventions Cold Listening offers a deeper look at these vulnerable landscapes.

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Cold Listening is presented with support from Massey University

The Artist

Jonathan Kay

Jonathan Kay
Te Whanganui-a-Tara

Jonathan Kay is a photographic artist and lecturer in photography living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. His practice focuses on blurring the boundaries of art and science to render the unseen and challenge notions of landscape. In the last seven years he has have developed his research area to encompass a methodology of photographic interventions within the landscape that are site specific and responsive. This has evolved from engaging with a framework of scientific ‘fieldwork’, where observation and data collection can provide insights into specific environments. This ‘fieldwork’ is centred around the unique possibilities of the photographic medium and goes beyond the privileged landscape image.

Exhibitions include Icebound (Hastings Art Gallery) Cryosphere (Jhana Millers Gallery + Ashburton Art Gallery), Negative Mass (Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland), WAI—Manga Maha, Awa Kotahi | One River, Many Streams (Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History). He completed an MFA with distinction at Massey University, Wellington, in 2013.
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Jonathan Kay
Te Whanganui-a-Tara

Jonathan Kay is a photographic artist and lecturer in photography living in Te Whanganui-a-Tara. His practice focuses on blurring the boundaries of art and science to render the unseen and challenge notions of landscape. In the last seven years he has have developed his research area to encompass a methodology of photographic interventions within the landscape that are site specific and responsive. This has evolved from engaging with a framework of scientific ‘fieldwork’, where observation and data collection can provide insights into specific environments. This ‘fieldwork’ is centred around the unique possibilities of the photographic medium and goes beyond the privileged landscape image.

Exhibitions include Icebound (Hastings Art Gallery) Cryosphere (Jhana Millers Gallery + Ashburton Art Gallery), Negative Mass (Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland), WAI—Manga Maha, Awa Kotahi | One River, Many Streams (Aratoi Wairarapa Museum of Art and History). He completed an MFA with distinction at Massey University, Wellington, in 2013.

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