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Liam Krijgsman: More than this

'More than this' is a new sculpture project by Liam Krijgsman developed for CoCA’s Ō Papa Ground Floor Gallery.

This installation sees a 10.1 scaled up replica of an automated sausage sizzler machine endlessly operating in this space. This strangely seductive contraption is not a folly designed to celebrate or reflect our desire for seemingly limitless consumption, but rather asks us to consider what potential lies beyond contemporary systems of instant gratification.

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Principal Exhibition Partner

Kirjgsman writes “The bratwurst references the way cultural products are exported beyond their contexts into situations which amplify efficiency and saleability. Their inclusion provides a mirror for the ways in which the Berlin wall has been deconstructed and made into a cultural export. It is worryingly emblematic of the hidden violence of the free market. A thing consumed into oblivion. The sausage is a combination of various animals and animal parts. It is a gross simplification of an array of sometimes disparate things."

At a textual level this work refers to an overwhelming sense of resignation, which the theorist Mark Fisher summarized as the "slow cancellation of the future". In the absence of potential, politics and culture do not just recirculate, instead they funnel downward along with quality and expectations."

The Artist

Liam Krijgsman

Liam Krijgsman
Ōtautahi

Liam Krijgsman is based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. His sculptural practice often humorously interrogates perceived socio-economic norms and histories, through a range of recontextualized and/or reconfigured imagery and forms, which have been lifted from popular culture. There is an underlying conceit that runs through Krijgsman practice, because while he seamlessly marries wit with a refined aesthetic finish that is highly seductive, this belies a deeper set of conceptual concerns that are being signaled in these artworks.

A graduate of Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, Krijgsman was the recipient of the Rosemary Johnson Muller Scholarship (2019) for his 3rd year sculpture submission and the Seager Prize in Fine Arts (2020) for being the top undergraduate student in his year. In addition to this, he was a SELECT (2019) winner, chosen by the highly regarded Art Gallery and Museum director Cam McCraken, which saw elements from his final year submission entering the University of Canterbury Art Collection. Krijgsman also co-facilitated the artist run project, Hot Lunch, with Millie Galbraith and Lee Richardson. The project featured 12 exhibitions from emerging artists and ran between August 2020 and August 2021.
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Liam Krijgsman
Ōtautahi

Liam Krijgsman is based in Ōtautahi Christchurch. His sculptural practice often humorously interrogates perceived socio-economic norms and histories, through a range of recontextualized and/or reconfigured imagery and forms, which have been lifted from popular culture. There is an underlying conceit that runs through Krijgsman practice, because while he seamlessly marries wit with a refined aesthetic finish that is highly seductive, this belies a deeper set of conceptual concerns that are being signaled in these artworks.

A graduate of Ilam School of Fine Arts at the University of Canterbury, Krijgsman was the recipient of the Rosemary Johnson Muller Scholarship (2019) for his 3rd year sculpture submission and the Seager Prize in Fine Arts (2020) for being the top undergraduate student in his year. In addition to this, he was a SELECT (2019) winner, chosen by the highly regarded Art Gallery and Museum director Cam McCraken, which saw elements from his final year submission entering the University of Canterbury Art Collection. Krijgsman also co-facilitated the artist run project, Hot Lunch, with Millie Galbraith and Lee Richardson. The project featured 12 exhibitions from emerging artists and ran between August 2020 and August 2021.

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