Tim Veling: Vestiges

Tim Veling's Vestiges is a collection of work taken in Christchurch's red zone, highlighting seasonal changes, unpicking concepts of time, proximity, memory, and place.

Documenting the transition of the once heavily populated suburb of Avonside into a much-debated public green space has become a long term obession for Christchurch photographer Tim Veling. This showing of Vestiges in CoCA’s ground floor gallery marks the approximate half-way point in Veling’s ever-evolving body of work, his images providing visual record of both the history and psychology of place by visiting and re-visiting the site through its continual states of change. Veling has found photographing in Avonside to have been a disconcerting experience stating: “Early on, I’d head out to photograph and find people out and about; walking dogs, talking over fences and generally being social. Very quickly, however, dust and the churning noise of machinery hung in the air as well-loved homes were demolished. Much of what was left of well-established gardens was then thrown through wood chippers, and after graders scraped and levelled the earth. Avonside now feels unbearably quiet, but if you take time to jump the chain fences and stand in the fields, if the light is right and you’re receptive, you can sense the ghostly shapes of homes and people where they once stood.” Tim Veling’s exhibition heralds a change to CoCA’s ground floor gallery programming from a seasonal schedule to a more dynamic 4-6 week calendar, allowing greater opportunity to show and experience contemporary art.