Towards the end of 2008, following the first wave of the "global financial crisis", Jerry Saltz, the much admired art critic for New York Magazine, highlighted the prophetic words of New Museum curator Laura Hoptman in an attempt to chart the future of the shell-shocked art world. She had stated that:  "Art will flower and triumph not as a hobby, an investment, or a career, but as what it is and was - a life."

This may have seemed revolutionary for many in the northern hemisphere art world, but for the majority of those working in the arts in New Zealand the latter has always been the case. Curiosity, inventiveness, DIY and art as a “life” choice has reigned for some time.  So without even intending it New Zealand seems now to be in an enviable position on the international scene.

One certainly gets this impression when considering the recently announced lineup for the 2009 ONE DAY SCULPTURE.  In coming months the series will feature some of the most  admired contemporary artists working today.

The ONE DAY SCULPTURE series is a New Zealand-wide public art initiative featuring commissioned site-specific artworks displayed for a limited 24 hour period. The driving force behind this experimental intervention into the public sphere is the Litmus Research Project, an initiative that grew out of Massey University’s fine art school in Wellington, in 2005. 

Over the last four years Litmus has focused its attention on developing artistic and curatorial projects outside of the traditional gallery setting and the ONE DAY SCULPTURE series is a natural culmination of this direction.  

In collaboration with Claire Doherty, a highly regarded UK-based curator and writer, Litmus has developed a programme that provides the public a chance to engage with the artworks at sites across the country. 

The cluster of projects taking place in March are a particular highlight, featuring work by international biennale regulars including: Thomas Hirschhorn, (commissioned by the Physics Room, Christchurch), Paola Pivi (Auckland Art Gallery), Javier Tellez (Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth) James Luna, (Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington), Roman Ondak, (Litmus Research Initiative, Wellington) and the stalwart of New Zealand conceptualism, Billy Apple (Adam Art Gallery, Wellington). 

This cluster will coincide with a symposium in Wellington designed to explore, according Claire Doherty, “new definitions of public sculpture … as a series of fleeting interventions [that enter] the social imagination as documents, fictions and rumors."

For many the ONE DAY SCULPTURE series will be the only opportunity to experience the work of these evocative international artists, because despite this flourish of activity New Zealand is still largely considered a long way from the epicentres of the art world.

However, that said, times are changing.

Californian curator Brian Butler recently suggested, on the eve of his departure from a three-year directorial tenure at the publicly funded Artspace in Auckland, that the New Zealand art world, and the region at large, would: “benefit from a change in outlook towards a ‘Trans-Pacific’ focus”. Which is to say, a redirection from what is perhaps more typical of a Commonwealth nation: deference to contemporary art’s northern epicentres, or worse, a navel-gazing local scene.

However, it would seem Litmus is taking the initiative to re-position New Zealand in a different way, not deferring to the north and not waiting around hoping to be discovered.  Instead they are pushing the boundaries of international contemporary art and challenging a very savvy New Zealand audience to engage with an experimental series of public art projects.

For further information on the series and exhibiting dates visit onedaysculpture.org.nz