Post-Object Art collection

Post-Object art was part of the New Zealand contemporary art movement during from the 1960s to the early 1980s. This movement paralleled the international emergence of conceptual art; rejecting art as a commodity by shifting away from a physical object and the production of works to be sold. Like conceptual art, post-object art attempted to bridge the gap between art and life by using art as a way to expand the understanding and critique of the human condition. Works of this movement are represented by varying formats of documentation in place of traditional art works. During the 1990s there was renewed interest in the post-object art movement which saw several artists continue to work within the same themes and mediums.

The Post-Object Art collection documents the practice of New Zealand post-object artists in the New Zealand, and international, art scene. A large number of the contributors have close relationships with Elam School of Fine Art and the wider Auckland art scene.

The Post-Object Art collection was initiated by Philip Dadson, a New Zealand musician and artist, in the late 1970s. Dadson’s intention was to produce a resource which would support the teaching of intermedia, sculpture, performance and time based art practice at Elam School of Fine Art. The collection was developed parallel to Terry Reid’s Mail Art collection (formerly known as the “Open Drawers”) which was established in the early 1970s, in fact Dadson initially collected under the name of “the Open Drawers” before establishing the Post-Object Art collection as a separate entity. The Fine Arts Library continued to add items to the collection until the late 1990s when the collection was closed. Material was solicited for the collection through direct correspondence with post-object artists inviting them to contribute.