Break Towards a Public Realm

Now showing at the Govett Brewster Art Gallery New Plymouth 06/12/08-01/02/09.

There are snakes in paradise (2008) by Peter Wareing.

The intro text to There are Snakes in Paradise. below.

Ivon Watkins-Dow now called Dow AgroSciences produced the herbicide 2,4,5-T in the New Plymouth suburb of Paritutu from 1962 to 1988. It also produced one of the raw materials, trichlorophenol, from 1969 to 1987. Many people from the local community have expressed serious concerns about the health risks to workers from the chemical plant and those exposed to the dioxins which were emitted over the surrounding area, saturating homes and property within a four kilometer radius. The production of both these chemicals is associated with dioxin. TCDD, a substance known to be highly toxic. This production was government subsidised. Although they have acknowledged that exposure occurred and was more than the average for New Zealand,the government alleges they have always acted correctly based on current information.
Peter Wareing's There are snakes in paradise (2008) focuses on ordinary people unknowingly poisoned. Dioxins were allowed to seep into the everyday lives of those residing in Paritutu and while the nature of the chemical makes it difficult to trace, evidence suggests exposure leads to increased levels of cancer and, due to DNA alterations, these effects are hereditary. Presented as a double screen, the main video component of the invisible areas outside and between the framed shots. Combined in relation to the reluctance of either the chemical industry or government to recognise their culpability, this reinforces the duplicity inherent to this local history.
The personal interviews shown alongside provide further information and viewpoints, implying, There are snakes in paradise touches only the surface. Exhibited as a series of footnotes, Wareing also offers his attempts to understand what went on, suggesting the framework of psychoanalytic, theory and thenotion of cognitivedissonance as a way to understand how individuals and communities deal with contradictory situations.