Bone Park

The fourteen distinct bones of the human skull fuse together within the first two years of a child’s life. From this point on, they become a cohesive whole, one that defines our physical identity whilst protecting the source of our social and cultural identity. This dual function, along with the skull’s semiotic legacy, serves as the basis for Matt Moriarty’s Bone Park series, a collection of works that investigate the role of New Zealand’s fourteen national parks in developing a national identity.

The eponymous work, depicting a boldly abstracted skull against an oppressive black background sets the tone of the series. Here, each of the now-disconnected bones of the skull is made to represent one of our national parks, the names of which are written along the bottom of the painting. Moriarty’s abstraction is subtle, but its effect is pronounced nonetheless; the tension between each of the bones generated by our recognition of the familiar icon compels the viewer to mentally resolve the image. In a similar manner, the scattering of the letters below both communicates a sense of disruption and destruction whilst generating a desire in the viewer to restore the integrity of the names.

The political message is clear, and Moriarty makes no apology for it. The works Stocktake and Take Stock allude directly to the highly controversial plan to mine these areas for natural resources, a plan that would see vast areas of native bush destroyed. Each park is identified by its latitude and longitude, an ironic effort to divide the place from its name that, in doing so, seems to strip it of its cultural significance. Bold slashes are here used to disrupt the integrity of the forms, again emphasising the physical destruction represented by these plans through the use of clearly recognisable glyphs with immediately recognisable connotations.

The play of semiotics, so central in much of the work of Moriarty, is of great importance to the function of these works. Familiar symbols - the DOC track marker, for instance - are imbued with great significance and invite multiple interpretations. On one hand, it refers directly to the context of the national park system, invoking an experience common to most New Zealanders, while, in works like The Fall, suggesting the imminent destruction of the very parks in which they operate.

Throughout the series, the repetition of these icon - the bones of the skull, the slash glyph, the track marker - remains constant, and the works become charged with the tension between the comfort of familiarity and recognition, and the terror of the message the symbols here represent. It is this palpable tension that animates the work, the ably captured sense of impending danger. As with the bones of the human skull, these parks have the potential to fuse together as a key part of our national identity and natural heritage. If we allow them to become divided, Moriarty suggests, the damage to both will be irreparable.

Arron Santry

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Suture was a recipient of merit at the National Contemporary Art Awards in 2011