WALK INTO THE PINK LIGHT Curatorial Response by Minsoh Choi

“Dad, where were you when they landed on the moon?”

During the Space Race NASA was inventing technologies that aided radiant sun exposure to aerospace equipment and human eyesight, one of which was dichroic glass. Although not new, the process of vaporising thin films of metals in a vacuum chamber then applied to clear polycarbonate was a technological feat.

In space the material deflects ultraviolet light, however on Earth it reflects, shifting wavelengths of colour in relation to our bodily position.

The other-worldly chroma of dichroic glass invokes atmospheric conditions; a sunset, aurora, or a dim hazy nightclub. The light projects in on itself and amplifies.

Relationally to the material is at play as diffusion and distance prompts us to position and re-position ourselves. We move around and toward the image, and it is in this schema that images generated and transmitted to us never truly repeat, they exist as a singular ‘time-image’ experience.

Mitchell McGrath is a designer based in Tamaki Makaurau. His work explores notions
of spatial perception and how imaging techniques can be used to create embodied
materiality in spaces, objects and experiences. Having earned an MDes at Auckland
University of Technology, his expanded practice continues to investigate material
experiences and how these transform from one medium to another. He is currently a
Gallery Assistant at Te Wai Ngutu Kaka Gallery, where he delves into the many facets
of exhibition making.