3vicki kerr heather phillipson michelle sank

Cover Clawr Michelle Sank Untiltled from The Submerged

3vicki kerr heather phillipson michelle sank

vicki kerr ‘the Antarctic experience’ 2011

“Where the hell are we?”

(recorded words from the cockpit voice

recorder of Flight 901)

Air Traffic Control Tower, Auckland

Airport, New Zealand, November 28th

1979.

“From the Control Tower I could see

passengers boarding the DC10, ZK-

NZP Te 901. Amidst the steady stream

of requests and instructions received

and sent to aircraft that day, I took

particular note of the passengers

crossing the tarmac and ascending the

steps on to TE901. This was the

fourteenth Air New Zealand non stop

flight down to Antarctica, marketed as

a unique sightseeing experience,

carrying an experienced Antarctic

guide who would point out scenic

features and landmarks, while

passengers enjoyed a low-flying

sweep down McMurdo Sound. At

0810, TE 901 was ready to depart.

The Captain called the tower frequency

and requested permission to taxi.

Permission was granted and he was

given instructions for takeoff. As the

plane taxied to the end of the runway

to prepare for takeoff, we asked the

Captain how many souls he had on

board - he replied 257. I had often

thought that the aviation term “souls on

board” was a strange way to identify

people and I remember thinking that

day that it somehow made a person

seem lighter. TE 901 took off at 0821

climbing into a clear blue morning sky.

All that remained was its turbulent

wake, as it slowly inched its way higher

and further away from sea level turning

south following a compass heading

relative to the earth’s geo-magnetic

field. The flight was managed by Air

New Zealand flight operations,

responsible for programming the

aircraft’s on-board navigation system

enabling the flight crew to correctly

calibrate their position during the flight,

along with additional information, such

as a flight briefing, maps and route

information. Today seemed to

progress much the same as most

other days. TE901 took off and as it

disappeared from view it was

instructed to change frequency and

contact radar control. The plane was

now out of our hands and all that

remained was a red arrival strip with

an estimated time of arrival later that

evening. We all finished our shift in

the tower at around mid-day not

knowing then, that an hour later at

2pm, TE901 was reported by

McMurdo Centre to have been radio

silent for an hour. A search and rescue

operation began. Finally at 9pm Air

New Zealand announced to the media

that the aircraft was missing and that it

would have run out of fuel. At

01.15am NZDT (New Zealand

Daylight Time) unidentified debris was

spotted on the slopes of the southern

most active volcano on the planet - Mt

Erebus on Ross Island, Antarctica.

This sighting was later confirmed to be

the aircraft’s tail section bearing the

airlines unmistakable Koru symbol.

Souls on board: Mostly middle aged; a

professional Hammond Organ player;

world travellers (most had seen Arctic

pack ice from the airline routes of the

North), dreamers; office bound

adventurers; an 18 year old who

received the trip as a gift for passing his

exams, a woman who had told her

daughter that she couldn’t come and

visit her in London because she would

have to defrost the fridge; a man for

whom blindness was just 9 months

away wanted pristine images to take

into darkness.

To this day controversy remains over

the exact cause of the accident and

who was to blame. ‘Whiteout’ weather,

a condition described as a malevolent

trick of the polar light and ‘pilot error’

were the causes determined by an

accident investigation, however a Royal

Commission of Inquiry under Justice

Peter Mahon apportioned blame

squarely with the airline and its

practices, claiming that evidence

presented by Air New Zealand was an

“orchestrated litany of lies”. The crash of

TE 901 remains one of New Zealand’s

worst disasters.

Almost all of what remains of the

aircraft is still buried where it came to

rest on the slopes of Mount Erebus

under a layer of snow and ice.

During warm periods when snow

recedes the wreckage is sometimes

visible from the air.”

Vicki Kerr

Air Traffic Controller,

Auckland Airport, 1979-1983

“Lle ar y ddaear ydan ni?”

(geiriau a recordiwyd o gaban y peilot

ar Ehediad 901)

T ^wr Rheoli Traffig, Maes Awyr

Auckland, Seland Newydd, Tachwedd

28ain 1979.

“O’r T ^wr Rheoli ‘roeddwn yn gallu

gweld teithwyr yn mynd ar y DC10,

ZK-NZP Te 901. Yng nghanol y nifer

helaeth o ymholiadau a

chyfarwyddiadau a dderbyniwyd ac a

anfonwyd at yr awyren y diwrnod

hwnnw, nodais yn benodol y teithwyr

yn croesi’r tarmac ac yn mynd i fyny’r

stepiau i’r TE901. Hwn oedd y

pedwerydd ehediad ar ddeg o eiddo

Awyr Seland Newydd i hedfan heb

stop i lawr i Antarctica. Fe’i

marchnadwyd fel profiad unigryw i

ymwelwyr, gyda thywysydd Antartic

profiadol yn tynnu sylw’r teithwyr at

nodweddion y tirwedd a’r golygfeydd

hyfryd wrth iddynt fwynhau hedfan yn

isel dros McMurdo Sound. Am 0810,

‘roedd TE 901 yn barod i ymadael.

Rhoddwyd caniatâd i’r Capten i

gychwyn ac wrth i’r awyren symud

tuag at ben y rhedfa gofynnwyd i’r

Capten faint o eneidiau oedd ar yr

awyren - yr ateb oedd 257. Bum yn

meddwl yn aml bod y term hedfan

“eneidau” yn ffordd od o ddisgrifio pobl

a chofiaf feddwl y diwrnod hwnnw bod

y term rhywsut yn gwneud i berson

swnio’n ysgafnach. Cododd TE 901 i’’r

awyr las, glir, foreol am 0821. Y cyfan

oedd yn weddill oedd ôl aflonydd yr

awyren, wrth iddo’n raddol godi’n uwch

i’r awyr ac ymhellach i ffwrdd oddi wrth

lefel y môr gan droi am y de.

Rheolwyd yr ehediad gan systemau

ehediad Awyr Seland Newydd, oedd

yn gyfrifol am raglennu system llywio’r

awyren gan alluogi’r criw i raddnodi eu

lleoliad yn gywir yn ystod yr ehediad,

yn ogystal â darparu gwybodaeth

ychwanegol megis y briff ehediad,

mapiau a gwybodaeth am y llwybr.

Wrth i TE901 ddiflannu o’n golwg fe’i

cyfarwyddwyd i newid amledd ac i

gysylltu â’r system rheolaeth radar.

‘Roedd yr awyren bellach allan o’n

dwylo ni a’r cyfan oedd ar ôl oedd

stribed coch yn dynodi’r amser

cyrraedd tebygol yn hwyrach y noson

honno. Wrth i ni orffen gwaith tua

chanol dydd, ni wyddom y byddai

ehediad TE901, awr yn hwyrach am

2pm, wedi colli cysylltiad radio â

Chanolfan McMurdo ers awr.

Lansiwyd ymgyrch chwilio ac achub.

Am 9pm cyhoeddodd Awyr Seland

Newydd i’r cyfryngau fod yr awyren ar

goll ac y byddai erbyn hyn wedi rhedeg

allan o danwydd. Am 01.15am NZDT

(Amser Golau-dydd Seland Newydd)

gwelwyd darnau anhysbys ar lethrau

Mynydd Erebus ar Ynys Ross

Antarctica. Cadarnhawyd bellach

ymlaen mai darnau o’r awyren oedd y

rhain, yn dangos yn glir symbol Koru

nodweddiadol yr awyren.

Eneidiau ar yr awyren: Y rhan fwyaf

yn ganol oed; chwaraewr organ

Hammond proffesiynol; teithwyr y byd

(‘roedd y rhan fwyaf wedi gweld iâ’r

Arctig o ehediadau’r Gogledd);

breuddwydwyr; anturwyr; bachgen 18

oed a dderbyniodd y daith fel anrheg

am basio’i arholiadau; dynes oedd

wedi deud wrth ei merch nad oedd yn

medru ymweld â hi yn Llundain

oherwydd byddai hynny’n golygu

dadrewi’r rhewgell; dyn oedd yn mynd i

golli ei olwg mewn 9 mis ac oedd yn

awyddus i gymryd delweddau clir i

mewn i’r tywyllwch.

Hyd at heddiw nid ydym yn gwybod

beth oedd union achos y ddamwain

neu ar bwy oedd y bai. Cyflwr y

tywydd a chamgymeriad ar ran y peilot

oedd yr achosion yn ôl yr ymchwiliad

swyddogol i’r ddamwain, fodd bynnag

yn y Comisiwn Ymchwiliad Brenhinol o

dan arweiniad yr Ustus Peter Mahon,

rhoddwyd y bai yn gyfangwbl ar y

cwmni hedfan a’i ymarferion, gan

hawlio bod y dystiolaeth a gyflwynwyd

gan Awyr Seland Newydd yn gelwydd

noeth. Mae trasiedi’r TE 901 yn dal i

fod yn un o drychinebau gwaethaf

Seland Newydd.

Mae’r rhan fwyaf o weddillion yr

awyren wedi eu claddu o dan yr iâ a’r

eira lle y daeth i lawr ar lethrau

Mynydd Erebus. Weithiau, yn ystod

cyfnodau cynnes pan mae’r eira’n

lleihau, gellir gweld y darnau o’r awyr.”

Vicki Kerr

Rheolwraig Traffig, Maes Awyr

Auckland , 1979-1983

FLIGHT CERTIFICATE: This is what

passengers on-board Air NZ flight TE901

would have received on their return from

Antarctica. Photo supplied: Museum of

Transport and Technology, Auckland,

New Zealand

The installation, ‘the Antarctic experience’

examines aerial space and the

unpredictable event, focusing on the Air

New Zealand air disaster in Antarctica in

1979. As an event that collapses the

sublime, this extensively documented air

accident tests the tension that exists in

airspace, between the scientific, technical

and rational knowing of the air, as well as

cultural and sensual ways of knowing,

which colonise the atmosphere and air’s

more insensible qualities.

Each work in the installation is created

from data gathered from the accident

investigation such as archive film footage,

photographs, maps and marketing

material.

Vicki Kerr, born in New Zealand, lives

and works in London. She is currently

engaged in research entitled ‘Airspace -

Zones of Fidelity and Failure’ as part of a

practice-based MPhil/PhD at Goldsmiths,

University of London.

With thanks for technical assistance to

Andrew Weatherhead, Eli Zafran and

Tolga Saygin.

TYSTYSGRIF YR EHEDIAD: Dyma’r

dystysgrif y byddai teithwyr ar ehediad

TE901 Awyr Seland Newydd wedi ei

derbyn wrth ddychwelyd o Antarctica.

Ffotograff trwy gwrteisi Amgueddfa

Trafnidiaeth a Thechnoleg Auckland,

Seland Newydd

"Mae’r gosodwaith ‘The Antarctic

experience’ yn archwilio gofod yn yr awyr

a’r digwyddiad na fedrir ei ragweld, yn

ffocysu ar drasiedi Awyr Seland Newydd

yn Antarctica ym 1979. Fel digwyddiad

sy’n dymchwel yr arddunol, mae’r

drasiedi awyr hon, a gofnodwyd yn fanwl,

yn rhoi prawf ar y tensiwn sy’n bodoli yn

yr awyr, rhwng y gwybod gwyddonol,

technegol a rhesymegol o’r awyr, yn

ogystal â ffyrdd diwylliannol a

synhwyraidd o wybod, sy’n gwladychu’r

atmosffer a nodweddion anweladwy yr

awyr.

Creuwyd pob darn yn y gosodwaith yn

seiliedig ar wybodaeth a gasglwyd o’r

ymchwiliad i mewn i’r ddamwain megis

ffilm archifol, ffotograffau, mapiau a

deunydd marchnata.

Ganwyd Vicki Kerr yn Seland Newydd

ac mae hi’n byw ac yn gweithio yn

Llundain. Ar hyn o bryd mae hi’n

ymgymryd ag ymchwil yn dwyn y teitl

‘Airspace - Zones of Fidelity and Failure’

fel rhan o gwrs ymarferol MPhil/PhD yn

Goldsmiths, Prifysgol Llundain.

Gyda diolch i Andrew Weatherhead, Eli

Zafran a Tolga Saygin am gymorth

technegol.

vicki kerr

heather phillipson

Hello. It is hard to say anything that is as

good as saying nothing. So, I made some

things. Sort of audio-visual Joseph

Cornell vitrines with stuff bumped

together. Let’s call them videos.

Little happens. Little that I could describe

anyway. If I did describe them, it would

probably be irrelevant to anything you

might actually want to know.

Each one is made in the way department

stores sell off their winter jumpers. I

liquidate my current stock of unverifiable

postulations and what you see is the car-

boot sale. This is its point. Nearly all ideas

come ready-crumpled.

I don’t know where they are going. Things

rub together. It’s risky. It necessitates

making and avoiding choices. They

proceed from half-digested notions

propped up with contradictory information.

It is an attempt to speculate, to converse,

to disrobe. It involves a couple of images

that have provoked me, noises too.

Apparently, you ought to be able to start

with nothing but your own minor reality

and end with an approximation of art.

Who knows.

What I would say is that, like Claus

Oldenburg, I am for an art that unfolds like

a map, that you can squeeze, like your

sweetie’s arm, or kiss, like a pet dog.

Which expands and squeaks, like an

accordion, which you can spill your dinner

on, like an old tablecloth. I am for an art

that embroils itself with the everyday crap

and still comes out on top.

Helo. Mae’n anodd dweud rhywbeth sy’n

fwy effeithiol na dweud dim. Bum yn creu

rhai bethau. Rhyw fath o bethau

clyweledol. Gallwn eu galw nhw’n fideos.

Does dim byd llawer yn digwydd. O leia’,

fawr o ddim y gellir ei ddisgrifio. Taswn yn

treio ei ddisgrifio, mwy na thebyg ni

fyddai’r disgrifiad yn berthnasol i unrhyw

beth yr hoffech wybod o ddifrif.

Gwneir pob darn yn yr un modd ag y

mae siopau dillad yn cael gwared o’u

stoc ar ddiwedd y tymor. ‘Rwy’n cael

gwared o’m stoc cyfredol a’r hyn yr ydych

chi’n ei weld yw’r sêl cist-car. Dyma holl

bwynt y peth. Mae’r rhan fwyaf o

syniadau yn dod wedi eu crychu’n barod.

Dwn i ddim lle maent yn mynd. Mae

pethau’n rhwbio yn erbyn ei gilydd. Mae’n

broses mentrus. Mae’n golygu gwneud

ac osgoi penderfyniadau. Mae rhyw

syniadau ar eu hanner yn cael eu propio i

fyny gyda gwybodaeth anghyson.

Mae’n ymdrech i ddyfalu, i sgwrsio, i

ddadwisgo. Ceir yma gwpwl o

ddelweddau sydd wedi fy mhryfocio,

synau hefyd. Yn ôl pob golwg, dylech fod

yn medru dechrau gyda dim byd ond

eich realiti eich hun a gorffen gyda darn o

gelf. Pwy a ^yr.

Buaswn i’n dweud, fel Claus Oldenburg,

fy mod o blaid celf sy’n agor fel map, y

gellir ei gwasgu, fel braich eich cariad,

neu ei chusanu, fel anifail anwes. Sy’n

ymestyn ac yn gwichian, fel acordion, y

gallwch golli eich cinio arni fel hen liain

bwrdd. ‘Rwyf o blaid celf sy’n ymwneud â

phethau dinod bob dydd ac sydd eto’n

fuddugol yn y pendraw.

Heather Phillipson works with sounds

and images. She exhibits nationally and

internationally, and has received awards,

commissions and residencies. She is

also an award-winning poet and has

been published and broadcast widely.

She is based in London.

Mae Heather Phillipson yn gweithio

gyda synau a delweddau. Mae hi’n

arddangos yn genedlaethol ac yn

rhyngwladol gan dderbyn gwobrau,

comisiynau a chyfnodau preswyl. Mae hi

hefyd yn fardd llwyddiannus gyda’i

gwaith yn cael ei gyhoeddi a’i ddarlledu’n

eang. Mae hi’n gweithio o Lundain.

(Still from) (spaciously, away from

surfaces with their hard, separate facts,

looking at) A Mark on the Wall

(Still from) Well this is embarrassing.

Half an hour in 12 episodes

(Still from) Well this is embarrassing.Half an hour in 12 episodes.

michelle sank

“My practice is concerned with the

notion of encountering, collecting,

and re-telling. I’m interested in

creating sociological landscapes,

interplays of human form and

location that are significant in their

visual, sociological and psychological

nuances.

Known as a portrait photographer, I

embraced both community and place

within this new body of work “The

Submerged”.

The imagery was produced within

Mid-Wales in and around

Aberystwyth - a town that exists at

the end of a railway line. I was

intrigued by the way both structures

and people interacted with the urban

and natural make-up of this

environment and was drawn towards

a sense of grittiness and resolution

within the geological and

architectural fabric of the place,

something so often mimicked in the

light, colour, dramatic skies and the

human performance within.”

“Mae f’ymarfer yn ymwneud â’r

syniad o gyfarfod, casglu ac

ailadrodd. ‘Rwy’n ymddiddori mewn

creu tirweddau cymdeithasegol, a’r

cydadweithio rhwng ffurfiau dynol a

lleoliad sy’n arwyddocaol o safbwynt

gweledol, cymdeithasegol a

seicolegol.

Fe’m cydnabyddwyd eisoes fel

ffotograffydd portread ac mae’r darn

newydd hwn sef “The Submerged”

yn ymwneud â chymuned a lleoliad.

Cynhyrchwyd y delweddau yng

Nghanolbarth Cymru, yn ac o

gwmpas Aberystwyth - tref a leolir ar

ben lein rheilffordd. ‘Roeddwn yn

ymddiddori yn y ffordd yr oedd

strwythurau a phobl yn rhyngweithio

gyda’r amgylchedd trefol a naturiol a

chefais fy nhynnu tuag at y teimlad o

gaderndid a phenderfyniad o fewn

ffabrig geolegol a phensaerniol y lle,

rhywbeth a adlewyrchwyd yn aml yn

y golau, y lliwiau, y ffurfafen

ddramatig a’r perfformiad dynol tu

mewn.”

Michelle Sank was born in Cape Town,

South Africa. She has been living and

working in the UK since 1987. Her

photographs have been exhibited and

published extensively in England, Europe,

Australia, Mexico, South Africa and the

U.S.A. She has undertaken numerous

commissions for prominent galleries and

magazines in Europe and abroad. Her

work is held in both private and permanent

collections, and she was recently a prize

winner in the Portrait Prize at the National

Portrait Gallery, London.

She has 2 published books : “The Water’s

Edge”- portraits and stories about women

who used to - and still work - on Liverpool

Docks, and “Becoming” - a monograph.

‘The Submerged’ will be published by

Maarten Schilt in 2011.

Ganwyd Michelle Sank yn Cape Town,

De Affrica. Mae hi wedi bod yn byw ac yn

gweithio yn y DU ers 1987. Mae ei

ffotograffau wedi cael eu harddangos a’u

cyhoeddi’n eang yn Lloegr, Ewrop,

Awstralia, Mecsico, De Affrica ac UDA.

Mae hi wedi ymgymryd â llawer o

gomisiynau ar gyfer orielau a chylchgronau

blaenllaw yn Ewrop a thramor. Dangosir ei

gwaith fel rhan o gasgliadau preifat a

pharhaol, ac yn ddiweddar enillodd wobr ar

gyfer portread yn Oriel Bortreadau

Genedlaethol Llundain. Mae hi wedi

cyhoeddi dau lyfr: “The Water’s Edge”-

portreadau a straeon am ferched a

weithiodd yn nociau Lerpwl, a “Becoming”

- sef monograff. Cyhoeddir ‘The

Submerged’ gan Maarten Schilt yn 2011.

Untiltled from The Submerged Untiltled from The Submerged

Untiltled from The Submerged

The three artists in this exhibition present works which seem at first sight very different from each other. Vicki Kerr considers a

traumatic national episode from her past, analysing it and giving it theoretical and dramatic visual shape while containing the

powerful emotions. Heather Phillipson’s videos combine a fertile and playful love of language with an acute visual sense; she

subverts accepted meanings and familiar associations, often questioning these through disjoints between image, word and

sound. While Michelle Sank’s photographic portraits appear deceptively simple, familiar, there is a sophisticated and subtle

interplay of visual cues on offer as she considers personal and social identity within a landscape.

Each of these artists has a questioning approach to making art - in order to think again about a subject they have let go of

preconceived ideas and entered on a journey of inquisitive inventiveness. René Descartes suggested that ‘wonder is the first of

all the passions’. Wonder is that early stage of an experience when we are not sure yet what our reaction to a situation or object

might be: repulsion, indifference, pleasure; those moments before an understanding is formulated which fits within an accepted

framework of reference. The artists here have cultivated wonder at the world, encouraging the viewer to remain open to the

exhilarating strangeness of life’s events.

Mae’r tri artist yn yr arddangosfa hon yn cyflwyno gwaith a ymddengys ar y golwg cyntaf i fod yn gwbl wahanol. Mae Vicki Kerr

yn ystyried digwyddiad cenedlaethol trawmatig o’i gorffennol, yn ei ddehongli ac yn rhoi iddo siâp gweledol damcaniaethol a

dramatig tra’n cynnwys yr emosiynau pwerus. Mae fideos Heather Phillipson yn cyfuno agwedd ddiddorol a chwareus tuag at

iaith gyda synnwyr gweledol cryf; mae hi’n tanseilio ystyron cyffredin a chysylltiadau cyfarwydd, yn cwestiynu’r rhain yn aml trwy

ddatgymalu delweddau, geiriau a sain. Tra bod portreadau ffotograffig Michelle Sank yn ymddangos yn arbennig o syml a

chyfarwydd, ceir yn ei gwaith gydadwaith soffistigedig a chynnil wrth iddi ystyried hunaniaeth bersonol a chymdeithasol o fewn

tirwedd.

Mae gan bob un o’r artistiaid hyn agwedd ymholgar tuag at greu celf - er mwyn ail-feddwl am bwnc penodol mae’n rhaid iddynt

ryddhau syniadau eraill a chychwyn allan ar daith o ddyfeisgarwch chwilfrydig. Awgrymodd René Descartes mai ‘rhyfeddu yw’r

cyntaf o’r holl angerddau’. Rhyfeddu yw’r rhan gyntaf o unrhyw brofiad pan nad ydym yn siwr eto sut y byddwn yn ymateb i

sefyllfa neu wrthrych: ffieidd-dra, dihidrwydd, pleser; yr eiliadau hynny cyn y ffurfir dealltwriaeth sy’n ffitio i mewn i ryw fframwaith

derbyniol. Mae’r artistiaid yn yr arddangosfa hon wedi meithrin rhyfeddu tuag at y byd gan annog y gwyliwr i aros yn feddwl-

agored tra’n ystyried hynodrwydd bywyd.

Eve Ropek Exhibitions curator Canolfan Celfyddydau Aberystwyth Arts Centre

3

cano l fan y ce l fyddydau aberystwyth a r ts cent re

www.aberystwythar tscent re .co .uk

design stephen paul dale spdale@live.com

3vicki kerr heather phillipson michelle sank

Heather Phillipson (Still from) Rebus, or The Farewell Note that Says More than it Says