my life as a tunnel
Shannon Te Ao, Ngāti Tūwharetoa / New Zealander, (born Australia) born 1978
2018
Two-channel video with sound
Duration: 568.8 seconds (9.48 minutes)
Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth: Purchased through the William S. Rubin Fund
Courtesy of the artist and Mossman, Wellington
2019.41
Geography
Place Made: New Zealand, Polynesia, Oceania
Period
21st century
Object Name
Time Based Media
Research Area
Time Based Media
Oceania
Not on view
Label
"This Bitter Earth" (1959) / Music and lyrics by Clyde Otis / Originally recorded by Dinah Washington This bitter earth Well, what fruit it bears What good is love
That no one shares
And if my life
is like the dust
That hides the glow of a rose What good am I
Heaven only knows Lord, this bitter Earth Yes, can be so cold Today you are young Too soon you’re old But while a voice Within me cries I’m sure someone May answer my call And this bitter earth May not be so bitter after all
Te reo Māori translation by Krissi Jerram (2017) Te pūkawa rā o te whenua Ai auē, anā te hua He aha te take o te aroha
Ki te kore e tohaina Ā, me he puehu Taku noho i te ao E ārai ana i te rōhi mumura He aha te take o aku mahi Ko wai ka hua? Aeha, te pūkawa o te whenua,
Kātahi te mākinakina
Ka tangi te pītoitoi he pēpi tonu
Ka tō te rā kua kaumatua Ahakoa e tangi tonu nei a Roto Kia mau ki te whakairo Ka whakahokia mai pea he reo anō Kāti rā, ko te pūkawa o te whenua, E kore rā e pūkawa i te mutunga From the 2021 exhibition Shannon Te Ao: my life as a tunnel, curated by Jessica Hong, Associate Curator of Global Contemporary Art
Provenance
Commissioned by The Dowse Art Museum, Wellington, New Zealand; purchased through Hopkinson Mossman, Wellington, New Zealand; sold to present collection, 2019.
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