Walking, Talking, Reading, Writing: Nick Austin

Artist Nick Austin walks to work each day. This illustrated talk shares his observations – of locations, vantage points and objects of interest – on that journey and at his destination: the Hocken Library at University of Otago in Ōtepoti Dunedin.

This is the third in the talk series Walking, Talking, Reading, Writing exploring themes running through Life Puzzle and A dusty handrail on the track. With references to narrative sequencing and spanning physical or temporal distances, the common point of departure is a push-pull approach to language and physical structure. Each presenter juxtaposes lifted elements to different ends: making sense of the subtle absurdities of everyday life or picking over remnant colonial and indigenous forms and structures.

Image: House at corner of Arthur Street and Elm Row, former La Rochelle Maternity Home, birthplace of James K. Baxter, 1926. Photo: Nick Austin, 2018