Address:  1 Grey Street

Property Partner: DNZ Property Ltd

Dates: 27 September - 5th October

Images: Gabrielle McKone and Terri Te Tau

AuraSecure engages with ideas around security and surveillance space within the Wellington CBD. A humorous parody of surveillance culture, visitors are encouraged to play and interact with the project in order to activate a performance and generate discussion.

The vacant commercial space in Grey Street across from the Intercontinental Hotel has been temporarily set up to resemble an airport security station where participants can have their aura read and obtain security clearance before being permitted to enter a Seclusion Zone. The Seclusion Zone is a surveillance free area where participants can take a momentary break from the bustling CBD. 

Within the Seclusion Zone participants have the option of listening to meditation music or watching a relaxing meditation video. The premise behind necessitating security clearance for the Seclusion Zone is to ensure that participants can be ‘trusted’ within a surveillance free zone.  Security clearance is obtained through a positive aura reading. A photograph is taken of the participant and their aura generated with aura reading software. A less then positive aura reading might require the participant to spend time in the Aura Reconditioning Unit if they would like to gain access to the Seclusion Zone.

Terri Te Tau is an artist of Rangitāne and Ngāti Kahungunu descent and grew up in the Wairarapa. She is working towards a Doctorate in Fine Arts at Te Pūtahi a Toi, Massey University and is a current recipient of the Sasakawa Young Leaders Fellowship Fund (SYLFF) scholarship. She is a member of the Mata Aho Collective (http://mataaho.webs.com) and also performs in an on-going collaborative music project The Live Jukebox. She has participated in group shows within public galleries and project spaces in Aotearoa New Zealand, Denmark and New York.