Nicholas Males
End User
19 June – 13 July 2024
Please wait patiently for the system to fail.
End User is an amalgamation of the crude and seemingly obsolete infrastructure that our IT¹ departments have become familiar with and are built upon. This unknown, patchwork structure merges lines between that of server closets, back rooms, and the corporate desk, bringing them together in a seemingly erroneous arrangement. However, unlike those locations, there exists a general acknowledgment of the purpose those spaces fulfill, even if we find ourselves puzzled by what that purpose might be.
End User refers to the people who will ultimately use the product but are not necessarily the customers of the company buying said product. They are, however, typically employees of the customer. These users often come to understand how defunct their IT¹ systems are through its usage alone; this work discusses the relationship between that of the end user and these systems, or lack thereof.
Anticipation is often a large factor within IT¹ organizations and consequently within this work there is a tangible sense of foreboding. This ominous tone is veiled by the use of deceptively playful GUI’s², and a multitude of presumably defunct corded phones repeating continuously overlapping “hold” music. Colourful GUI’s² are displayed adjacent to those of the terminal scripts that may run them, unveiling their inner workings, or possibly something else entirely. There is a pessimistic expectation that this will all come to a screaming halt; that the systems and the ancient hardware that runs them will fail.
Nicholas Males is an installation artist born and raised in Te Waiharakeke, now working and living in Tāmaki Makaurau. In 2021, Nicholas completed a Masters in Fine Arts at Elam School of Fine Arts. Males’ installations merge the line between the domestic and corporate worlds, turning both upside down and creating familiar spaces that seemingly lack any real purpose. His practice is an ongoing observation and contemplation of the objects in the world around us, as well as his own attempts to extract meaning and understanding in the dynamic coexistence between object, dweller/viewer and space.
Males enjoys using seemingly outdated or defunct technology in his work, as often these found objects have built-in preconceptions relating to their function. Through recontextualisation, there is a sense of salvation created for these once purpose-built objects. The space and viewer form a different narrative with previously mundane things, through Males’ unusual combinations. Recent exhibitions include ‘Risk of Bliss’ at MEANWHILE Gallery (2023), ‘Mimicry’ at Depot Artspace (2023), ‘You May Rest Here’ at Satchi&Satchi&Satchi (2022) and ‘Downside Up’ at Studio One Toi Tū (2021)
Special thanks to Theolonius Kelly for the Instrumental Hold Music and Ryan Brown for the various scripts.
1. IT – Information Technology
2. GUI – Graphical User Interface
Images by Antje Barke