Artwork information

Apparatus To Be Worn To Keep Out Unwelcome Thoughts, 1958, was first presented in an exhibition with an equally evocative title, The Search for the Fabulous Idea, held at the Architectural Centre Gallery, Wellington, 1958. June Black created a cast of characters, including her central protagonist, Dr Endedus, who ventured out in search of the Fabulous Idea. Black’s story was a metaphor for her own intellectual journey, and was populated with members of a team, each with their own interests and emotional needs provided for with a range of apparatuses, disguises, maps, and masks. There was a Machine to Plot the Blind Drift of Habit and Routine, another to Conquer an Unbecoming Seriousness. There were Pride Crushers, Inspiration Dispensers, and an Abyss Tester. One visitor to the exhibition likened Black’s work to French writer Alfred Jarry and the connection could not have been more apt. Black revered Jarry and his wild creative imagination that gave rise to Surrealism, Dada and Theatre of the Absurd.