Postcard to Dr Jacoby is one of a series, each named after characters in the 1990s cult television series, Twin Peaks. Directed by David Lynch, this surreal and influential programme challenged the conventions of the television mini-series genre.
Twin Peaks was based in a picturesque alpine/logging village on the border of North America and Canada. The series opened with the murder of Laura Palmer, high school beauty, prom queen, cheerleader and meals on wheels volunteer. As the murder is investigated by FBI Special Agent, Dale Cooper, Palmer’s illicit, psychotic and supernatural double life is revealed as is the seedy underbelly of the Twin Peaks community.
Both Hannah and Aaron watched this series as teenagers. They decided to revisit it when they were the 2004 Olivia Spencer Bower Artists in Residence, based in Christchurch’s Gothic Revival Arts Centre and adjacent to Hagley Park. They were curious to see if the series was as good as they remembered. Twin Peaks proved to be better, darker and more complex when viewed as adults and inspired their work as professional artists.
Each ‘painting’ in this series is based on bad and duplicitous characters from the television programme. Dr Jacoby was Laura Palmer’s psychiatrist, an implicit agent in her secret life and a keeper of her secret journal after her death. Hannah and Aaron liken this eccentric and ultimately harmful character to a distinctive tree located in Hagley Park. Despite its unusual and commanding form, Hannah had not noticed it until Aaron had taken the image upon which this ‘painting’ is based. From that moment on, it became an ominous presence in her daily run through the park.
The reference to Hagley Park is significant. While it is a captivating recreational area in the day time, it has another reputation as a site of violent crime and suicide – not a place to be alone after dark. In turn, this tree and the park are symbolic of Christchurch – the Garden City – the most English of New Zealand cities but with its own seedy and dangerous side. These Gothic narratives are, however, balanced by the playful and heartening fireflies that dance in the trees.
Of course, these references take on additional meanings in the period after the Christchurch earthquakes, in September 2010, February 2011 and the ongoing aftershocks. The Arts Centre has suffered significance damage and trees in Hagley Park have literally fallen over and been removed. In fact, we are lucky that this art work survived the earthquake with only superficial damage – being located in the artist’s basement studio on the high side of Lyttelton. I would like to acknowledge the resilience of these artists who remained committed to this exhibition despite their recent experiences and upheavals.
Anna-Marie White
Curator