Category: Introduction To Story
Johnson Witehira: Half Blood
Mame of Art Instillation: Half Blood
Artist/Designer: Johnson Witehira
Johnson Witehira, a graphic designer, typographer now turned all over designer created a game called Half Blood. Jonhnson bases a lot of his work on Maori history and change that’s occurred in the culture throughout the past hundred years. The Maori culture has westernised, although the Maori art and design hasn’t changed too much since they were first used. Witehira explains that this piece ‘describes himself as some who is Maori and Pakeha. ‘Half Blood’, a comic themed game uses a lot of game-art style techniques, almost comic or 2D formats which is not Johnson’s forte’.
The actual concept and violence behind the game I do not agree with. As New Zealanders, we all know our history is dark and the way we were arrived and treated the environment (both Maori and Pakeha) was wrong. Although, Johnson told our heritage in a simple way he used very graphic and very violent terms. The game is a told in two parts, allowing you to see the difference between they ways each culture handled their arrival. Concept starts off with Maori arriving on the land and deliberately cutting down/burning forests and eating most wildlife. Then the next screen then displays the British arriving and trying to turn the Maori Christian and introducing them to disease and guns. The context itself is correct and true, but the way the movements tell the story is violent.
Witehira explained that the purpose of this game is educate New Zealanders and to almost “fill in the gaps of our darker history”. But this is where the confusion starts. The acts involved are bashing animals, bashing each other, starting fires, forcing religion and destroying the environment. How is this educational? For education-Usually- your target audience are the youth of New Zealand, as the adults have already learnt the history throughout their natural years of living. There is no way that this game would be allowed to be played during class, let alone set a standard of knowledge for the youth of New Zealand about our own history. The only way to move up in the game is to continue the violence to reach your end goal. The general concept could have been explained using un-violent movements and promoting for a healthier, greener New Zealand. I am confused to whom his target audience is focused toward.
Half Blood, being a video controlled game allows you to interact with the artwork itself and allows us to determine the next move, but that also decreases your target audience again. “Witehira doesn’t merely make reference to digital technology, he directly borrows from it, using gaming as a form of making. This means that those with an understanding of gaming can connect with the work faster than art audiences”, Lopesi explains. With the exhibit being held at Object Space in Auckland- artists are the likeliest of people to visit, not gamers. I feel as though Johnson Witehira has confused his message with his target audience. He has tried to ‘urbanise’ his game to fit in with his up-bringing and art that surrounded him, but has forgotten whom and what he wants us to learn by playing his video-game. If there wasn’t as much violence or the violence was less graphic, this would be a useful tool for the next generation of primary children growing through our schools. Or, If it were an art piece that you could interact with visually and emotionally, adults would enjoy it further.
After researching and listening to Johnson Witehira explain his game, I felt as though there was something missing from it. There is a gap that needs to be filled with either more knowledge or a sense of humanity towards New Zealanders history. As a nation- we are small and we should respect the past years of history that have brought us to our westernised civilisation today.
References:
Lopesi, L. 2016, Nov 29. State of Play: A Review of Johnson Witehira’s Half Blood’. Retrieved from http://pantograph-punch.com/post/review-half-blood.
Objectspace. 2016, Sept 30. Johnson Witehira: Half Blood. Retrieved from http://artistsalliance.org.nz/events/johnson-witehira-half-blood/.
AKL Game Development. 2016, Oct 5. Johnson Witehira. Retrieved form https://www.meetup.com/playmaker/events/234431746/.
Elizabeth. 2016, Sept 21. New Exhibition by Toi Iho artists Johnson Witehira. Retrieved from http://www.toiiho.co.nz/new-exhibition-by-toi-iho-artist-johnson-witehira.
Mulligan, J. 2016, Sept 29. Masterpieces Johnson Witehira. [Podcast]. Retrieved from
Maori Televison. 2016, Sept 30. 2d Projected Artwork reflect Maori and Pakeha Cultures. [Video]. Retrieved from https://www.maoritelevision.com/news/regional/2d-projected-artwork-reflects-maori-and-pakeha-cultures.
Witehira, J. 2016, Oct 7. Colonised or Coloniser? Experience Half Blood. Retrieved from http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/afternoons/galleries/Half-blood
Witehira, Johnson, & Trapani, Paola. (2016). The Whakarare Typeface Project : When culture-specific design brings elements of universal value. Cumulus – International Association of Universities and Colleges of Art, Design and Media.
Renata, Hohepa, Barnett, Cassandra, Witehira, Johnson, Keelan, Josie, & Unitec Institute of Technology. (2016). Virtualising the Stories of Ngākau Māhaki Mā Te Whare E Arahi : Let the Whare Be the Guide.
Kerekere, E., Twist, N., New Zealand. Te Puni Kōkiri, & Lower Hutt . Dowse. (2001). Kaumātua : Anō te ātaahua = Honouring the gifts of our elders. Wellington, N.Z.] : Auckland, N.Z.: Te Puni Kōkiri ; David Bateman.
Wangechi Mutu: Riding Death in my Sleep
Idea Chosen- Wangechi Mutu, ‘Riding Death in my Sleep’.
Wangchei Mutu is an African artist originally from Kenya but is now sculpting, painting and producing incredible collage works in Brooklyn New York. Her Style is earthy and rich with a character or object usually centred. This helps her to structure the message she is trying portray through the variety of mediums she has mastered.
The piece I found really intriguing and beautiful was ‘Riding Death in my Sleep’. This particular piece is part of the ‘A fantastic Journey’ exhibit held in 2002 at the Brooklyn Art Museum. For this work, she uses collaged pieces of pattern, animals and different coloured inks to produce a work that is daring, bold, strange and almost evil. Her works are powerful and make you really stop and think about what is going on in the image.
In the centre of her work she has a bald women placed crouching, staring at her audience as if she’s trying letting you know she’s in charge. Her stare is intriguing as though she is non-human and her body is collaged with human and reptilian like attributes. Alison Miers believed her ‘stare and red lips are offering a dare of attraction that’s could potentially be poisonous’. Her make is very strange which is why I was so intrigued by her. She wears boots, has lipstick on and has her nose pierced meaning she is culturally aware of humans but her posture and animal like touches make her seem far from it. Her make isn’t glued down precociously or ink perfectly outlined to make her seem less beautiful and more one with nature. The platform she is paced on is simple but covered with earthy mushrooms and disorganised animals and the background is plain beige allowing her audience to really look at the detail Mutu has centred.
Mutu arriving from Kenya to New York in the 1990’s felt as though she were an outsider. She was a lot closer to animals and nature back home than she was surrounded by the concrete slab that New York is taking a huge toll mentally. Having to understand a multi-cultural environment Mutu began to become confused about who she really was, because she had so much opportunity for change. Although, Mutu remembered her history and felt as though that was the most important part of her. This allowed all her tension to pour in to her art works.
Mutu’s colour scheme for the whole piece is very organic and earthy as though she is trying to connect the human back with the animals and nature itself. Her main medium is collage but she has enhanced her works by now adding paint and inks. This brought her paintings to life and really gave enhancements to some sections. She collects all images from medical illustrations, national geographic, fashion glossies, pornography and many more building almost a library of knowledge in patterns so she has most available at all times. I believe she focuses on collage to break down an underlying message to almost re-word it and find the actual source to the problem. I also believe she uses collage even on the characters, to really emphasize that us as humans carry history and we carry this with us forever. Building and passing on genes and memories through generations and these little bits of history help us to become who we will be once we reach adult-hood.
Mutu’s practice embodies collage as her main medium to gain control and pull apart any unsettling or exciting material to make something new from it. This is almost how I feel about her centred character in this particular piece. As though, she has removed and added to this character, rebirthing a newer and deeper version of herself or someone she knows. The work seems very deliberate and personal. The work stands strong and proud like the women centred is in charge of her audience, almost in a seductive way.
The size of Wangechi Mutu’s works is incredible. Some quoted to nearly be house sized. She displays all pieces in a very dark room lit with natural, soothing tones to really make the beauty and light shine on every art piece she does. Mutu does this to enhance the tiny detail she spreads throughout her works and helps us to actually see the over-all image. They are placed directly side-by-side one another allowing you to walk down to read her narratives. I believe her art exhibits are created to structure a time-line. Allowing her audience to walk down in an order provided by her self to unfold her history and bring life to her characters.
This work really amazed me, as I had never really seen anything this unusual that I really felt connected to. Even though her works are made up of random images- I felt as though I can read the piece as a whole. Leaves me feeling very intrigued about the women centred, wanting to know more from the artist.
References:
Mier,A. 2013, August 5. The Grotesque Beauty of Wangechi Mutu. Retrieved from https://hyderalergic.com/77092/the-grotesque-beauty-of-wangechi-mutu/
Kaitano,C. 2013, November 13. Warscapes, Part of the Guardian African Network. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/13/wangechi-mutu-art-of-afrofuturism
Willis, D. 2014, February 28. Wangechi Mutu. Retrieved from http://bombmagazine.org/article/1000052/wangechi-mutu
Mary and Leigh. 2014, August 9. Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey. Retrieved from http://www.blockmuseum.northwestern.edu/view/exhibitions/past-exhibits/2014/wangechi.html
Garner, J. 2015, August 21. Your Story; My Curse: The Art of Wangechi Mutu. Retieved from https://unicornbooty.com/your-story-my-curse-the-art-of-wangechi-mutu/
Wangechi Mutu, Deutsche Guggemheim Berlin & Deutsche Bank. (2010). Wangechi Mutu artist of the Year 2010: My Dirty Little Heaven. Ostifildern: Hatie Cantz.
Booth-Clibborn, E & Cork, R. (2011). The History of the Saatchi Gallery (2nd ed, rev, ed). London: Booth-Clibborn Editions.
Morill, R. (2015). Akademie X: Lessons in Art + Life. London : New York : Phaidon Press Limited.
Stiles, K & Selz, P. (2012). Theories and Documents of Contemporary Art : A Sourcebook of Artists Writings (2nd ed, rev and ecpanded, ed.) Berkely, California: University of California Press.
Thornton, S. (2014). 33 artists in 3 acts. W. W. Norton & Company
Noho Marae Stay.
After spending the night at the Marae on Tuesday the 28th-29th March 2017 I truly am inspired to get to know myself better, in order to produce better work. I feel as though this stay taught me- not only art techniques but life techniques as well. It was amazing to meet some artists who were so willing to open up about their pasts in order to share their artwork/projects with us.
I truly believe this stay has strengthened the relationships between myself and my classmates and allowed to to be able to trust them. I now feel compftable enough to show and talk to them all about my work.
My highlight was probably the weaving exercise we performed. We watched whilst a lady weaved a kite for a unborn baby. In the Maori culture- when the baby is first born, they are placed into this basket. I believe this is sort of like a baptism, wishing the baby good health and strength throughout its life. Being apart of this was truly a privilege. It was a beautiful experience, one that I have never Been apart of before. I will remember this for the rest of m life.
I would love to do this again as we all connected outside of the classroom and were able to talk to each other freely so we can get to know each other on a more personal basis. I had the best vibe the whole time I was there and will remember this experience for the rest of my life.
Kurt Shwitter- Surrealist
Kurt Schwitters Merzbau Hannover.
After being denied a place in the military for an epilepsy condition he was unaware of, Kurt Shwitter turned to art to express his emotions and ideas. After holding his first exhibition 1911, the war progressed and Shwitter’s work became a lot darker. He began a contemporary artist. Sculpting, poetry, collage, painting, surrealism. During the war he fell in love with machines and believed they were one with the human spirit. This is where his surrealist sculpting/collage really took place.
The photo above is his parents home in Hanover (1923-36). Where he transformed over six bedrooms. This can now only been seen by photo as it was the most alarming piece of artwork towards the end of the world war.
The photo’s are in black and white and is the one of the only remaining photo’s of the original piece. Although, you can still see he has different coloured woods texturising the sculpture and enhancing some areas more than others. Shwitters used scraps of woods and other wood-like material to create his massive collages. He has curved and layered multiple types of woods to make this piece a whole. He has used blocks and layers, hard and smooth edges to make this sculpture a whole. The piece looks as though its a tight contained space although it is a large room.
He has spaced the wood blocks all over the room, some further, some closer in order to draw you in and really try to under the piece. The piece connects block by block, even though the wood its self could be a meter away from the next. He really used the whole room to make this sculpture an dover-all composition. By the way the photo is taken, the piece almost looks flat with sketched in angled/curved lines but to think that this whole piece takes up the whole room is inspiring.
From my perspective I believe Shwitters wanted his viewers to feel crammed or almost trapped. Like you would have been if you were fighting in the war. Different shapes represent different types of people and an explosion of madness surrounding it. This sculpture/ collage is a piece that really connects you to the text that surrounds it.
References:
Posted by Elisabeth Thomas, 2010-2012. Dedalus Fellow, Museum Archives – https://www.moma.org/explore/inside_out/2012/07/09/in-search-of-lost-art-kurt-schwitterss-merzbau//.
Posted by Clare O’Dowd, 2009. Kurt Shwitters Mezbau: Chaos, Compulsion and Creativity- https://www.ucl.ac.uk/moveable-type/pdfs/2008-9/Clare_ODowd.pdf.
Posted by Karen Orchard. 2007. Kurt Shwitters: Reconstruction of the Merzbau- http://www.tate.org.uk/research/publications/tate-papers/08/kurt-schwitters-reconstructions-of-the-merzbau.
Posted by Connor McGarrigle. 2003. Kurt Shwitters ‘Hannover Merzbau’- http://www.stunned.org/mz1.htm.
All viewed by myself, March 25th 2017.
Peggy-Jane Keddy.
Moana
Moana is a Disney movie ‘celebrating’ Pacific culture and heritage. After reading Karlo Mila’s blog on why Moana gives the wrong perception of Pacific culture, I completely understand where all the controversy surrounding the movie has come from. Maui was a hero among the pacific islands. He slows the sun, steals the secrets of fire and is both demigod and ancestor to his people. He is spread across 17 different Pacific languages and is mentioned in stories, song, has land named after him and is well respected because of his birth story.
Maui (in legend) was stillborn and then released to the ocean by his mother. This meant he had to fight for his life and power that he has throughout all of stories we have heard . He is a navigator of stars and has been an inspiration to all regardless of how you were born.
For Disney to portray him as an overweight, self indulged lonely man is terrible! As Karlo Mila said- ‘Disney served up the Shrek of Polynesia’ and as a side kick! He is supposed to be the legend, not the side kick.
I completely understand why the Polynesian people were not happy with the way Disney portrayed their almost ‘hero’. The people of Polynesian culture are trying so hard to help their people with health and weight problems and for Disney to just assume that every Polynesian man is BIG, what would they see the point in change? I feel like Disney had just given Polynesian people a label. Being labelled almost allows the behaviour to continue happening, which is not what they want! Polynesian people have been fighting, researching, and dedicated their lives to understand their health problems that seem to have developed today.One of the techniques they used to help with weight loss was drawing their heritage where barely anyone was over weight, because they were so active and healthy. How is this supposed to work when all our youth now think Maui is fat?
After watching the movie I felt like Maui was portrayed so wrong. He was cocky and arrogant instead of helpful and caring, he was chubby instead of fit and healthy (because you’d have to be fit to perform all that he did, he seemed like he was acting dumb throughout the movie- which he was not. He was a smart navigator, who helped all those around him. Why make him look like a problem? This is affecting all the stories passed down from generations above.
Posted by Karlo Mila. 10 July 2016. Why Disney’s Maui is so Wrong- https://e-behaviour.co.nz/news/karlo-mila-why-disneys-maui-is-so-wrong.
Viewed by myself March 24th 2017.
Peggy-Jane Keddy.
A little About me
Keywords; Wellington, travel, sketching, hobby, future.
.
I was born and raised (until I was 13 years old) in Wellington New Zealand. I personally call it a fish bowl because after about five years of living there you probably know everyone and their families around your area. It is a very small, but amazing city with a authentic vibe and an impressive waterfront. I moved to Auckland New Zealand when I was fifteen (2012), and have been planted here ever since. Although, moving is a common thing in my family, moving permanently to a new city was a big thing. 
My mother works in the film industry so because of this we traveled a lot and enabled us to live in some amazing places.Including Queenstown and Hong Kong, but mostly for a couple months or short periods of time.
Seeing as we moved around a lot it was hard for my brother and I to stay grounded/ hold friendships so we both developed skills so we can communicate to anyone around the world. I began sketching- this then lead on to painting and collage and 
my brother seems to be a master at any sport he tries. After moving to and completing school in Auckland I had time to actually figure out who I was and what I wanted to do. This is where my hobby for glass bott
les developed. One day I was at an op-shop and my brother broke a glass bottle from the shelf. I then found more and brought some to take home. I started off filling the glass bottles with flowers and covering with water but after a couple days they died. So now I paint them, create collages in them, make fake gardens and beaches. I find this grounds me, and sparks thoughts for my drawings. I now have about 2, some in collections, and some individual.
For my future I really want to get into interior design. 
I love designing area’s where people feel at home and have space to relax. I want to be able to also design café’s and bars etc.. because I feel as though that’s where some of my favourite memories are made with friends and family.
Peggy-Jane Keddy Design 