Lashing technique performed on bamboo.
Culture, tradition, heritage and family. These words highlight the importance and characteristics for Polynesian families. In my last post, I outlined how my project focused on the community and the richness of Pacific Island culture, and during the project I came to meet two very talented young men who run an organization known as The Roots: Creative Entrepreneurs. Waikare and Martin offered me the opportunity to take part in some of the local projects they were doing over the break. At the events, we learnt about weaving, lashing and carving. The work was done solely by volunteers over multiple weekends and this went to show how valuable a community, the partnership, this “family” was to the Polynesian people. The work was done by individuals of all age groups, from primary school students to veteran master carvers. The pieces were usually fabricated at local leisure centres and the final pieces were showcased at the Pasifika Events Festival. Thank you Waikaere and Martin for this wonderful opportunity.
For more info on The Roots, please click on the image below.
. After this, it was all individual work. What fascinated me about the play was the tragic death of all main characters in all of his plays. I focused on this notion of emotion taking over the strongest characters. I decided to bring this into play and do something similar to an existing building on my site (Customs West Street, Auckland). The explosive expressions of emotional forms penetrating the rigid square building on the site created architectural elements such as entrances, windows, shading devices and systems to hide roof top services. It was by far, the most exciting project of all selections this semester. Very happy to have had done this. Even if it meant I had to do the many late nights and one over nighter that I ended up doing. Bring on D.Studio Semester 2!
