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Project 1 presentations

The disadvantage of drawing your way through the city blind - instead of turning to a new page you end up drawing on your cover

Powhiri and Marae visit – Immigrant’s View

After last week’s visit of AUT Marea I came to a disturbing realisation that despite the fact I’ve been living in New Zealand for over 7 years I know astonishingly little about Maori culture.

As an immigrant, I find this welcome ceremony very significant. Different cultures around the world carry different traditions and have different reasoning for their ways of life. It is important for everyone to respect and acknowledge these, no matter where we are in the world. In my opinion exposure to cultures and languages builds bridges of empathy and opens our eyes to the world. There is no better education than travelling and exposure to societal diversity.

Our visit offered a great insight into the Maori culture, their traditions and legends. I particularly enjoyed explanations of acts we were asked to follow while entering the Marea. The proceedings are deeply rooted in tribal lifestyle that was dominant in Aoteraoa prior to colonisation. Coming from a once occupied country myself, I struggle to grasp the difference between the words “occupation” and “colonisation”. Both, for me, mean the same; usurpation and irreversible alteration of identities.

The Maori were stripped off their rights, land, and traditions for the sake of “becoming civilised” by the British and as such the survival of any tradition is of paramount importance. The fact these are still followed today only proves the resilience and determination of Maori people.

During our visit I felt a part of an imaginary “team”. My new AUT Whanau. The whole ceremony seems to me built on faith, trust and good will of both the hosts and the visitors. The cautious approach with the gentler sex leading the procession, the calling of the host, stories shared under the supervision of our ancestors above, the hongi; all these give a sense of place and belonging. Something Western cultures are losing in today’s globalised world.

#Maori #culture #belonging #Marae #hongi #powhiri #aut #diversity

unSeen city

Like a full stop hidden in the fineprint

we wander our city’s street

visible but unseen

the crowd offers a mask to hide our faces in

we’re the ones that observe but do not see

the urban human seems to carry an altered gene

but hey; its ok!

no need to fret

all your city secrets are safely twined

no Big Brother watching your every step

and since there’s no one watching

who cares if you choose to be blind?

but without vision morals get a bit blurry

without seeing for ourselves we are easily convinced

that what we want and need is on billboards

and phones unlocked by our finger prints

although seeing we choose to ignore

the feet of another person sleeping on the pavement

because our minds and eyes are only focused

on the un-social media that chain us

in voluntary enslavement

private dramas become public spectacles

we pull out our cameras before we pull people out of pits

because Somebody’s disaster online

is something that will probably get a lot of hits

we retract from people with different coloured faces

yet smile at rainbows in the sky

perhaps in order to see people, and not races

we should have been colourblind

we stand in lines in front of a shops

with religious obedience

for the next big thing that we don’t need

then blame it on advertisements

not facing our own greed

walking the concrete jungle

and jungle it is, indeed

we started to answer to what we want

no longer to what we need

if being human means to live within a city

what a shame we build with concrete and not with humanity

#humanity #poem #urban #city #life #unseen #crowd

Shooting strangers walking #camera #video #shooting #street #walkers #urban (at AUT - Auckland University of Technology)

#shooting #walkers #street #urban #camera #video

“Gentrification is spatial expression of economic inequality”

The other side of urban property development and city investment, and what it means for the marginalised.

A wee little history of Urbanisation from TedED

#TedEd #urbanisation #howdidwegethere

Week 4: Taking a Line for a walk

In our 4th week of Urban Practices we ventured into the Streets of Auckland. Starting at the corner of Kitchener Street & Bacons Lane where the entry to tunnels under Albert Park is located. All of us equipped with a piece of chalk, and some of us barefoot, we’ve been asked to map our way through the city. What amused me the most was the variation in approaches we all took with the task at hand. Some of us positioned our chalk on the nearest surface and, dragging it along, started our walk; leaving a colorful “snail trail” as we moved. Others became poets and inscribed the walls with thought-provoking statements. And others still used their chalks to borderline vandalise buildings. :-)

Although a fun experiment I had this unshakable feeling we are doing something we are not supposed to. It became evident I was not alone in my state of mind when other Aucklanders became very passionate about particular remarks outside of their shops and tapped their foot in insistent demand to wipe off what was written. It’s funny how much impact a sentence can have, even though it was written with a medium that will be washed off with the next rain (at that moment about 5 minutes away).

In conclusion though, lining my movement through the environment on the walls and road made me notice all the different textures that surround us. Stucco walls, ceramic tiles, brick, stone, concrete, asphalt. It made me feel very small. Not often do we stop in our movement through the city and observe these things. Not often do we stop in our movement through the city, period. Needles to say this thought put me in a flaneur-like state of mind and on my way back to the studio I noticed things I never noticed before.

On a wall running along the Kitchener Street side of Albert Park a pink chalk line walked with me for 20-odd meters, then it stopped abruptly, discontinued. Having my own piece of chalk still left I started a green line, where the pink one finished, and continued. When the wall ended I had no option but to break the continuity and it made me wonder if one of my classmates behind me will continue my line, as I did the pink one.

About 10 meters away on the edge of yet another wall by the Art Gallery I found the pink culprit of the line I followed, and left my green one by its side.

Let someone else make their mark on this city now.

#citywalk #vandalism #graphiti #chalk #line #mapping #urban #class

Taking my line for a walk

#gif

Response to Reading

Edgar Allan Poe - The Man of the Crowd

Being a Poe fan, I was excited to find this narrative to be our first reading for our Urban Practices paper. Poe’s writing, ever so shredded by mystery, takes us on a journey through streets of London that leads nowhere. If anything, it forces us to even further contemplate on the strangeness in question, and forces us to acknowledge the frustration of the fact that certain things we encounter are not meant to be discovered, solved or understood. And are - just like a passer-by on a street - a temporary fleeing moment that absorbs us whole.

The sections of the reading below are ones that resonated most with my thought:

“... Others, still a numerous class, were restless in their movements, had flushed faces, and talked and gesticulated to themselves, as if feeling in solitude on account of the very denseness of the company around.”

There is a certain level of anonymity while walking through the city streets. The sheer volume of people surrounding us may perhaps give us the impression we are a needle lost in a field of grass. We pass strangers, who’s faces are perpetually replaced in our memory by the faces of the next stranger, and the next, and the next. In this maze of bodies we may feel like there isn’t really anyone looking. And if there is no one looking we may as well behave as we would if we were alone. Talking to ourselves in deep contemplation. I sometimes find myself singing while walking down Queen Street with my headphones on and music in my ears. Not because I consider my voice a great one and wish to share it; but because I feel like no one is really listening. It is true that, while walking through the city, we’ve developed a sort of a barricade, or numbness to the crowd that is inevitably surrounding us. As a result of this we are not able to truly experience it. This makes me question whether we are truly meant to live in such dense environment. In pacific cultures, for example, it is believed that the appropriate size of a village - that functions well and is sustainable - is 150 people.

“Descending in the scale of what is termed gentility, I found darker and deeper themes for speculation.”

The protagonist then continues to list categories of people he finds less than worthy. What I find disturbing about this very detailed and descriptive list is that along with men such as street beggars and invalids, he groups women (any kinds of woman, apparently). Whether returning from day’s work or “street walking”, the narrator makes no distinct categorisation between all the women he sees. As if any woman, of any age, class, or upbringing walking the street of London is automatically labelled as unworthy. So were apparently the opinions of white, privileged men of that time.

A century later, here we are. Although a woman walking on the street is now a normal sight; how many times do we observe strangers while walking and form assumptions and opinions without a second thought? I myself sometimes imagine whole life stories of the strangers I pass on the street. And without realisation I have formed an opinion on them. One that nobody asked me for. They may be based on observation of movement, attire, conversation, style of walk, posture. It makes me wonder how much of these opinions we form about others are influenced by the standards of the society we live in.

“I was now utterly amazed at his behaviour, and firmly resolved that we should not part until I had satisfied myself in some measure respecting him.”

This section of the reading reminded me of how it is a common treat of the last few years to observe privacy of others in the city without hesitation or concern. As if intrigue was more important than respect for other people’s privacy. I once saw a heated argument between a couple on the street. The people passing by felt no shame in pausing in their walk and standing by started pulling out their cameras! Maybe the notion of “private” becomes irrelevant in such public space as a city street.

Reflection on Assessment 1 material: WALK #3

A: “Hi”

B: ”Kia Ora”

A: “Are you alright? What do you need?”

B: “Nah, nothing, miss.

A: ”Are you hungry?”

B: “No just a bit cold”

A: “Are these your friends?

B: “Yeh, this is _______, and that’s _____”

A: “Hi. *shakes hands* Hello, I’m Tereza”

C, D: “Hey.”

A: “I’m sorry to bug you but I noticed you while passing by. And I thought I’ll just come talk to you.

B: “Oh yeah, what about?”

A: “I don’t know? Anything….

…

I encountered these three during my third walk. And I wondered. Even if I disguise myself really well and take the picture, who am I to judge and decide whether or not they want their picture taken? To be talked about? To be seen? Does being homeless forfit our right for privacy? When I asked “What do you need?” underline there was “What do you need to help you get back and join the society of working machinery? What can I help you with in order to become another working, productive, one-in-a-million-line item? What can I do for you to join the rest of this city?”.

#homeless #privacy #urban #city

After my chalk & I finished our walk through the city I noticed the lonesome leftover, the evidence of our "borderline vandalism" sitting on an edge of a wall. I thought I might as well part ways with my chalk and leave these two to reminiscing about the mischief they just caused...

If living in the urban is one of the things that define us as human, what a shame we build with concrete and not with humanity

Urbis Avem

#urban #quote #city #humanity

Cut down the trees and put them in a tree museum. Then charge people a dollar and a half to see them

Joni Mitchell

15:43 - my favorite part of JR’s TEDTalk.

Allow the city itself; people’s use of the city; people’s movement and interaction; its dust and clutter; to create Art. That way, the marginalised and the privileged, can all realise their claim on their environment. Suddenly, there is a link. Because what is a city, town or village without people.

#TEDTalk #JR #StreetArt #Pasting #faces #people

Do you ever catch yourself starring into a strangers eyes while lost in your thoughts, walking through a crowded street? Not realising you are looking at another human being? Did cities and the urban crowd force us to develop a shield we protect ourselves with? One that makes us blind on default. One we think is makes us invisible. Like a child hiding its face in the palms of its hands; if I can't see you, you can't see me.

Urbis Avem

A true Aucklander, drinking coffee, while he drops love on Auckland City in the palm of his hand.

Look up ‘if these walls could talk’ by @ITWCTNZ

#aucklander #mural #art #street #painting #metaphor

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