Global E y e s F e e t Vo i c e
Global Eyes Feet Voice
Copyright Š Ideas Imbed Creative 2009 Authors and artists retain copyright to their work. No parts of these works may be reproduced without the express written consent of its creator. Authors and artists can be contacted via the publishers. Published in New Zealand by Ideas Imbed Creative and Chan Andreassend
email ideasimbedcreative@gmail.com Project director and concept by Ronald Andreassend www.chanandreassend.co.nz Edited by Christian Jensen Design by Christian Jensen and Erin Gaffney ISBN 978-0-473-15686-2
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Introduction & manifesto
Genevieve McClean - star _ 10 13 Renee Liang - Seven sisters of industry 14 _ 17 Genevieve McClean - Star star star star star star star 18 _ 21 Sabrina Muck - Reject your own dispossession 22 _ 25 Daniel Larsen - Matariki 26 _ 29 Miriam Barr - Stitching 30 _ 33 Christian Jensen - Eyes of Valkyries 34 _ 35 Profiles 36
Objects of Global Eyes Feet Voice
CD
audio of poems by the poets chalked poems by the poets association photo series by Erin Gaffney object photo series by Ronald Andreassend photos by Erin Gaffney seven sisters drawings by Ya-Wen Ho video of star star star star star by Genevieve McClean Corban Estate Arts Centre exhibition photos by Erin Gaffney
Concept
Corban Estate Arts Centre curator Lisa Rogers invited object artists Ronald Andreassend and Karen Chan to submit artworks for an exhibition celebrating Matariki. Keen to broaden the creative scope, Ronald approached the poets from Metonymy to contribute prose to the exhibit. The successful collaboration resulted in an inspiring show of poetry, light and ceramic design. Global Eyes Feet Voice documents this unique event, paying homage to Maori New Year and combining the creative talents of eight New Zealanders. Each ceramic light is conceived as a three-dimensional reconstruction of the poetry written specifically for the Matariki exhibition. The poems reflect the memories and identities of each poet, their interpretations of the meaning of Matariki and their relationship to Aotearoa. The ceramic shapes are individually pierced with intricate designs and symbols and when illuminated, create patterns on surrounding surfaces. Hand-crafted cast resin details enliven each light with rich, translucent colour and texture, retelling each poet’s words in a new, pictorial form.
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o us Matariki means celebrating the unique place in which we live and giving respect to the land we live on. Using this thought as a stepping stone, or spring board, the Global Eyes Feet Voice project has become a series that is building on itself and branching out as a side-project from Metonymy.
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ix poets re-create their poetry through ..collaborations with other artists. The Matariki series, exhibited at Corban Estate Arts Centre, was a collaboration between six poets: Miriam Barr, Daniel Larsen, Sabrina Muck, Renee Liang, Genevieve McClean and Christian Jensen and object artists Ronald Andreassend and Karen Chan. The themes of seven poems are reflected in their interpretation by Ronald and Karen as threedimensional ceramic lights and illuminated resin objects.
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he second installation at Te Karanga shows objects made by the poets themselves, including tokotoko talking sticks, lanterns, jewellery, lino cuts, illustrations and photography. A CD accompanies the book and contains audio recordings of the poems, a photo series of guerrilla poetry and a photo series of new objects added to reflect on the poems. 4
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mbracing the spirit of Matariki means to celebrate through education. The stars, global eyes, navigate towards remembrance and the planting of new trees and crops; signalling change, signalling new beginnings. It is the time for learning about the land and remembering our ancestry; of the legacy left behind to find our place where we are; our home.
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otearoans have used the
sky for many reasons throughout history. The . symbols created from the stars preserve our roots, norms, culture, knowledge and beliefs. The time of new year is celebrated in all cultures. Our art will always be there to tell the tale and to share our skills and achievements. Global Eyes explores the different backgrounds and roots of Aotearoans aiming to tie them together and display the uniqueness of Aotearoan culture through the voice of poetry and art. We have, and are still, continuing to do this by manipulating, deconstructing and reconstructing the poems through several sets of hands.
Manifesto Global Eyes To see from the perspective of the stars; often when we speak of where we are from, we may refer to our ethnical origin. This sense of home, particularly in Aotearoa, can be different from the home you are born in and the home you live in. With global eyes we find ourselves with three different types of homes. In some languages, particularly in cultures that are ingrained in exploraton and travel, there are three different words for home. In this way, the word home, the greater sense of home, our global home, can be rooted into many countries, across cultures and between land. Aotearoa has an amazing and unique diversity, which is a defining character of this land we call home.
Global Feet To walk guided by the stars; it is not just through working together within our fields of expertise, but through collaboration across genres and specialised skills, that we can get our global feet on and break the barriers of isolation. This is regarding the word global as an opposite to specialised. Through layering an idea out in all available medium we can create a full body of work that not only reflects the idea it is unravelling but also reflects our contemporary artforms and society.
Global Voice To speak from the perspective of constellations; apathy and isolation are the biggest enemies to our voice. It is only audible, beyond our own inner circles and private functions, when we gather in groups and make a stand for a thought or an idea. Once you have built a platform for the voices to stand on though, it grows exponentially. It grows into object art, visual art and music which accompanies the words, expressed through theatrical body language. The voice riddles the thought, grows branches on the idea, for the visual and physical medium to solidify into symbols. This is an image of the process we go through, in this cycle which keeps growing and moving dynamically. This book is only the start of a cycle which will keep moving as long as the voices have their eyes and feet. It welcomes you as a voice to carry its beat and pulse.
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A simple song for young minds inspired by the curiousity of wanting to know what the stars see. Through silhouettes the lights reflect a new layer of images created in the shadows cast.
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star Poem by Genevieve McClean Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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Sometimes we sing this song
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seven little stars! star star star star star star star! high up in the sky each one like a little eye
I wonder what they see looking down on you and me eight, nine, ten eleven, 1 2 3 4 5 6 7!
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Chinese papercut sisters walking elegantly in formal attire, lattice windows, chinese architecture creating a handbag, symbolising the container of a layered history.
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Seven sisters of industry Poem by Renee Liang Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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First Sister. Farming turn earth in rounds plough in the gold glinted like stars in an unknown sky. you worked so hard you forgot where you left your seed. one day your children will rise straight shafts pointing upwards at sudden rain waiting to hear their names, confused figures disembarking a small wooden ship.
Second Sister. Mining dig deeper into this land’s empty belly nothing to find but cold rocks and still-warm bones. songs embroider this earth thin strong veins gleaming at dark water, following the smell of freshly turned soil. no sustenance in the tailings of others. piece by piece you hack at old flesh lie at night under the sky dream of new maps.
Third Sister. Weaving some say it’s women’s work threads plucked like music shuttles sliding sideways coy young dancers. step across enough times the pattern sings
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lines across landscapes passed from one hand to another. watch the weft words pulled tight the red explosion of pohutakawa the steep green of hills on dark-eyed seas.
Fourth Sister. Manufacturing meet him by the stairs the skylight letting loose its pigeons as machines drone behind us. light catches his laughter drapes it round me pulls me to the back door where we kiss. cotton winds around ties us together the hook and spin of two new strands.
Fifth Sister. Carpentry it’s all in the hands watch how they fit two pieces together then three and four. fit the pieces well and they will hold for years. smooth the whorls of honeyed wood trace concentric rings think of where the pot will sit, sunlight will enter. with such dreams we'll raise a house.
Sixth Sister. Public works fit yourself to the curve lay the gravel straight in its bed. the path does not follow spangled moonlight nor the idle wander of sun. Instead read the stars’ intent, cast a net of knowing across the sky. wherever we walk we all look on the same moon.
Seventh Sister. Printing words are fragile fireflies. capture them watch them fluttering shuddering air, coding stories. hold them gentle in your hand listen to their whispers. tremble their names on my tongue set their words in hard metal type, press them in deep so I remember.
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Winter gardening in Grey Lynn and Genevieve`s young son listening to stories and nursery rhymes, celebrating a desire to learn and grow.
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Star star star star star star star Poem by Genevieve McClean Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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In the winter, when it gets very cold, sometimes, we make a fire.
It’s too cold for swimming, but we can still go to the beach for a walk!
When we go outside to do the gardening We put on our hats, and our jumpers and woolly socks, and gumboots.
Then we put on our gardening gloves.
We do some pruning We do some digging, and we pick the veges that are ready to eat! and take them inside for dinner.
After our bath, we stand by the fire to stay warm, and quickly quickly put on our pyjamas.
In the middle of winter, when it gets dark outside, sometimes, we have a party. Sometimes, we sing songs!
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At night time we can see lots and lots and lots of stars! They are little little little little little! But the sky is big big big big big!
When the matariki stars are in the sky we know that it’s starting to get warmer again, very very very very slowly, day by day by day.
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Two diverse cultures, one Maori one European, meet and combine in the centre forming the shape of a yin yang symbol.
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Reject your own dispossession Poem by Sabrina Muck Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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Prepare the soil, my love you will be happy again Prepare your soul, my love it will be full again tiny eyes look into your heart and know this was ours once and will be again your birthright is one of strength and intensity and intelligence reclaim it now do not let the bread of life become everyday crumbs of anguish and despair Blanket of stars stretches warm above your head raise it now and don’t forget! Do not blame the child for the sins of the father Do not blame the child for the sins of her brother eyes of the gods chant across the midnight sky a family wails how this family has grown mother, brother, sister, wife but this – this is for you: ko toku parata ataahua tirohia atu nei ka wheturangitia Matariki, te whetu o te tau tēnā ngā kanohi kua tikona e Matariki the stars burn bright for you
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Grandfather’s old records crackle on gramophones, weaving memories together in muted colours of wartime houses.
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Matariki Poem by Daniel Larsen Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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I remember the day vividly, though not how old I was. In the back room of my Grandad’s house at Kildare St, one day he took out his jazz records. Wartime stuff. And it was quite unlike Nirvana. But he knew its ins and outs like a woman he had held for years. He knew rolls and peaks, riffs and silences. They spun around his head and table-drumming hands like ancient magic. I could almost see the youthful muse at the heart plucking, an exotic vision of a dark lady pulling all the strings.
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From that day I chased her. Like Orion chases the sisters across the sky, I hunted. Collected fragments of lost arts, chained together, bound myself in the fibres of songs that span to the space before reason and into the unexpected. And since, I see through the eyes of a tiny god and hear through their ears.
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Jewish traditions around the candelabras associated with memories of children’s string games, grandmother’s crochet and lace and of teaching to new generations.
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Stitching Poem by Miriam Barr Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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my grandmother teaches me to light the candles how to hide my eyes & spark the match find my way back from cover of darkness. she sews a thread through Ada Cohen & her loops it around my mother catches my fingers in the net. we are chained together with these traditions our stories.
~ Kimah, Pleiades, Matariki ~ koro points to the ink horizon pulls his moko’s eyes along his arm to the sky teaches him to find the points of light how to read the seasons to plant ~ & grow.
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Generations of mariners with navigational traditions, myths and legends, whose stories are ingrained in the prow of a boat ploughing through waves.
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Eyes of Valkyries Poem by Christian Jensen Object by Karen Chan and Ronald Andreassend
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o n first the new moon, until the darkest night has passed, we welcome the new year; celebrating the promise that every day will be a brighter day & that its fruits will carry dark through us s t h g i n
t h e r e is a unity in the in found polarities translation as we merge our mental images the eyes of the wind, navigates the little eyes, daughters of the earth, on an ivory boat, ebony interior, face prow wooden turtles a on mounted k c a b
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I n the spirit of the name of the Dawn & the name of the Wind the Chiefly eyes of the sky rose in the vision of the Nameless; of many names in countless cultures; of a guide to sails on the ocean and seeds in the ground; I saw Freya Valkyries; her and six her and Earthmother d a u g h t e r s
the nymph plays the flute hauntingly while the earth and wind competed for her attention, eyes hurled at the sky; We fly kites to feel the dance of spirits under the passing eyes of change; guide the beat of our drum as it cuts through the o c e a n
mata riki little eyes two images globally bound mata ariki eyes of God
auborealis rora danced in the spirit of the larger stars. Like the northern veils, I can almost hear the magnetic crackle in pine, its diffuse glow, forms appear in striations on the corona, the eyes sail through 2000 years of light between 10 000 years of d a r k n e s s
g u i d e our seeds in the ground. This open cluster of suns is amongst the nearest to the earth of all clusters. When they rise you can see the stars twinkling in the sky just before dawn. Like a sparkle in the blue or little pin pricks in the veil. White glimmers at day; burn they night at blue hot like s r a t s
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Ronald Andreassend Object Artist of: ChanAndreassend
Karen Chan Object Artist of: ChanAndreassend
Christian Jensen Poet & Object Artist of: Metonymy The Literatti Poetry Live Guerilla Poets
Miriam Barr Poet & Object Artist of: The Literatti Sidestream Poetry Live Guerilla Poets Metonymy
Daniel Larsen Poet of: The Literatti Guerilla Poets Metonymy
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Sabrina Muck Poet of: The Literatti Guerilla Poets
Genevieve McClean Poet, Video and Object Artist of: The Projector Project Metonymy
Renee Liang Poet of: Metonymy Poetry Live Guerilla Poets Read Raw
Project director _ Ronald Andreassend Editor _ Christian Jensen Photographer _ Erin Gaffney
Design by Christian Jensen and Erin Gaffney Other involved artists: Anita Glucina, Ya-Wen Ho, Finn and Hannah-May Thompson Thanks to: Lisa Rogers at Corban Estate Arts Centre, Toi Ora, Te Karanga Gallery, Guerilla Poets, The Literatti, Metonymy, Poetry Live, Sidestream, The Thirsty Dog, SKUGAM, First Scene, Jonathan Besser, Craig Humphries, Paul Williams, Frances Mei-Ping Chan and everyone else who contributed to make this growing project possible
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Global Eyes Feet Voice is a collaborative project between eight poets and visual artists through a wide range of medium and object art. This book focuses on the conception of the project; an interpretation of seven works of poetry as three dimensional ceramic lights with illuminated resin objects. The CD contains further reections of the poems through photography, guerilla poetry, video, audio, lino cuts, wood work, lanterns, sketches, jewellery, resin objects and candelabras.
ISBN 978-0-473-15686-2