CIRCOARTS | ignition.ac.nz
ISSUE 6
FREE
Elias Tyro & Tyson Roberts Collaboration
PROJECT
A.R.T. Collateral Heritage on Ice Chartfest
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CIRCOARTS | ignition.ac.nz
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ISSUE 6 JULY 2011
Contents
Nau mai, haere mai. Ma te huruhuru
ILLUSTRATION
te manu ka rere mahorahora. Ma te
Illustration spread by Elias Tyro and Tyson Roberts from VisArts
matauranga te tangata e puta ai ki te whaiao, ki te ao marama. Like the soaring bird flying towards the new dawn, so we set off on our new path forward. It’s been a long time between Ignitions, but we’ve made it. It’s a great credit to the students and staff who have got this edition off the ground despite numerous, daily challenges, and I think you’ll agree that, like a lot of things these days, it’s better than ever. Looking around our campus - which sits within the four avenues in the heart of the city - and breathing in the huge buzz of energy and positivity coming from the work our staff and students in the Faculty of Creative Industries are engaged in, it is impossible not to feel a surge of hope and excitement about what this fine city is about to become.
PROJECT A.R.T. Visual Arts Students Elias Tyro and Tyson Roberts collaborate on Project A.R.T. (A Righteous Truth)
While there’s no doubt we’re living through very hard times, it is also true that we’re living in a time of unprecedented opportunity, where we have the chance to (re)design our future in a way few communities ever have cause to. So what are we going to do with this opportunity? Now more than ever, let’s get creative, Christchurch. International examples show us that when a city actively decides to realise its creative potential, significant benefits flow to improve the economic base of that city, the desirability of that city as a place to live and work, and the ability of that city to solve its problems – infrastructural, economic, social and
SNAPSHOTS Take a look at what is going on around CPIT’s Creative Industries
cultural. A creative city is a city that embraces inclusion, diversity, collaboration, co-located activities and engagement in all aspects of its function and design. It is a city where people live, want to stay, work, play and learn. It allows life to be lived within in it in a way that no mall ever could. It is a city for its community: for you. Let’s make Christchurch an internationally renowned creative city. In the Faculty of Creative Industries our job is to deliver applied, quality educational programmes to support the teaching and learning of creative people, to increase the creative output of the city, to feed creative thinking and activity, to encourage the expression of these through performance, exhibition and broadcast, and to work with our aligned industries to share knowledge. Now more than ever, we would
REBRAND CHCH Third year Design Students ReBrand Christchurch as part of a class assignment
love you to come and be part of the creative rising of Christchurch. Kei o tatou ringaringa te tikanga. Kei a tatau nga pukenga. Ma tatau tahi te pae o wawata e whakatinana. The future is in our hands. We have what it takes to succeed and by working together we will ensure our aspirations that adorn the horizon become our realities.
TUTOR WORK
EDITOR
COPY EDITOR
Martin Trusttum
Hazel Barrer
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS
COVER PHOTOGRAPHY
Riley Clarke
Richard Burson
hello@rileyclarke.com
Daniel McQueen
Daniel McQueen
Ami Stevenson
info@danielmcqueen.com Richard Burson info@richardburson.com Amber Bailey ignition |2 bailey.amber@hotmail.com
CPIT Design Tutors Graeme Kyle and Christian Carruthers show some of their illustration work
CONTENTS | ignition.ac.nz
COLLATERAL Final year Bachelor of Design students recently dealt with a real learning opportunity and deadline
PURAKAU
PHOTOGRAPHY
From New Zealand to Cuba, Mexico, Spain and back to New Zealand, Purakau, a combined poster project is still on the move
Interview with Post-Grad Photography student Tim Harris and Adam Gallavin shows his work
SAY THANKS
BLACK BETTY
Interview with Post-Grad Design student Ben ‘Thanks’ Carey
Owner, Hamish Evans & the Black Betty team are back at their new cafe at 165 Madras St, just opposite CPIT
HERITAGE ON ICE
CHARTFEST
CPIT Graduate Lizzie Meeks at Scott Base in Antarcitica
Chartfest with Battle of the Bands champions Von Voin Strum
LOST FOR WORDS
CREATIVE HUB
Winning brand of comedy that transcends language and culture
Homeless arts organisations found refuge at CPIT’s Faculty of Creative Industries
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
The Concept A.Righteous.Truth — In its origin God created the heavens and a body. In the beginning the body echoed with emptiness. The shadow of darkness smothered the surface of the deep. The spirit of God poised over the reservoir, his hands covered in blood. He said “let the blood under the sky accumulate in one place and let dry ground appear” and it was so. He called the dry ground flesh and gathered the reservoir he called blood. He designed the body to give birth to his creations. Then he created a kind of being responsible for the condition of his body. Once his work was done, he observed all that he created and saw that it was good. Elias Tyro and Tyson Roberts work together on Project A.R.T. specialising in two differing areas. Tyson (left) creates a digital version of the work and Elias (right) translates to traditional media.
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
Elias Tyro And Tyson Roberts Introduce their year long project. Project A.R.T. will visually explore a creative narrative in the form of a mythological parable. The story will be told in first person perspective through the eyes of a main character who embarks on a journey that investigates a conceptual world. Through the use of this myth the project will raise the issues of environmental abuse and the importance of morals to a contemporary audience. We intend to generate interesting imagery by swapping the elements of the organic environment with the elements of the human body. The earth will be made of flesh and the people made of botanical and organic materials. The intention of this swap is to draw attention to environmental issues by showing damage to a bodily form. This will disturb the viewer, causing them to think about the damage we cause and encourage them to imagine an equivalent damage to their bodies. Elias Tyro The artist is one who dances in darkness with a light, singing the physical, visual answer to time’s questions. The breath of invention blows along the reflection of self expression. As an artist, I hold hands with the friends of death’s impression, tested by lessons of aesthetic in sessions of credibility. I edit the inner me.
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
My presence prints the essence of symmetry. I have developed an array of skills that have taught me how to play with a symphony.
new world of potential for me. I’m still working out all of its features, but it is definitely been an exciting road of discovery.
Art is the language I communicate to the viewer community. I am influenced by the unity of human beings. I let the truth be the reason to see what I believe. My ambition is to achieve the dreams I hold and to treat all people equally. The mind of society is entirely broken down by the ideas behind our feelings and the language of mankind.With my ideas and the ideas of others to describe life’s identity. I arrange space for age to be illustrated as I curate the pages of my cranium in creative layers.
Elias and I have been working closely together this year. Although we have our different styles and different media preferences we find these differences very complimentary. I have a real passion for the digital painting techniques and I try to use it in any area possible here at CPIT. My role in this project is more of a pre-production artist, creating storyboards and designing the look of some of the environments and characters. I like to leave some of the finished works for Elias to produce through his own techniques or through a collaborative work combining both of our techniques.
I have worked as an apprentice throughout my degree developing the skills of a tattoo artist. I can deal with the pressure of working with a human canvas. I specialise in traditional media, custom design and love to explore identity. I am also a rap artist inspired by a heavy passion for music. I work hard and plan to exhibit my work in an array of national and international galleries. My aspiration is to run my own art, tattoo and music studio while producing and teaching a high standard of work. Tyson Roberts Ever since I was a young kid I’ve been interested in telling stories. I love it when someone creates a story so convincing and so outside the box that it captures your imagination and sends you to a different world. I remember watching the old Star Wars movies for the first time as a kid and being totally captivated. After watching The Empire Strikes Back I was so inside the story that I was convinced that I had the Force and I would try to grab things with my mind. These kinds of experiences are what drive my art. I want to be able to capture someone’s imagination and make them experience something new. My dream is to become a concept artist. I love the thought of being able to use my imagination to invent something and then see it come alive. I think I stumbled into the idea of concept art through the discovery of Photoshop (the best programme ever invented). At the time, my main art forms were pencil drawings of invented characters and such and a bunch of oil paintings. Photoshop opened up a whole
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SNAPSHOTS | ignition.ac.nz
Snapshots
Elusive Moose CPIT Visual Communication postgrads, Mark Marchand and Joe Scorgie, collaborate for Hallensteins Moose Hunt. vimeo.com/m3
C96 Radio
Earlier this year Hallensteins NZ ran a promo called “The hunt for the NZ Moose.” As part of this promotion they ran a staff competition, where they had to upload a video or photo of their moose hunt. Joe Scorgie, who works at Hallensteins, suggested we take on the challenge by creating something a little different to what the judges would’ve expected. Together, we came up with a simple concept that would allow us to be creative and have fun. We decided to make a film with a music
video feel, and shot it to be fast paced, fun and amusing. We called in a friend, Sean Bremen, to play the part of the moose, which he pulled off a little too well!
Every year students of CPIT’s New Zealand Broadcasting School develop a new radio station. This year, in light of recent events, we decided to be a totally local station providing information, entertainment and a positive outlook for all the people in Christchurch (C96 - Sounds like Christchurch). Instead of focusing on one specific demographic, C96 caters to everyone in Canterbury aged 5 to 95.
the students. This year we decided to put all that aside and focus on raising $50,000 for the recovery of Christchurch!
20 Second Year Radio Broadcasting students create and run the station. We write the ads, produce them, sell the advertising, design and execute promotions, programme the station, announce on air and so much more. In previous years, the money made from advertising has gone towards purchasing new equipment and even commission for
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We took on the brief to have a bit of fun, and do something creative and we ended up winning and claiming an iPad 2 which was a bonus. The total time spent on writing, shooting and editing this film was roughly 6 hours. [Mark Marchand.]
The money we raise will be split evenly between the Canterbury business recovery fund and the Christchurch Earthquake Appeal. After six weeks of broadcasting on 96.1FM and streaming online for those outside of Canterbury, we raised more than $61,000 dollars. C96 will be entertaining Christchurch listeners right through until December 25th.
SNAPSHOTS | ignition.ac.nz
Victoria Craig It’s not hard to imagine Victoria Craig capturing the hearts of young fans all over New Zealand. Young, bright and enthusiastic, she is the co-presenter of Tiki Tour, a New Zealand On Air-funded, partly animated, children’s TV series.
how the song of the week can get stuck on playback in your head, Victoria could not be happier. Just three years out of CPIT’s New Zealand Broadcasting School (NZBS), she is, it has to be said, living her dream.
Tiki Tour will screen daily on TV2 later this year and the team are currently filming five days a week in a New Zealand Broadcasting School (NZBS) studio at CPIT. As she discusses the ‘green screen’ process, (talking to imaginary characters created during post-production in Auckland), learning sign language and
“It’s a brand new show, called Tiki Tour, aimed at two to five year-olds, and it’s really cool because it has English, Maori and sign language. We do lots of singing. Each week we go to a different place on our ‘tiki tour’. This week we’re going to the swimming pool and singing lots of songs about swimming …” Victoria
“At Broadcasting School I did radio so this is my first TV experience and it’s been awesome. I went into radio hoping to end up doing something like this.
Cloud Street
NASDA’S recent season of the play Cloudstreet, was a huge critical and popular success. Cloudstreet, based on the novel by Australian writer Tim Winton, chronicles the lives of two working class Australian families who come to live together at One Cloud Street, in a suburb of Perth, over a period of twenty years, 1943-1963. It was the recipient of a Miles Franklin Award in 1992.
CPIT Ignition Presents a NASDA Production of
Two families trapped by the forces of love, luck and water.
For a list of NASDA theatre events go to;
A play by Tim Winton 8 July - 15 July, 7pm (Sunday show at 4pm) CPIT NASDA Theatre E Block, Madras Street Campus
CPIT00030
It was staged in the NASDA Theatre on CPIT’s Madras Street campus, one of the few venues operating in the inner city, and despite it’s boutique size, a regular spot for exciting performance. The Court Jesters show Scared Scriptless perform there regularly and there will be a production of the modern classic, Mother Courage, by Bertolt Brecht running from Sep 10-15.
completed her internship with ZM radio station in Auckland and then stayed with the company for two years, presenting and doing station promos. Several rounds of auditions with Auckland-based production companies Flux Animation Studio Ltd and Pickled Possum Productions Ltd and a few pilot episodes later, the role of Tiki Tour co-presenter was hers.
Tickets $18 / $12 Concession Bookings: www.ignition.ac.nz (03) 940 8695 Door sales available
PG13
ignition.ac.nz
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SNAPSHOTS | ignition.ac.nz
Snapshots
Project Highheels Christchurch Photographer and Digital Artist, Maryanne Carman, is inspiring students at CPIT’s School of Art + Design.
St Eden Eden Persad is a multi-talented artist, designer and musician studying Viscom at CPIT’s School of Art + Design. Eden started out making music in his bedroom ... no wait, he still does that. And now he’s up and coming in the Christchurch music scene, creating intergalactic offbeat tunes, armed with his Kaoss pad, his laptop and an MPD controller (pictured). He will be releasing his first EP soon, and has some great tracks free for download on his SoundCloud page. Visit: soundcloud.com/st-eden
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The idea for Project Highheels came from being in the right place at the right time. It all started in my friend Tanya Turner’s dining room, helping her choose an outfit for a wedding. She brought out her heels and strutted backwards and forwards in each pair. The excitement between her and her friend Kirsty was kinda freaky. It’s something I’d seen in movies but you know, not in real life. Her feet looked fabulous in the black heels she had on, nice pink painted toes etc, so I got down on the floor and took a picture with my phone. I went home that night and wondered if any other women would be as confident as her
to stand in front of camera in their heels and have their picture taken. I put the idea out on my Facebook page and got a good response from friends to go for it. I put out a casting call on starnow.co.nz and had my first two shoots basically a week later. Its been awesome fun and I’ve met some amazing women and shot some fabulous heels, its just been great. And its something that hasn’t been done in NZ before ... I love it!
SNAPSHOTS | ignition.ac.nz
New Zealand’s biggest art and creative industries showcase. 26-27 August, THE EDGE, Auckland wecancreate.co.nz
KesselsKramer Sara Blake \ Haque Hort \ Kris Sowersby Morag Myerscough The Rumpus Room Imaginary Forces Stamen Design Frank Kozik +2 more
TW. @we_can_create \ FB. wecancreate.co.nz
If you work anywhere in the creative industries, We Can Create is for you. Curated by communications agency The Church, We Can Create features both up-and-coming talent and seasoned professionals, over two days of seminars linked to satellite events and exhibitions.
26 August - 27 August Tickets General $320 Student $190 Organise a group of 10 or more students to receive a 10% discount!
We Can Create
It’s an annual celebration of all things art and design - graphics, fashion, animation, illustration, motion graphics, typography, sound design, live audio-visual art, interactive and experiential marketing, fine art, music, product design and more.
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SNAPSHOTS | ignition.ac.nz
Snapshots Logos
CHCH ReBrand
CHRISTCHURCH
INSPIRE INVENT REVEAL EXPLORE
Year Three students studying visual communication were asked to rebrand the image of Christchurch after the recent tragic earthquakes. They were required to produce a fresh new look for the city with a new logo, postcards and posters. Works by: (Clockwise from top left) Eloise Nevin, Lauren Dunell, Kelsey Koster, Rymi Sakimura.
chr istchurch open to you
Postcards
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SNAPSHOTS | ignition.ac.nz
Posters
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MULTIMEDIA | ignition.ac.nz
Christian Carruthers Tutor in animation at CPIT’s Art & Design School
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“Growing up, the art that made the strongest impression on me was the art designed for children. Illustrations in books, graphics on toys, comic book artwork and of course cartoons on television. For some reason when I was a kid I could appreciate the design behind the artwork as much as the feeling they were intended to give me. I thought M Saseks designs for his “This Is ... “ series were amazing and I could see how artistically different they were to Herge’s Tin Tin books or Ed Benedict’s character designs for Hanna Barbera which I also adored. So it’s no surprise that my favourite sort of design work is the work intended for children and the young
at heart. I worked for a while with the children’s unit at TVNZ and I still pick up the occasional freelance job for some of the producers I used to work with there. My main job of course is being a tutor at CPIT and it’s fun supporting new designers in their careers. When I’m not working with my students and colleagues at CPIT I have a few side projects I have started with my five year old son. The other day he came up with an idea of a fly who had a shop that sold poo to other flies, he’s always coming up with stuff like that and I really like using his ideas as a subject for my own artwork.”
Graeme Kyle “These illustrations are for a story idea based loosely upon my grandfather’s experience as a member of the New Zealand Mounted Rifles Brigade on active service in Palestine during the First World War. I used the diary that he kept at the time as the starting point for the narrative. The central idea for the story is that the experience of traveling to and fighting in a foreign land would have been similar for soldiers on both sides of the conflict. The way that this is reflected in the structure of the story is that on each spread the left page contains imagery associated with New Zealand soldiers, and their opponents, the Turks, occupy the right hand pages. The images are linked by a common text that is a series of simple statements applicable to the experiences of ordinary soldiers on both sides of the conflict. For
example the statement ‘we had to travel a long way … we saw some unusual things’ allows me to illustrate the journey my grandfather made on the SS Tofua from New Zealand to Egypt via Australia, Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then called) and the Suez Canal. I have surrounded the central image with smaller border illustrations inspired by photographs that he took or bought on the journey. The experiences of his Turkish counterpart are entirely imagined on my part. I created a journey for him from the Northwest Turkey that roughly follows the route of the Berlin to Baghdad railway. This allowed me to depict aspects of art and architecture that are close to the route Turkish soldiers would have taken in troop trains through Turkey, Syria and Lebanon. The point here is to contrast the positive and negative achievements of human endeavour. The examples of exotic,
ingenious and unusual art, architecture and engineering surround images depicting the planning and preparation for war and the possible destruction of those very things (and people) that make the world so interesting. The story follows an implied circular plot structure. It opens with a scene depicting World War 1 era mechanized armies facing each other across an area of no-mans land and ends with the same composition of World War 2 era machines separated by a poppy field. Hopefully the symbolism is accessible without being too laboured. The images on display are working visuals with correction notes. They are intended to make the process and development of an idea visible and to indicate what the finished art will look like.”
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VISCOM | ignition.ac.nz
COLLATERAL
WORKING WITH THE REAL WORLD Students working towards CPIT’s Art + Design degree get real world experience in the School’s new Design Studio.
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Three final year Bachelor of Design Visual Communication students, Josh O’Neill, Richard Burson and Kit French, recently dealt with a real learning opportunity and deadline; the design of a publication Collateral, Printmaking as Social Commentary by writer and curator Elizabeth Rankin. The publication accompanies an international exhibition of political printmaking by four artists, Daniel Heyman (United States), Michael Reed (NZ), Sandra Thomson (NZ) and Diane Victor (South Africa).
Elizabeth Rankin, Head of the Art History Department of Auckland University, is the curator and writer for Collateral, well known for her strong interest in printmaking, particularly in its political manifestations. In 2009, at Impact 6, an international printmaking conference held in Bristol, UK, Rankin gave a paper on the graphic art of protest in South Africa. Rankin linked this with the work of Heyman, Reed, Thomson and Victor. Her presentation led to the four artists being invited to contribute to Mark/ Remarque, an exhibition curated
VISCOM | ignition.ac.nz
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VISCOM | ignition.ac.nz
Maim Radius, Michael Reed, 2007. (Left) 1465 x 1092mmm Digital inkjet prints of screenprinted bandage and photocopy on acetate. Evidence Singlet (Feathers), Sandra Thomson, 2006. (Right) Screen print on singlet on coathanger.
by Mary Phelin and hosted by The University of the Arts, Philadelphia. This was part of Philagrafika, an international celebration of contemporary and historic printmaking and the Southern Graphics Council Conference, in Philadelphia, 2010. Now, thanks to the Gus Fisher Gallery at University of Auckland, the research programme of the School of Art & Design, where Reed and Thomson are teaching staff, and the CPIT Foundation, an exhibition of the artists’ works is to be held in New Zealand. Elizabeth Rankin comments that, “the four printmakers represented in Collateral, although from different countries, and utilising print media in diverse ways and on diverse topics, share the impulse to use printmaking as social commentary. They take up the task of exposing human rights violations, focusing particularly on those who suffer not as combatants or through direct involvement in conflict, but in what may be referred to as collateral damage. The directness of drypoint enabled Heyman to capture
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with rapid immediacy the likenesses and testament of the Iraqi detainees whose interviews he witnessed. Although utterly different, this is as significant for his subject matter as is Victor’s painstakingly delicate use of the etching needle and aquatint for hers: the exquisite surfaces of her etchings compellingly draw us in to linger over atrocities that we would normally avoid. Thomson exploits the versatility of screenprinting to create linear forms reminiscent of medieval woodcuts in order to explore saintly stories, as well as more contemporary incidents of suffering in the church. Her works sometimes depict fingerprints like informal metonyms of the processes of printmaking, and she prints on fabrics that may be shaped into indicative apparel. Reed too uses fabric supports for many of his prints; to convey a social imperative he deploys the connotations of the varied forms of textiles – whether drapes, carpet runners, or bandages – to contribute additional layers of meaning to the transfixing texts imprinted on his works.”
VISCOM | ignition.ac.nz
Glue Boys, Diane Victor From ‘The Disasters of Peace’ 2001 - 2010 Etching and aquatint, 28 x 32 mm.
Daniel Heyman, From Istanbul series, 2006. Drypoint and chine colle, 660.4 x 495.3 mm
Rankin says that “all four artists demonstrate eloquently not only the versatility of printmaking, but its ability to create forms that unite visual delight with social acuity.” Working as a team, Josh, Richard and Kit have liaised with the curator and writer, one of the artists and the printer, under the guidance of their graphic design tutor, Rob Lovelock. Lovelock believes that “giving our students real world experience is invaluable in preparing them for the design profession. By running a working studio alongside normal timetabled classes students can engage with clients on real
design briefs. These have learning opportunities that are hard to replicate in a classroom environment. As tutors we guide the process while helping the students involved develop good professional practice.”
ways. We’re certainly grateful for the opportunity, and thank Michael, Sandra, Diane, Daniel and Elizabeth for the chance to contribute to this very thought-provoking exhibition.”
Speaking for the design team Josh says “it’s great to be able to sink our teeth into a project like this. It has a lot more riding on it than freelance work we’ve done in the past. The pressure is hopefully producing some good work! Working together as a team is a great experience, invaluable to our skills as designers, and we’re finding it interesting as we all work in slightly different
The exhibition is to be held at the Gus Fisher Gallery, Auckland (1 July20 August, 2011).
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CIRCOARTS | ignition.ac.nz
Purakau
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
From New Zealand to Cuba, Mexico, Spain and back to New Zealand, Purakau, a combined poster project is still on the move. Purakau, is a Maori term for stories based on myth but concerned with the nature of reality and the human condition. Purakau is a twelve poster tri-lingual (Maori, Spanish and English) project that was initiated in Hamilton by Xavier Meade, School of Media Arts, Waikato Institute of Technology, and Flor de Lis López Hernández, Havana, Cuba. The New Zealand posters designed by Natalie Robertson, Denis O’Connor, Michael Reed and Xavier Meade were printed by Michael Reed, CPIT Art & Design tutor and Sam Reed, a CPIT Bachelor of Visual Communication graduate, in the CPIT D Block print studios in July 2010. There the designs were converted into colour separations, screen stencils and printed in limited editions of fifty. First shown at the Instituto Superior de Diseńo de la Habana and the Casa de Mexico, Havana, Cuba, Purakau then travelled to the Casa de la Cultura de Tulum, Tulum, Mexico, before moving to Spain and showing at the Valencian Museum of Illustration and Modernity, Museu Valencia de la Illustracio i de la Modernitat, (MuVIM) Valencia.
Claudio Sotolargo, Cuba.
MuVIM is not your average museum. It is housed in a recent building designed by Guillermo Vazquez Consuegra and is regarded as one of the best examples of contemporary architecture in Valencia. Promoted as a museum for thinkers about thinking, it has a strong interest in showing printed, illustrated, designed and photographic works of the past and the present. From 17 February MuVIM exhibited Aotearoa Liberators and Purakau, two poster projects curated by Xavier Meade, as Hérois, Mites i Llegendes. Due to the number of visitors and level of interest the museum extended the exhibition until 12 June. Since returning to New Zealand, Purakau has featured with a Mexican themed street carnival at Te Tuhi, during the 2011 Auckland Arts Festival earlier this year and is now showing at the Waikato Museum, Hamilton and will be shown as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival in August, with more venues to come.
Arturo Meade, Mexico.
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VISCOM | ignition.ac.nz
Multi-talented Graphic designer and DJ, Benjamin Carey aka “Thanks” is now based in Melbourne. Ben graduated CPIT with a Bachelor of Design majoring in Visual Communication in 2010. Hi Ben. First off, what did you enjoy most about studying at CPIT?
What are you doing in Melbourne thats developing your career?
Personally I enjoyed the tutors. Especially the friendship and support of Michael Reed, who is also a prolific and well-respected New Zealand artist, but one of the most humble human beings I have ever had the opportunity to meet. He provided expertise and advice, way beyond the call of duty. It was advice that was mostly unrelated to anything to do with design or the art world that I feel was mostly beneficial to me. And it was another tutor, in 2006, who advised me to leave the course and get a bit more experience under my belt before continuing the course. Which I did and it was the best decision I could ever have made. If I hadn’t, I would have come out with a degree in putting graffiti on tall tees.
At the moment I’m working on a few projects. I am the buyer for Carhartt Streetwear. I am DJing part time at bars and clubs in Melbourne. I work as the brand manager for Lower in Australia. Along with a group of close friends we have launched our website HARXEST.COM
What would you suggest to anyone wanting to pursue an education in design? Firstly I would suggest get a hobby. For example I love music, although on the surface it isn’t the most visual medium. People have said that no medium other than music can capture every sense. Take your time. There is no hurry to get your degree. Don’t look at it as just training to get you a job. Look at it all as personal growth.
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Harxest.com, what is it exactly? Harxest is essentially an online magazine, focusing on up to the minute updates of anything to do with design, architechture, fashion, music; basically anything that interests us. We wanted to feature the smaller guys along side the bigger guys. As long as someone interests us we think we should share it. The site runs itself. We can post anywhere, anytime. We all meet as a collective every Tuesday night at our studio in Fitzroy and have power meetings. We all wear suits, use Blackberrys and drink short blacks.
VISCOM | ignition.ac.nz
Who influences you? My mother. But everything influences me. I think I’m influenced more by the negative than the positive. It’s extremely important to look at both negative and positive experience to truly understand the influence that things have on you. This in a sense is where “Thanks” came from for me as an alias. Learning to be thankful for anything that can teach you something; whether it be good or bad.
Lastly, what would be your dream lifestyle? The measure of success for me would be when I can actually sit down and read all the magazines I own. I have so many just sitting there. So if I have the time to sit down with a magazine and a cup of tea I know that everything else is in place. And I can truly relax.
Be sure to visit harxest.com + thanksmedia.net
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
Heritage on ice CPIT Graduate Lizzie Meeks Scott Base Antarcitica
For two months she lived in a tent some 30km from Scott Base. It’s not the first place you would look for a book conservator. Lizzie, however, is part of a team that manages polar exploration heritage in New Zealand’s Ross Sea Dependency and, more specifically, conserves the contents of the four huts (circa 1898 to 1910) associated with the great explorers such as Shackleton and Scott. Lizzie is the first to admit that Antarctica takes some adapting to. “It seems to polarise people – some people love it and others find it very threatening because it is quite an aggressive environment. I think it’s an amazing place. You are very aware of how insignificant you are as a small human being on the planet and how fragile your life is or can be.
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VISARTS | ignition.ac.nz
One of the huts Lizzie worked on to resort to a fully functional and weather tight state.
“You’re always conscious of keeping warm. At the same time you’re dealing with a landscape that has little sign of humans. I find it an incredibly beautiful sight.” Lizzie joined the New Zealand Antarctic Heritage Trust for seven months on the ice in 2008. She was hooked. So when the trust created the role of Programme Manager Artefact Conservation, she applied and has been pitting her wits against the polar elements ever since. “Our key priority with the buildings is to stabilise the huts against the weather, to keep them weather-tight and structurally sound because it’s a very harsh environment down there. You just need one little chink in the armour and you’re in trouble. Once the building is secure, that automatically gives the objects inside a measure of security also.”
While protecting the huts and their contents, Lizzie and her team are also mindful of not changing their unique atmosphere. “They’re quite amazing places. They make the hair on the back of your neck stand up. I wouldn’t say there are ghosts in there but there is a real sense of poignancy, as if the explorers have only just left the building. ”It’s this connection between past and present that steered Lizzie towards conservation work. She finished her three-year Craft Design programme at CPIT specialising in book binding in 1994. Working at Auckland University and Auckland library as a book binder she became interested in conservation and headed to England to learn the trade. A year as a conservation assistant in Manchester led to a position at the British library offering on-the-
job training. Five years later, plus a Post Grad Diploma in Library and Archive Conservation from West Dean College in Sussex, and Lizzie was back in New Zealand working as senior book conservator at Wellington’s Library. She could never have predicted, however, that she’d be spending her summers in a frozen landscape, working 6 ½ days a week, battling through the occasional storm and withstanding temperatures so cold that above five degrees becomes T-shirt weather. “None of that would have happened without having done book binding at CPIT, that’s what got me into that whole heritage world,” Lizzie says. For more information about the NZAHT see: http://www.nzaht.org/
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CIRCOARTS | ignition.ac.nz
most importantly, incredibly funny.”The innocent, heartwarming nature of the show is no accident. “Yes I wanted it to be a nice show with sweet moments, nostalgic and international as well,” Sam said. He is developing a second and third show along the same lines, and has his sights set next on London’s West End.
Lost For Words Sam Willis, a Canterbury man with a piece of gaffer tape over his mouth has beguiled audiences the world over with a winning brand of comedy that transcends language and culture.
Until 2001 Sam performed all around Christchurch from corporate events to street corners. In Auckland he then ran the SKYCITY casino weekly comedy show for some six years before moving to London. He took with him a swathe of awards: New Zealand’s highest comedy award, the Billy T Award (2005), the World Buskers Festival Peoples’ Choice (2008) and the Groggy Squirrel Readers Award at the Melbourne Comedy Festival (2008), where he was also nominated for ‘Best Newcomer.’ Incidentally, since he won ‘Best Poster’ at the New Zealand International Comedy Festival he doesn’t take awards too seriously. Sam’s new direction was a show with no talking and no freak circus tricks, involving mime, sound effects, clever props, audience volunteers and a piece of tape because Sam literally couldn’t keep his mouth shut otherwise. The result is a very funny show with almost universal appeal. “We are visitors in this magical creation of an over-imaginative, impetuous and beguiling child,” wrote Charlie Gates in The Press after the 2011 World Buskers Festival. “Wills is the whole package. Polished, professional and,
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Sam Wills is one of those ‘overnight sensations’ who honed his performance skills for many years before making an assault on the comedy stratosphere. His show, The Boy With Tape on his Face, was an Edinburgh Festival hit last year. Pause a moment to consider that statement; out of thousands of shows desperately clamouring for recognition at the world’s biggest arts and comedy festival, The Boy generated huge media and public attention, known in festival-speak as ‘the buzz’. People thought I was an overnight success, but I had a strategy. It was a four year plan.” Sam took a disciplined approach to performance right from the age of 13, when he tracked down and apprenticed himself to a clown in Timaru. CPIT’s CircoArts School was the logical progression after high school. Sam became a skilled juggler and acrobat and then tutor, before throwing himself into the world of ‘shock comedy’. He loved the timeless, traditional tricks and strong reactions that freak circus caused in audiences, but after a few years he tired of inserting screwdrivers up his nose and putting his body through a tennis racket frame and looked for a new direction. And what a brilliant change. The Boy has now been in development for about five years and is still getting better at every festival.
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PHOTOGRAPHY | ignition.ac.nz
Adam Gallavin Adam Gallavin completed the CPIT Diploma in Professional Photography in 2010 and was invited back as one of two photography interns, along with Gill Tayor for 2011. Adam’s interest in fashion has lead to a number of spreads in this magazine over the last two years. The garments were designed and made by CPIT School of Fashion graduate, Lillian Mulholland.
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CIRCOARTS | ignition.ac.nz
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PHOTOGRAPHY | ignition.ac.nz
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PHOTOGRAPHY | ignition.ac.nz
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PHOTOGRAPHY | ignition.ac.nz
Tim Harris CPIT Graduate Photographer 2011 runner up in the Australia Top Emerging Photographer of the Year Awards.
Wedding photography isn’t always the first genre of choice for photographers starting out in the industry, and this certainly rang true for CPIT graduate Tim Harris. However, it is exactly this genre that has made him the envy of young photographers across the Tasman - Tim is the 2011 runner up in the Australia Top Emerging Photographer of the Year Awards (Wedding Category). “My career path hasn’t exactly turned out how I thought it would,” says Tim. “Photographing weddings was the last thing I wanted to do when I finished my Diploma, but it turns out it’s the best place to start. It’s portraiture, fashion, documentary, photojournalism – everything!” Based in Sydney, the 22-year-old graduated from CPIT in 2009 with a Diploma in Professional Photography. Two years on, and with a stable income working as a wedding photographer for Sydney’s GM Photographics, Tim is well
To see more of Tim’s photos visit ignition.ac.nz.
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on his way to becoming a leading name in one of the most competitive creative industries known today. So what is it that has made Tim get ahead in the industry more so than others of his age? The answer lies in Tim’s ability to see potential in everything he shoots. He finds unconventional beauty in normality and, like his mentor American photographer Robert Frank, Tim strives to capture what makes a culture unique – the people and the stories they tell through visual expression.“I fell in love with photography when I saw the work of Robert Frank. He captured the story of the people around him and the culture at the time,” says Tim. “This is what I want to achieve. I want to be able to go into a situation and really understand the people in it and capture that moment in its entirety. I believe I can do this now but it will be years, if at all, before I reach the capacity to shoot the way Frank did.”
PHOTOGRAPHY | ignition.ac.nz
Weddings aside, Tim can also add project management to his portfolio, in particular experimenting with videography and the creative parallels between photo and video.
performances. I’m really looking forward to this. Right now, I’m testing the waters to gain as much experience as I can in different genres so I can determine what best suits my style of photography.”
artistic creativity and ‘working with the situation’ has enabled Tim to produce some outstanding work, and when asked where he sees himself in the future, Tim’s aspirations are promising.
“I’m finding there are a lot of similarities with video and photo, especially when using Single Lens Reflex (SLR) cameras,” says Tim. “I’m shooting dance parties and doing some freelance jobs at the moment in addition to the wedding shoots, and I’m going to be working with my production partner and collaborator, Joanna Goble, on filming a video for a friend’s band which will have a ‘behind the scenes’ theme while they are on tour – which includes practices and live
Speaking of style, Tim defines his type of photography as candid. “When I’m out shooting I try and work as journalistically as possible. Shooting weddings definitely taught me that this is very important when trying to capture the true feelings and expressions of people in certain situations,” he says. “However, as for dance party shots, I just go with the music and see what the crowd is doing – I love capturing people dancing without a care in the world. ”This combination of
“It’s been three and a half years since I graduated from CPIT and I never thought I’d be in Sydney working as a photographer. The fact that I’m doing well in an industry that is terribly hard to break into - in a city that is also incredibly hard to break into, feels pretty good right now. Ideally my aim is to work for National Geographic or something that will enable me to travel the world. This is more of a 10-year plan, but hey, I’ve come this far, so you never know!”
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COFFEE | ignition.ac.nz
Black Betty is the new black! Owner, Hamish Evans and the Black Betty team, are back at their new cafe at 165 Madras St, just opposite CPIT. “Everything was going great” says Hamish. “Our food, coffee and atmosphere were all gaining rave reviews when the Feb 22nd ‘quake hit. We needn’t have worried though because the building stood strong; almost unfazed.” Black Betty is also the home base for Switch Espresso. Switch was started in a small shop in New Brighton but has grown to the point of expansion. Hamish explains. “Black Betty is about our next step in coffee exploration. We’re buying exclusive bean origins and using coffee-siphons and pour-over filter cones which are great avenues for tasting the more delicate flavours you might miss in espresso.”
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Black Betty isn’t just about coffee though. “We also have a great a-lacarte breakfast menu, fresh muffins and scones and a cabinet full of scrumptious lunch options,” continues Hamish. “We’re even looking after those of you with dietary needs; gluten free and vegetarian options are available.” The building is wonderfully spacious and with seating ranging from booths to communal tables there’s a space to suit almost anyone. They also have a cupping room, which is available for hire and a grow-room prodcusing coffee seedlings for sale. Five dollars from each plant sold goes towards Trade Aid’s coffee regeneration programme. Black Betty is open 7 days 8am-4pm with breakfast served till 2pm. Phone 3658522 and follow them on Facebook. Making things better one coffee at a time.
PERFORMING ARTS | ignition.ac.nz
Chartfest strikes the right note Chartfest, which celebrated New Zealand Music Month in Christchurch, attracted around 1000 people to the CPSA building and grounds recently. Martin Trusttum, from CPIT’s Faculty of Creative Industries, said Chartfest was an excellent example of sharing resources in the post-quake environment and of CPIT’s commitment to the Christchurch music industry. “We are closely connected with the music industry through our School of Performing Arts, but also through other schools, and it was wonderful to see so many successful CPIT graduates back here. I think Chartfest will inspire the next generation of musicians and industry professionals – the standard of all the performances was very high and there was plenty of information about careers and training pathways available too.” The day started well with some 350 people turning out to see The Feelers at 11.30am and finished on a similar note with the evening Live Session attracting comparable numbers. During the day there was a Music Industry and Careers Expo and clinics with well-known musicians. Opshop’s Bobby Kennedy was impressed with the standard of the young participants in his drum clinic. A CPIT graduate, Bobby was back in Christchurch for the event. L.A Mitchell, who is also a CPIT graduate, held a popular song-writing workshop and Jazz School tutors Richie Pickard and Andie Genge contributed an accomplished jazz and blues set to the afternoon programme.
Chartfest. “We are very fortunate that CPIT opened its doors to us and supported the event. We had the CPSA building cranking with some of the city’s best live music all day and night, the BBQ was on the lawn outside and the music industry and career expo was in the expansive Rakaia Centre Atrium next door – I know a lot of people felt reassured by the safety of the spaces and the venue worked brilliantly for our purposes.“ Musically, Jeff’s highlight was Battle of the Bands champions Von Voin Strum who played during the evening Live Sessions. “Von Voin Strum blew everyone away. A NZ on Air representative said it was the best gig they had seen in the past year. The band practised really hard, two of them are Jazz School students, and they won the tertiary bands competition last year. They have really come on in leaps and bounds since then and should be very proud of themselves – they impressed a lot of people.” The high school Band Search winners The Haze were also impressive and went on to play that night with metal band Tainted at Zeebees as part of their prize. Exhibitors at the careers expo were also happy with the planning and turnout at Chartfest. APRA’s Rita Luck, who was down from Auckland for the event, said she was pleased to see people in the music industry working together to ensure events like Chartfest went ahead. “The talent was amazing,” she said. “Everyone had a great time.”
Festival organiser Jeff Fulton from CHART said that CPIT had proven to be an excellent partner and host for
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CREATIVE HUB | ignition.ac.nz
The Creative Hub at CPIT Homeless arts organisations found refuge at CPIT’s Faculty of Creative Industries in April in a collaborative project with Creative New Zealand (CNZ) that has established a vibrant new creative hub on the edge of the cordoned CBD. Christchurch Arts Festival, the Christchurch Symphony Orchestra, the Physics Room and CHART are occupying offices alongside the Buskers Festival, SCAPE, the Body Festival and others at CPIT’s Madras Street campus. These organisations’ buildings are all
either inside the civil defence cordon, too damaged to access or have been demolished. Thanks to support from CPIT and CNZ the Body Festival of dance and physical theatre will present its biggest ever programme of workshops and performances in September this year while down the corridor Christchurch Arts Festival staff numbers are swelling as opening night approaches on 12 August. Other organisations are also planning events and activities that have now taken on special importance for many people
in Christchurch as essential signs of arts recovery and renewal. The Creative Hub is part of CPIT’s longstanding motivation to support the wider communities of Christchurch. The arts community is in real need of this helping hand, Martin Trusttum said. “It’s the livelihood of these people, it’s the cultural life of the city, these are the things that make the city a place you want to live in – it’s not the only thing, but it’s a major part of it. It’s the heart and soul of the place really.”
Gap Filler An outdoor bowling alley and a city made of furniture have risen on two central Christchurch sites levelled since the earthquake. Gap Filler, a project to fill empty space with public-friendly designs, called on the talents of Christchurch Polytechnic Institute of Technology (CPIT) architecture students to transform the sites. Eighty students put forward their designs and the best two were realised on the sites of
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the former Jetset Lounge on St Asaph St and The Triangle on Ferry Rd. They were opened to the public last night after three days of frantic activity. Gap Filler director Coralie Winn said both designs captured the spirit of the sites. “The [bowling alley] design was referencing the fact that the Jetset was a student hangout for so long and a place for entertainment and fun.” The furniture cityscape, branded “Words of Hope”, was made of old cabinets,
desks and drawers painted white which the public could write messages on. Winn said the project was a new challenge for the students. “This is a really interesting thing for them, taking it into reality and forcing them to see how the public is going to see it or understand it.”
CREATIVE HUB | ignition.ac.nz
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After the earthquakes, the arts community was spurred into working together as they never have before to ensure that the arts were not lost in the city’s rebuilding phase. Arts Voice Christchurch, an elected group of volunteers selected from across the arts community, was born from this sense of urgent need to get organised, get engaged and get active. Arts Voice Christchurch is here to advocate and lobby for the arts during this crucial period in our city’s history. Our volunteers are artists, musicians, visual artists, festivals organisers, and educators. Arts Voice is comprised of the following elected volunteers: James Caygill (CEO, CSO) – Chair, Jane Gregg (Dean, Faculty of Creative Industries, CPIT), Deborah McCormack (Director, Scape Biennial), George Parker (Free Theatre Christchurch and Manager, Te Puna Toi, University of Canterbury), Steph Walker (General Manager, Christchurch Arts Festival) Arts Voice is holding an ongoing series of public forums to gather ideas from participants. We have used the feedback we’ve had so far to develop a submission to the Christchurch City Council’s Central City Plan (CCP). In it we make it clear that the arts are 100% fundamental to the city’s recovery: culturally, spiritually and economically. We argue that the arts help us make sense of living through unprecedented upset, devastation and change, and also of finding our feet again in the future landscape. You can read our submission at artvoicechch.com. We are currently exploring specific ideas to bring the arts front and centre in the city’s rebuild. We’ve developed a framework, the River of Arts, to explain how this might work. The River of Arts, which geographically mirrors the Avon, conceptually flows across the city – against the grid, linking the west (from the University of Canterbury) to the east (through CPIT and beyond) across a series of existing and yet to be developed sites south of the Square. The River of Arts highlights the arts as a journey, not just a destination; as much about the cafes, small studios, boutiques and the places between as it is about the key locations. The River of Arts encompasses the established (The Cultural Precinct) as well as the emerging. Pragmatically, as part of this thinking, we are exploring solutions for funding the arts’ recovery using innovative economic strategies linked to development contributions. This is a well-
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understood concept internationally and one that we could be adopting here in the near future. Part of our CCC submission discusses the importance of some immediate, temporary solutions to bring arts to the community, including an exciting Arts Circus concept – to be located at the centre of the River of Arts. This idea could quickly bring some life and fun back into our lives; something that is keenly missed at the moment. There are many challenges for our city at the moment, but this is also a time for people passionate about our environment to bring their ideas forward. Arts Voice Christchurch wants to hear your ideas and feedback. To get in touch with us visit www.artsvoicechch.com or join our Facebook group, Arts Voice Christchurch. You can also join our email list, or email us at artsvoice@artsvoicechch.com.
A proud tradition The Press has been around for 150 years and has supported the growth of tertiary education in Canterbury throughout this time. The Press is proud to support graphic and creative arts at CPIT today as it has done in the past and will continue to do in the future.
CREATIVE HUB | ignition.ac.nz
CPIT and Christchurch’s emergency arts recovery Ruined studios, cordoned off theatres, demolished offices – Christchurch’s arts sector has suffered across the board in the series of earthquakes that have rocked Christchurch since September 2010. For the Creative Industries at CPIT, these events have heralded a call to action as a range of initiatives are created to support arts organisations and practitioners.
Events facilities With performance and festival spaces now in short supply, CPIT has made the CPSA building available for a range of events, including, so far, Chartfest, live bands and the Canterbury Film Society screenings. Demand will no doubt increase once planned upgrades to the building are completed and capacity limits are extended. CPIT’s advantageous Inner city location and youthful, community-focused vibe appeals to many Industry partners who are seeking to locate close to the campus.
New Gallery Spaces Creative Industries is also supporting Chambers@241, an exhibition and studio space that opened in July on Moorhouse Street. Close to the Madras Street campus, Chamber@241 will complement the Creative Hub and CPIT’s regular performance and arts events while also responding to the need to provide facilities for Christchurch artists. Another project in the pipeline, also addressing the lack of exhibition spaces for artists, is CPIT’s Mobile Gallery, a collection of 18 6x3metre cubes to be sited mainly at CPIT, with the ability to mobilise a portion of the cubes into the community. These spaces are comparable to shipping containers in size but boast better aesthetics and can be used as single or double arrangements to fit exhibition needs. Retailers will also be invited to inhabit cubes in what could become an extension of High Street, the once vibrant art and shopping street at the edge of CPIT’s Madras Street campus.
Shinelady, The Body Festival thebody.co.nz
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Spark week showcases the creative activities of CPIT art & design and architectural studies. Throughout the week we present exhibitions, displays, workshops and guest speakers from related industries. Speakers include James Ellis (concept artist, Weta), Areta Wilkinson (jeweller), Wayne Youle (visual artist), Diederik van Heyningen (photographer), and Lucy Arnold (graphic designer).
ignition.ac.nz for more information