Art and science in Waiwhakaiho river project

Wednesday, February 11, 2015

Art and science in Waiwhakaiho river project

A kayaker describes how his eyes turn a different shade of blue in the water. For tangata whenua, it is the umbilical cord that binds Mt Taranaki to the sea. For a Massey scientist, it’s a route of ancient lahars.

They are among participants to feature in a just-launched film weaving together diverse stories, experiences and knowledge of Taranaki’s Waiwhakaiho River for a Massey University Living Lab project.

The project – which aims to break down barriers between art and science, as well as academia and the wider community – has resulted in a documentary, Sharing the Waiwhakaiho.

The 15-minute movie by local filmmaker Anand Rose, of New Plymouth-based Green Cow films, was launched at New Plymouth’s Puke Ariki Museum last weekend, along with a number of creative works around the city inspired by data collected by Massey University social scientists.

Rose’s film brings together breath-taking imagery of the river and surrounding landscapes and mountain – much of it using aerial drone photography – interspersed with interviews featuring local people connected to the river through farming, art, recreation, science, sport, Māori history and environmental management.

In it, an elderly woman farmer shares anecdotes about the discovery of Māori taonga in a swamp. A sculptor muses on the sensual effects and inspiration of the river’s sounds and colours. Vince Neall, Emeritus Professor in Earth Science, tells of how iron oxide can turn the river red, and what the chances are of a volcanic eruption from Mt Taranaki.

But the project also has a bolder aim beyond the creation of an interesting film and innovative art works.

Associate Professor Juliana Mansvelt, a human geographer in the School of People, Environment and Planning who has been part of the team gathering stories from locals in recent months, says the ‘living lab’ concept aims to bring together different strands of society around a common theme.

By sharing their perspectives, new knowledge and understandings can be created, she says.

Ultimately, the aim is to use storytelling to highlight the value of the river to the region – economic, cultural, social and environmental – and to enhance efforts to ensure it is protected in the long term.

She hopes the project will inspire similar initiatives in other regions, and that the film and a website capturing the project and its numerous stories – which she dubs “data with a soul” – will provide a model for what can be done elsewhere when science, art and digital storytelling combine.

A Sharing the Waiwhakaiho website created by New Plymouth digital artist Ian Clothier hosts the many aspects of the project, including interviews, images, historical information and scientific data.

Clothier, executive director of Intercreate, which specialises in projects combining art, science, technology and cultural bridging, hopes the website stories and information will overturn some of the misconceptions about pollution in the river.

Introducing the website at the launch, he praised the efforts of farmers who have invested heavily in riparian planting. One of these is Kent Road farmer and riparian planter with a strong appreciation of Māori spiritual values, Wayne Peters.

Peters, in an interview on the website, says of his relationship to the river; “When I look at it, I see peace, I see harmony, I see beauty and I see myself as one of the luckiest people in the world. Being here with my friends and family, the bush, the trees and the birds is an absolute privilege.

“Establishing stands of native bush on my farm has been a spiritual journey as much as a practical one. Riparian planting is so much more than protecting the river banks. It is about being a spiritual part of the land.”

Over the past three months, more than 50 Taranaki people have heeded the call to send in their own impressions, stories and images relating to the river to a Facebook page and in face-to-face interviews.

The Massey team hope more people across generations will continue contributing to the Facebook page.

Jock McQueenie, a community arts consultant on the team, says the Sharing the Waiwhakaiho project has enormous potential to help build what he calls the “creative economy”, through strengthening connections between the business, tourism, social services, education and the arts.

One example is digital artist Trudy Lane’s River Resonations scheme, trialled at Tupare Gardens in the weekend. She constructed a geo-located ‘black box’ with audio recordings collected by the Massey team. Triggered by a location sensor, it allows the person holding it to learn more about the place they are seeing. McQueenie says her innovation could be adapted by businesses and tourism ventures as well as social services as a means of sharing knowledge.

At nightfall, following the film launch, spectators were treated to a stunning light projection near Te Rewa Rewa bridge at the river mouth. Using 3D animation techniques and an infrared lens, Massey College of Creative Arts digital artists Kura Puke and Stu Foster created dazzling visions of ancient tribal figures that whirled, dissolved and re-assembled in constant motion in tiny flecks of light above the river.

Part of their work with Ngati Tawhirikura and Te Matahiapo Indigenous Research Organisation, their display mesmerised onlookers and showed how technology can embrace nature, history, and visual magic.

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