microclimates workshop

microclimate by Nick, King St.

Nick and I have just finished off a workshop called Microclimates for the Taranaki Youth Festival in New Plymouth, Aotearoa New Zealand. It was a one day affair, with much making and getting mucky with moss, clay, LED lights, various tree-seedlings and various found objects, and much discussing of site-specific art in all its forms.

After a truncated explaination of cicada, we dived into a little overview of street art and site-specific installation which works with urban environments in transient ways... just that thing of working with what you've got, both in terms of available materials and the built environment, and simple ways of having fun and interacting with yr local block. We discussed community ownership of public space, how street art functions as an ongoing dialogue amoung residents of a site, and different ways of reclaiming space for periods of time... a couple of examples:

good ol' graffiti research lab

we only come out at night

richard the - particularly the parasite project

sam3 - particularly his crash trash animation

the infatiguable mark jenkins

unendingly inspirational wooster collective site, plus a good interview

Karolina Sobecka - wildlife project

and lastly, reverse graffiti

following this barrage of information, we all trekked down King St to decide on our chosen sites. then we got messy and made many things.

workshop materials

kathryn and tayla in process

a completed microclimate, ready for installation

Darelle installing one of her microclimates, Huatoki Lane

microclimate by Kathryn, King St.

another microclimate by Kathryn, Huatoki Lane

microclimate by Nick, Brougham St

the final climax of the workshop was bringing a posse of 25 people back at night following a talk by Rhana Devonport at the Govett-Brewster about New Nature, to explore the microclimates in their nocturnal habitats...

microclimate by Kathryn, King St

microclimate by Darelle, King St

microclimate by Kirsten, Huatoki Lane


microclimate by Nick, Huatoki Lane