During the weekend I have had a long think about what idea I would like to pursue. I have decided that the idea which most speaks to me is the landscape idea that I have come up with. I chose this idea because I feel it connects with the brief very well and it is also a concept that I personally would like to work with.
The reason why I am interested in this idea is because I remember in the very first class we had of this assignment Denika asked the class what we thought of Auckland. In a big circle we each introduced ourselves again and gave our opinion of Auckland City. I found that a big majority of the class – myself included – had a dislike towards Auckland. There were many reasons why but the most recurring reason was that people believed that it was ugly and dirty. Coming from backgrounds where their homes were surrounded by nature and they found beauty in seeing it, I could understand why they dislike the view of concrete as opposed to trees. Personally, I disliked Auckland because I compared it to cities that I had visited during holidays where I considered those places to be beautiful. Auckland in comparison to those cities seemed dull and unexciting. I didn’t see much beauty in it.
Through group walks and visiting places in an attempt to view them as if I had never seen them before, I found that the more I looked, the more I liked. My genuine exploration of the city had allowed me to discover places that I had never seen before. Roads of which I have walked a numerous amount of times revealed buildings that I have never noticed and pockets of art I had never seen. Looking at the buildings themselves, I realised that they all spoke of the histories of Auckland City. The architecture of buildings decades old spoke of different times, they embodied art styles which have been and gone. They communicated a sense of diversity, the millions of personalities that have walked those roads and left their mark. It was a place that I found was unique and true to its community.
This discovery has made me want to heal the relationship I have with my home city. I don’t want to allow myself to see my home as something I dislike. In doing this I also want to show the people who think what I thought a different perspective and experience of the city. I would like to create an artwork that allows people to see through my lens and create that same realisation.