kanohi kitea

The LEDs of Kanohi Kitea blink data from an old rosemary bush in the maara (garden).

In the original state.

Howie Harris in the maara.

Charissa Warea with some of the harvest of organic Parihaka garlic. The rosemary bush that was the data source is in the background. The audio was motion activated by interrupting a beam. The audio included conch shell playing by Darren Robert Terama Ward.

 

This project involved blinking data from a very old rosemary bush in the maara (garden) at Parihaka, and having motion activated audio play on entrance and exit of the maara. The LEDs were located in an art work that was at the peak of the gable to the garden. Andrew Hornblow and Deon Roodt were collaborators. I am very grateful for the support of Maata Wharehoka and Ruakere Hond for this work. And to Howie Harris and Charissa Warea, two of the team of gardeners I got to work with most on the project.

Kanohi Kitea got it's name from Charissa. She wrote: "Ok I’ve been doing some investigations and the face piece that we/you are going to LED light belonged to my sister in law, Ngaahina Hohaia. 

It was carved by her then partner Michael Marsden the youngest son of the late historian Maori Marsden. So cool there is a connection to me. Ngaahina has advised me to proceed on this cool collaborative project with her support. Kapai.

I like your concept of how you want to light the face. Think it should have a name though. So have thought of Kanohi Kitea which has a double meaning. One is a face that sees with eyes and also can mean a face that is seen often (which can be used for those who turn up to work a lot are faces known). This could give meaning to the future of the maara that it cannot feed the people without being worked by faces of the community."