Dion Hitchens

I thought Dion was quite cool, although brought up in Mangere, he has family and connections from the Bay of Plenty. I lived in the B.O.P for the last 9 years of my life. I enjoyed feeling a little close to home as he was talking about Te Teko, and the Waimana valley. I rolled my car in Waimana about 6 months ago haha.

Hitchens is really into art that is interactive with the viewer. What I found quite interesting is that the interaction is quite forced and confronting, the viewer really doesn't have a choice about being involved. He does this by using sensors, this renders the viewer completely unaware of what is about to happen. I'm not sure if I like this or not, and I think a set of ethics definitely would have been considered. In saying all this I also think that it gives Hitchens work a real edge. I really can't think of any sculpture that move and interact like his.

The type of interactive sculpture I really like is the type that you are completely attracted to, and are aloud to touch if you want. A good example of this is Big Red by Gaye Jurisich. I saw this piece at the Tauranga art gallery in 2008. What amazed me is that you were aloud and encouraged to walk through it. Big Red is made out of the red tags for tightening rubbish bags. As you walk through the piece you become lost, and your sensors become a bit overwhelmed. Eventually you come to a bit of a whole in the middle, where you can look up into the strands. I thought it was quite awesome.

I don't know too much about sculpture, but I think Dion's work is a good representative of how sometimes it can be a bit over the top. Big Red has the same 'ginormous' properties as some of Dion's work, but I think it is a lot more attractive in terms of interaction. I like Dion's smaller works such as TE WAO NUI A TANE 1999, UNTITLED PRESENCE (Small sculpture series) 2010, IN THE MIDDLES. These are the ones that are made from Willow and use weaving to take their shape.

Hitchens practice is also heavily influenced by culture and history. I liked it when he was talking about the willow tree, and how it was introduced and is now a pest. That says to me he really thinks and researches his artwork before making it. And he's right, I have a willow tree in my back yard in Matata, it's definitely a pest. Being both a Maori and Chinese descendent is something I think would effect Hitchens art practice a lot, although from the slides he showed us it seemed he is more focused on making Maori themed works then Chinese. This I am not surprised about, as the Bay of Plenty, Auckland, and all over New Zealand has a pretty rich Maori culture. Hitchens clearly draws on this as inspiration and motivation to produce his sculptures.

http://www.artgallery.org.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/newsarchive/news/99