New survey asks: what is Hamilton?

A new  exhibition encourages visitors to ask what it is that makes  Hamilton  unique.

Survey Hamilton is a multimedia exhibition at the Waikato Museum featuring works from a range of researchers.

The project looks at documentary practice, and how it can be applied to the city.

Initiated by David Cook, former research leader of the School of Media Arts at the Wintec, the exhibition was two years in the making.

The survey features a range of media technologies including photography, interactive 360° video, gaming, and sonic art.

Current project leader, Joe Citizen said the experience of working with a team of researchers had made for a tremendously exciting project.

“Everyone involved is a leader in their own field, it’s been a lot of hard work, but the results have been phenomenal and it’s evolved into something that’s uniquely Hamilton.”

Mark Purdom’s Roadside Trash photographs look at the trash Hamiltonians threw away along the same stretch of road over a period of weeks.

Purdom visited the road each Monday over several weeks collecting a bag of rubbish that he took back to the studio to photograph.

“I wanted to maintain that survey strategy, so I visited the same place every week, collected a bag of rubbish, brought it back to the studio, and set it up with the same lights,” Purdom said.

Purdom comes from an environmental and ecological background, and through his research he learned New Zealanders throw awaymore than  3.6 million tonnes of trash each year.

“You would see a lot of wrappers from McDonald’s, cigarette packets, beer and soft drink cans; that was probably what I collected the most of. Some things I kept because I couldn’t face throwing them away.”

Museum visitor and Media Arts Wintec public relations student, Alissa Phillips said Survey Hamilton is intriguing.

“I liked the Night Riders section as it shows the culture of Hamilton through the eyes of young people, and what better way to display that than through some town photos.”

Night Riders features 55 people who agreed to be photographed in a pop-up street studio, and are represented in the order they arrived.

David Cook, along with Rodrigo Hill, created Night Riders in 2012.

Citizen said the timing of the exhibition, during Hamilton’s 150-year anniversary, was critical as the researchers asked what Hamilton consisted of now that 150 years of Hamilton has passed.

When asked about the lack of Māori representation in the exhibition, Citizen said he would like to have seen more Maori engagement.

“I think if there was to be a criticism of the overall exhibition; it would be that in the final result there was not enough Maori engagement.”

Citizen says the exhibition asks audiences to consider their place in Hamilton, and what Hamilton means to them.

“I believe our role as researchers is to ask participants and audiences who encounter this exhibition, to ask for themselves, what is Hamilton? And, what is their place in this place that we call Hamilton?”

Survey Hamilton is  at the Waikato Museum until  November 23.