Bill Riley, Dion Hitchens and James F Ormsby COLLABORATION

WHAT GRABBED ME MOST?
Firstly the diverse range of practitioners that took part in the collaborative project that then formed a group called SEEK. A painter,sculptor/installationist and a drawer in my mind creates a grand collective.  As Ormsby put it a "chaos theory". All of these artists began exhibiting together throughout New Zealand starting in Gisborne followed by shows in Upper Hutt, Marsterton and currently exhibiting in Melbourne Australia.  One thing that interested me with their work is the intention of working with "The Community".  The engagement that they had for those around them was amazing.  It truly showed the extent of commitment between the artists as individuals and the "average joe",which was relevant to their exhibition of value and the journey to getting there.  The value of something can be priceless I suppose!  Which leads me to something else that intrigued me, especially with James Ormsbys' work in his portrayal of his culture or indigenous history.  He says that he "doesn't create things he re-creates them" I think the philosophy behind that suits his practice and context as a Maori and/or Indigenous artist.  Authenticity is proudly shown through communication and engagement within themselves and the community.  Great lecture.
To speak of one of James Ormsbys' works that i particularly liked was that of the map work he had drawn and the interesting story he told of the "old day" maps and how they were drawn and how interpreted them of how he thought a map made by maori would look like.  So as a maori I too would query into why these or how these were down or recorded.This leaves me thinking and researching into such theories.  I loved the use of geographic and historic moments within Aotearoa, New Zealand.
http://jamesormsby.com/maorigamiseries.htm