Porous alterities : excavating relational agency through site-specific performative intervention : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Design at Massey University, Wellington, New Zealand
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Date
2022
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Massey University
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Abstract
Porous Alterities is a temporary performative intervention into Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Wellington waterfront that sets out to generate audience encounters with alternate readings of this public space. The project seeks to reveal the embedded narratives of relational agency within the site, uncovering the micro-political interactions between human and nonhuman forces through performance design practice. The result of this design research is a projection mapped intervention into this area of reclaimed land, a concrete and bitumen wharf that hides the manmade intertidal foreshore. The project addresses the complexity of spatial power dynamics by conducting a close reading of the site using observation and documentation to uncover site narratives that form the basis of the final design work. Through a critique of the hegemonic powers that shaped the landscape, the hidden ecology of nonhuman actants below the surface, and the transient socio-spatial connections that produce this place, I question how we might attune to our urban environment more inclusively. This design research makes use of digital technologies to capture and animate audio and visual data from the site. The use of projection mapping enables a non-destructive augmentation of the real environment, building on the site’s pre-existing atmospheric conditions to develop an immersive encounter between the audience and the performing agents of the site. Porous Alterities represents the development of a critical spatial practice through the generation of a site-specific intervention.
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performance intervention, site-specific, projection installation, nonhuman agency, socio-spatial relationality