“a (very) brief history of aotearoa”

is an interactive interdisciplinary sculptural installation that intends to outline our history in a fun, quirky humorous way while also making reference to past, current and future technologies. It consists of four sculptures accompanied with QR codes.

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The four sculptural works take the place of the once popular ‘space invaders’ characters and are thus pixilated versions of the Maori meeting-house for the space ship (representing Maori), whilst the ‘invading aliens’ are the Mitre (the popes hat representing the missionaries and initial settlement), the Crown (representing the Queen and the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi) and the Beehive (representing our current Government). These icons outline the major events of the colonizing of New Zealand and the formation of its government.

 

Large QR codes are adhered to the faces of the bollards underneath the sculptures. The QR codes provide access to an app with an interactive game that contextualizes the sculptures within a digital environment. This extends on conventional sculptural practice and pushes the work into digital spaces. An added point to note is that because there is a digital component - information has been retrieved and shows the quantitative data of interaction by the audience with a public sculptural work - something of which hasn't been done before.

 

The sculptural installation was unveiled in February 2016 and was situated outside Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand until 2018. This is known as the Four Plinths project, which is headed by the Wellington Sculpture Trust and supported by the Wellington City Council.

Gamefroot also supported the project by developing the gaming app