Under Earth as an installation, is a spatial exploration of the winter gardens. The project aims to illuminate the histories of the site, dormant histories, that lay far into the historic volcanic marsh. The Winter Gardens present an opportunity to educate, and to engage its viewers. In it’s current state, the space, in effect; translocates viewers to a distinctly victorian gallery. One which frames foreign flora as beautiful, but distant artwork. 

The project seeks to close this dissonance between viewer and site, viewer and space.  Behind the fernery, the earth becomes animate as piercing viewports of light expose themselves. They contain haptic installations, and provide the protagonist of the space with agency through interaction. Pukekawa, as a volcanic basin, fostered a fertile ecology of food. Tuna or Eel, as a resource were invaluable, and provided a bounty food for Iwi in contension over the region. Here their forms are examined, viewed as channels of ethereal light. Windows into the past in which they populated the marshland illuminate the grassy inclines of the surrounding domain. Their movement is influenced by those above them. Through touch, they are released and directed along converging, crossing and parallel pathways. 

These are interspersed with excavated pools, and pronounced spines of ebon scoria. These mask and curate the pathways, constructing a spatial narrative of movement and conflict. Not only do the works comment on historic or culture narratives, but ecological ones. The shattered scoria pools vaguely transform, and construct a pathway of brick. Pertaining to the existing garden’s narrative of containment and viewership, the flat section of the hill houses a glass display. Within this capsule is an amorphous textile, a breathing and dancing fabric. Animated through light and wind, the figure educates audiences through sensors. Approaching the figure too closely results in it’s apparent death, ceasing any projection of wind or of light. 

The pathway allows users to peel back layers of the earth themselves. With the ‘light-pulley’, they can expose the site’s light, or true quality. Beneath their feet lies an incredible radiance. The fertility of the land, as well as it’s sociohistorical importance is depicted with a similar ethereal light to that of the Tuna. These work in tandem to question the audiences understanding of what lies beneath them, and test their empathy to see beyond the surface. Empathy is the cornerstone of emotional intelligence, and is the trait that portends our ability to participate within a public hollistically. Under Earth asks the protagonist to question what exists below, examining the value, and the history on which our monuments lay.