Abstract:
The motivations for creativity within ancient Polynesian frameworks are distinct from the expectations of the contemporary art world. This research applies the sensibility of a tupuga moana (ancestral Polynesian) worldview and presents a thesis of a self-reflexive nature exploring processes of creativity through three key considerations: Place, Functional Objects and Work. How does place influence creativity? How do objects assist as information carriers? What roles can objects play when created under the influences of tupuga moana tradition? How is creativity derived through work, and what is the role of the tupuga moana artist within the contemporary art world? From this physical location, The University of Auckland, these three considerations are investigated. Amidst the western-formed context that I operate within I find signals from the ancient Polynesian world. This is The Night I was between Venus and the Moon.