He Rau Porotītiti ki te Whenu Mārama o tētahi Pūngāwerewere

A spinning leaf suspended by the luminous thread of a spider, 2026

16 channel sound file, amplifiers, speakers
Dimensions variable

Created specifically for Brick Bay, He Rau Porotītiti ki te Whenu Mārama o tētahi Pūngāwerewere is a site-responsive sound installation that explores movement, listening and our relationship with te taiao (the natural world).

Composed using taonga pūoro (traditional Māori musical instruments) and presented through a sixteen-channel sound system, the work unfolds through subtle shifts in timing between speakers, creating a sense of sound travelling and settling through the ngahere.

At its heart is the understanding that we are not separate from nature but part of it. Rather than reproducing environmental sounds, the work uses human-made instruments—approaching the landscape with care and recognising it as an already inhabited space.

Designed to sit quietly within the landscape, the work invites visitors to slow down and notice how sound changes through movement, distance and environment.

Each experience will be slightly different - shaped by the space itself.

“Even though a visitor, I want this piece to move and rest as if alive within the forest, participating equitably like an honourable guest would, giving way to those first inhabitants who cannot simply choose another home to come from.”

The title references one version of the pūrākau (traditional narrative) of Tāne-nui-a-Rangi ascending to retrieve Ngā Kete o te Wānanga (the baskets of knowledge), where the pathway, Toi Huarewa (the suspended way), appears as a spiralling spider’s web.

During installation testing, the artist noticed a leaf suspended and spinning on a spider’s thread in front of the listening space. Taking this as a tohu (sign), the moment became the inspiration for the work’s title.