Photo by Irena Mesa | The Crow’s Nest
By Irena Mesa
The prime meridian serves as the separation of the Eastern and Western hemispheres. But what if it was located in New Zealand?
That is the question Sam Hamilton poses in his exhibit now on view at the University of South Florida’s St. Petersburg’s GENERATOR gallery. His work was brought to St. Petersburg in collaboration with Christian Vivieros-Faune, the curator-at-large for the USF Contemporary Art Museum and GENERATOR gallery.
“If you look at the three years of history for GENERATOR so far, it’s all been time-based video and installation art,” Kristina Keogh told The Crow’s Nest.
Keogh, the newly appointed co-director of USF Contemporary Art Museum and assistant dean for the College of Design, Art and Performance at the St. Petersburg campus, notes that Hamilton’s work fits right in.
“A lot of the work and material often have some sort of environmental or sociological element as well.
“Te Meona Meridian” uses both elements to propose its bold claim of moving the prime meridian to the South Pacific Ocean. Hamilton makes that claim through his work, playing the video and audio of readings of the written proposal in both English and Maori. Those images appear at the far ends of the wall, while other videos of children walking on the beach play on the panels in between.
“The artist is like, ‘This is something we need to critically reconsider. Here is my proposal and how I want you to reconsider it,’” Keogh said, “And then instead of an argument on a piece of paper, we have an experience.”
When visitors enter the gallery, they are met with a wall full of projected videos with accompanying audio, which Keogh describes as an immersive experience that was conceived to transport the viewer.
“It’s asking you to transform your thinking and transform where you feel you are located and think about alternatives to the way our world might be structured,” Keogh said.
Keogh also detailed her appreciation of the exhibit’s ability to connect students with events and discussions that are happening internationally.
“Learning from others’ points of view and seeing things we wouldn’t encounter every day is part of the college experience,” Keogh said, “It expands your educational opportunity beyond what you may learn in the classroom, job opportunities or internships.”
Keogh told The Crow’s Nest that College of Design, Art and Performance is in talks with the museum about plans for the future. They were also considering if the GENERATOR gallery is something that students want to see more of on campus.
“Te Moana Meridian,” is open to the public at Harbor Hall Monday through Friday from noon-6 p.m. and on Saturday from noon-4 p.m.
