a multmedia series<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1906<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n 1906<\/em> is an ongoing digital installation that examines the environmental and cultural consequences of tourism in Hawai\u02bbi. The work takes its title from the year the Waik\u012bk\u012b Reclamation Commission was established to plan for expanded commercial development on O\u02bbahu, marking an early moment in the transformation of Waik\u012bk\u012b through tourism and development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Three digital frames, matted with sandpaper, present scanned tourist souvenirs overtaken by digitally modeled native Hawaiian plants. The plants engulf and transform these familiar objects, disrupting the conventional narrative of the souvenir marketplace and suggesting the possibility of reclamation, resurgence, and \u02bb\u0101ina-centered narratives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The native plants were selected for their associated mo\u02bbolelo (stories and meanings): the hala tree represents rebirth; the kupukupu fern, the sprouting of knowledge; and the \u02bba\u02bbali\u02bbi, steadfastness and resilience. By placing these plants in direct relationship with objects associated with tourism and consumption, the work considers what might emerge when indigenous presence is allowed to reclaim spaces shaped by commercial development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The project will continue to evolve as additional artifacts are collected and transformed. Eventually, the individual frames will form a larger grid\u2014a growing, \u201cliving\u201d wall of native Hawaiian plants that gradually overtakes the souvenirs it contains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n