nine stars

nine stars is a collaborative video animation made with Tim Fletcher for the Murihiku Matariki Festival, Queens Park, Waihōpai Invercargill, 2021.

Matariki is the Māori name for the Pleiades star cluster, whose rising in the New Zealand winter sky marks the New Year, a time of remembrance, celebration, and looking ahead. The cluster has nine stars, each with its own name and significance.

Using abstraction and reduction, nine yellow dots become the dancers in this choreography. Moving through 3 minutes and 31 seconds on loop, they embody what a star cluster might do if it moved.

nine stars
2021
animated video installation
duration 3:31
size variable