Māngere Bridge; 246 meters (2010) is a single shot video directed by artist Rebecca Ann Hobbs that tracks the liquid rhythms of dancer Amelia Lynch as she whines, bops, and rolls the length of the old Māngere Bridge (1).
With a backdrop of the Manukau Harbour, the camera keeps the dancer in frame, the destination unknown. The exuberance expressed through her movement and the accompanying soundtrack make it hard not to smile, in our minds we’re dancing, popping, and moving along with her. Māngere Bridge; 246 meters invites us to consider the energy we bring to the journey as we step, or even dance into the future.
Australian-born, Wulgurukaba country, Rebecca Ann Hobbs is an Kaipara-based artist who maintains a socially engaged research practice that priorities collaboration to create interdisciplinary outcomes that celebrate dynamic bodies and their relationship with specific sites. On completing a BVA (HONS) at the Victorian College of the Arts Rebecca received the Samstag Scholarship, which permitted her to attain a MFA from the California Institute of the Arts. More recently, the University of Auckland unanimously approved Rebecca's practice-led research DocFA project entitled Ngā puia o Ihumātao.
Recent exhibitions include twisting, turning, winding: takatāpui + queer objects (Objectspace, 2022); Queer Pavilion (Auckland Pride, 2020); Wansolwara: One Salt Water (4A Centre for Contemporary Asian Art, Sydney, 2020); and Time-knots (ST PAUL St Gallery, Auckland, 2019) (2).
(1) Megan Dunn (2012), circuit.org.nz UUp(2) circuit.org.nz Video directed by Rebecca Ann Hobbs in collaboration with the dancer Amelia Lynch. With help and guidance from Fiona Amundson, Penitoa Finau, Graeme Marshall and Julie Tapper. Sound Track by: Pieter Keyesz
