Dion Hitchens

When undertaking a public art commission you need to be prepared to invest your time in more than just the making of the art, there are contracts, council permits and public liabilities to think about. Undertaking a public art commission can be rather stressful. When doing a private art project it is more personal to the client and also the maker, because the art piece needs to tell a story which is personal to the client. The artist also needs to invest time in getting to know what the client is about and why they are wanting this particular piece. There are similarities in both cases, like sticking to the guidelines of the client, and not putting personal influences on the pieces. The artist is being commissioned to do something, and therefore needs to abide by the guidelines set for him or her.

The participants in each case of work, whether it be Public or private, need to be taken into consideration when designing your piece. In a public art project you have to think about the people of the area, to make sure you do not offend any one and to make sure your piece is 'environment friendly'. You have to go to the council, to get permits for your work. Banks, so you can help get funding for the project. Also as the artist, you need to make sure that you can take on the workload that is being offered to you, to ensure you do not let down the client(s). In a private art commission there are not as many parties, but you still need to make sure that the relationship between the main parties (Artist and Client) is a trustworthy one and that the client will pay the deposits so you (the artist) does not have to rely on banks, contract and all the legal stuff that comes along with a public art project.

The narratives in each type of project, usually stems from a story about the land or its people. Hitchens gave us an example of a Public art commission he did in Glen Innes. The narrative from the piece was from a prophecy from a local iwi, about the return of the Kotuku (Herron) which use to pull canoes up the river (Cycle of the Moon), Hitchens also said he does a lot of Māori culture based works. The narratives develop depending on how the artist and the people involved interpret the story.

The public narrative needs to be something that is directly related to the area in which the piece is being built or the area surrounding. The narrative needs to be something everyone from the public area can relate to, so there is no bias, and the piece can be there for the community. A private narrative, is much more personal to the client and also the artist. The artist needs to draw as much information from the client as possible, so to make the narrative of the piece as true and as meaningful as possible. Hitchens says he draws inspiration from life and that private art commissions are much more interesting than public projects, as he finds it interesting to use someone elses personal narrative.

I feel the same as Hitchens, in relation to using someone elses personal narrative. It would be a great honour to be asked to create a piece of work for someone, but also having them tell you a story and allowing you to interpret a meaning of your own, to create art from would be an extraordinary feeling.