Hannah and Aaron Beehre

JS.02.03 “The Hedge”

  • 2003
  • Single-channel digital animation and computer generated immersive projection, colour, sound, continuous
  • Purchased, 2003
  • 2003/38

This work responds in real time to sounds made by the viewer. If you cough in front of it or walk loudly, sing or clap your hands, the leaves in the hedge gently fall, forming different patterns, depending on the duration and volume of the noises you make. Afterwards, when the gallery is quiet again, the leaves reassemblethemselves as they were before. JS.02.03 “The Hedge” suggests both seasonal change and a cycle of eternal return.

(Now, Then, Next: Time and the Contemporary, 15 June 2019 – 8 March 2020)

Exhibition History

earlier labels about this work
  • The stylised leaves in this ‘hedge’ respond to sound – voices, coughing, footsteps, music – by falling in unexpected patterns, depending on the volume and duration of the sound. Although the leaf motif suggests time and seasonal change, ultimately it always falls back into the same pattern.The result is simultaneously vacuous and profound – sitting somewhere between a screensaver and a meditation wall.

    The title of the work relates to a cataloguing system the artists developed for their work. Combining a fine arts background with commercial design practice, they collaborated for more than ten years, showing in a number of galleries and festivals in New Zealand and overseas.

    Hannah Beehre gained a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Canterbury in 2000, where Aaron Beehre has lectured in design since 2004. The pair also played together in acclaimed band Pine.