Natural Defences

The main element of the Gordon St Project is developing ideas to protect the fences in the reserve from graffiti vandalism. But also looking how to improve the overall area, to encourage people to use the space and to improve the ecosystem in the storm drain which runs through the area.

To link the two ideas, I have started working on some designs taking elements of the flora and fauna in the area and looking at how they defend themselves.

Early next year I will be working with students from Dargaville High School, we will be doing a survey of the area to see what creatures and plants are present and using those as our starting point to designing the fence protection.

I have included a couple of images which give an idea of what I am talking about.

Gordon St Project and Zines

The reason for the zines competition is to find creative people to work on ideas for the Gordon St Project. There does not have to be a link between the zines people produce and what the Gordon St Project is about.

I am just looking at different ways to find peoples creative abilities, a zine seemed a good start as they are cheap to produce, easy to make and people can choose to make them about anything they want.

The best overall zine wins an iPod and there will be a range of other prizes connected to the theme of the winning zines.

Zine Example

 When this is folded up the correct way and cut in the middle section, it will form an 8 page zine, from a single sheet of A4 paper. The Library 37 page will be the cover.

A4 8 page zine Template

Zine Competition Information

Video on how to make Zine/Book

Zine Competition and Information

Zine is a short for fanzine, it is a low cost publication on a subject of interest to the creator. It can be anything from a single sheet of paper to more complicated designs.


The Zine competition is open to anyone who lives in Dargaville and The Kaipara region. The subject of your zine is up to you, it could be on anything that you are interested in, sport, music, film, skateboarding, dogs, cats or even cows. You choose.


For this competition the zine will be made from a single sheet of A4 paper and folded and cut to produce an 8 page zine, including front and back cover. Instructions above are from a website, which has ways to make other styles of zines from folded paper.


Make sure you include your name and telephone number, so we can contact you if you win a prize. The competition is running from now until the end of the school holidays. Please drop your finished zines into the box at Dargaville Library.


As well as a whole range of prizes, the best zines will be part of the superzine, which will be published in April 2010.


There are a series of links to the right hand side of this site, which have a range of information about zines and how to make them. So get creating and good luck.


Making a simple A4 zine like this is means you can easily photocopy it and then sell or swap your zine with other people. Just follow the guides and put your pictures and writing in the spaces, you can do this on a flat sheet of paper or fold the zine first and then stick your stuff on each page. You can also design you zine on a computer and print out and photocopy as many as you want.

Light Graffiti and Zines Exhibition

Next week a small exhibition of the light graffiti photographs will be on display at Dargaville Library. Alongside this there will be details about a competition to design a zine and an exhibition of zines, which have been kindly lent by Stephanie from Wellington City Libraries. As well as Katie Haegele from the US, Sandy from Australia and Zac from Canada who sent me examples of their zines.

The zines competition is aimed a getting people from Dargaville to produce their own zine on anything they want, that is of interest to them. As well as different prizes, the best examples will be published as a superzine and will be distributed locally and used to exchange zines with the rest of the zine world. Hopefully it will be the start of Dargaville's very own zine collection.

Light Graffiti Photographs 3

Light Graffiti Photographs 2

Light Graffiti Photographs 1

Light Graffiti Evening

Images are from the Light Graffiti Evening and thanks for those who turned up. We experimented and just waved our arms around but we might have a few more events so we can try out some more ideas.

Light Graffiti Evening

The Light Graffiti Evening will be a chance for local residents to have a go at light graffiti. It will be a chance to experiment with ideas and to get some visual images of the reserve at the same time. Below are some example images from a light graffiti evening I did with students from the DHS Hostel.

Light Graffiti Flyer

Project Events

Over the next few months there will be a number of events aimed at starting the project and to raise peoples awareness of what is going on. These events will include a light graffiti event in the reserve and I will be doing a 24-hour photographic event as a way of mapping the site. More information and dates will be added when they are finalised.

Information for Schools

The project offers a number of potentially useful aspects for schools and in particular alignment with the new curriculum's key competencies. Working with the local community will form an important part of the project and will be the key to its success.

At present the area is a cut through between Gordon and Tirarau Streets, bounded on both sides by wooden fences and a storm drain running the length of the space. As it is not overlooked, some of the fences have graffiti on them, with the potential to spread to neighbouring areas. The project aims to preempt any escalation in vandalism by involving the local community in developing solutions to the problem.

If the graffiti is simply painted over, it might lead to a time consuming and expensive battle of painting out graffiti as it happens and keep on doing this week in week out. It also does nothing to target the underlying problems. By working with the local community and schools we hope to develop a scheme which is 'owned' by those involved in its creation.

Using the arts as a starting point for engaing with the local community enables a variety of opportunities to be explored, which cover the different aspects of the project and pull them together into a coherent scheme. The various elements include the storm drain, which is hoped will be developed into a healthy ecosystem. The fencing which will be adapted to resist further vandalism and a variety of other ideas to be developed during the project.

Photographs of the area between Gordon St. & Tirarau St.

Project Introduction

Briefly, the project aims to tackle graffiti vandalism in the cut through between Gordon Street and Tirarau Street, Dargaville. At present, the fence that runs down one side of the area has been tagged and as the area is not overlooked, it has the potential for more damage and for it to spread further.

Rather than just keeping painting over the graffiti, I applied for funding via the Ministry of Justice's Graffiti Vandalism Programme, to look at creative ways of tackling the issues. The Ministry has awarded the project $27,000 over two years and will start in August 2009.

The project will be developed with local residents, schools in the area, Kaipara District Council and myself, Simon Gray.