A scanned copy of a black and white photograph depicting University of Canterbury students aboard a float in an annual 'procesh', or capping parade. The photograph was taken during the 1960s and was sourced from archives held in Macmillan Brown Library.
A scanned copy of a black and white photograph belonging to University of Canterbury alumnus Colin Lau. Colin describes the photograph as follows: "Botany Department on the left and School of Forestry on the right, according to the note on the back of the photo".
A scanned copy of a photograph depicting cars on the set of a play titled 'Star Fleet'. The photograph is from 1983.
A graphic for a Zone Life feature, encouraging readers to contribute stories to a memory map.
A graphic for a Zone Life feature, encouraging readers to contribute stories to a memory map.
A graphic for a Zone Life feature, encouraging readers to contribute stories to a memory map.
A graphic for a Zone Life feature, encouraging readers to contribute stories to a memory map.
A Transitional Imaginary: Space, Network and Memory in Christchurch is the outcome and the record of a particular event: the coming together of eight artists and writers in Ōtautahi Christchurch in November 2015, with the ambitious aim to write a book collaboratively over five days. The collaborative process followed the generative ‘book sprint’ method founded by our facilitator for the event, Adam Hyde, who has long been immersed in digital practices in Aotearoa. A book sprint prioritises the collective voice of the participants and reflects the ideas and understandings that are produced at the time in which the book was written, in a plurality of perspectives. Over one hundred books have been completed using the sprint methodology, covering subjects from software documentation to reflections on collaboration and fiction. We chose to approach writing about Ōtautahi Christchurch through this collaborative process in order to reflect the complexity of the post-quake city and the multiple paths to understanding it. The city has itself been a space of intensive collaboration in the post-disaster period. A Transitional Imaginary is a raw and immediate record, as much felt expression as argued thesis. In many ways the process of writing had the character of endurance performance art. The process worked by honouring the different backgrounds of the participants, allowing that dialogue and intensity could be generative of different forms of text, creating a knowledge that eschews a position of authority, working instead to activate whatever anecdotes, opinions, resources and experiences are brought into discussion. This method enables a dynamic of voices that merge here, separate there and interrupt elsewhere again. As in the contested process of rebuilding and reimagining Christchurch itself, the dissonance and counterpoint of writing reflects the form of conversation itself. This book incorporates conflict, agreement and the activation of new ideas through cross-fertilisation to produce a new reading of the city and its transition. The transitional has been given a specific meaning in Christchurch. It is a product of local theorising that encompasses the need for new modes of action in a city that has been substantially demolished (Bennett & Parker, 2012). Transitional projects, such as those created by Gap Filler, take advantage of the physical and social spaces created by the earthquake through activating these as propositions for new ways of being in the city. The transitional is in motion, looking towards the future. A Transitional Imaginary explores the transitional as a way of thinking and how we understand the city through art practices, including the digital and in writing.
An edited copy of the pdf transcript of Laura's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. At the participant's request, parts of this transcript have been redacted. Interviewer: Jennifer Middendorf. Transcriber: Laura Moir.
A pdf transcript of Rosie Belton's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Laura Moir. Transcriber: Josie Hepburn.
A pdf transcript of Rae Hughes's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Samuel Hope. Transcriber: Lauren Millar.
A pdf transcript of Stephen Bourke's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Lucy Denham. Transcriber: Lucy Denham.
A pdf transcript of Chris's second earthquake story, captured by the UC QuakeBox Take 2 project. Interviewer: Joshua Black. Transcriber: Caleb Middendorf.
A graphic for a Zone Life feature, encouraging readers to contribute stories and photographs to a memory map.
A card at Christ Church Cathedral reads, "Sad goodbye to the grand old lady of Christchurch. Wonderful memories, never forgotten."
A total of 115 people died when the building collapsed following the Christchurch earthquake in 2011.
A scanned copy of a black and white photograph belonging to University of Canterbury alumnus Colin Lau. Colin describes the photograph as follows: "I believe this is the hallway of the engineering school in Ilam".
A scanned copy of a black and white photograph of the argon gas laser used by David Lockwood in his PhD research at the University of Canterbury. David says, "In contrast to the He-Ne laser I developed for my MSc thesis, the laser I used was one of the first commercial lasers - an argon gas laser that required frequent painstaking maintenance. This was because the He-Ne gas laser did not produce enough power for my experiments".
A scanned copy of a photograph of the He-Ne Continuous Gas Laser used in David Lockwood's MSc research at the University of Canterbury. David explains that the photograph shows "the complete experimental system, including the horn-shaped acoustic chamber in front and the operating laser in the rear".
A scanned copy of a black and white photograph of David Lockwood standing beside the computer-controlled laser Raman spectroscopy equipment he used for his PhD research at the University of Canterbury. David says, "This thesis is concerned with setting up the first computer-controlled laser Raman spectroscopy equipment (shown in one photo - that's me wearing the laser safety goggles) in New Zealand and using it to measure the vibrational spectrum of novel materials grown in the Physics Department. It is very likely that my setup was also the first in the Southern Hemisphere".
A scanned copy of a photograph of an optical diffraction pattern produced by the He-Ne Continuous Gas Laser used in David Lockwood's MSc research at the University of Canterbury. David explains that the photograph shows "a typical optical diffraction pattern obtained from the original red laser beam arising from a grating structure formed by the alignment of a colloid under the influence of a travelling sound wave".
A story submitted by Anonymous to the QuakeStories website.
A photograph of a band playing to a crowd of students outside the UCSA building during the 2008 end-of-year Tea Party event.
A scanned copy of a photograph belonging to University of Canterbury alumnus Colin Lau. Colin describes the photograph as follows: "The entrance to the University School of Engineering (1970)".
A scanned copy of a black and white photograph depicting a line of police officers at a protest against the Springbok Tour in 1981. The photograph was taken on the National Day of Shame, 22 July 1981.
A photograph described by University of Canterbury alumnus Mike Gibbs as follows: "Pete Martin serving Tequila to students on the grassed area outside the amphitheatre (on UCSA grounds) at the tequila challenge 2002 for the Guinness Book of Records. After a long day (even if it is at lunch time) students will drink anything that's free".
A scanned copy of the cover page of a theis written by David Lockwood for an MSc in Physics at the University of Canterbury. The thesis is titled "The Action of a Sound Field on Colloids" and was submitted in 1964.
A scanned copy of a black and white photograph of women from a University of Canterbury hall of residence in the 1950s. The photograph was sourced from archives held at the Macmillan Brown Library.
A photograph of four UCSA Exec members hosting a barbecue on Ilam Fields in September 2016.
A photograph of a band playing to a crowd of students at the end-of-year Tea Party event of 2012.