Responsible for making events look cool, Michael Hodgson's favourite things are geared toward innovative design.
The Auckland Town Hall will be alive with music, activity and light this weekend as part of Splore City, all enhanced by the work of the Dub Module team, a team of multimedia artists and producers led by Michael Hodgson and Bruce Ferguson. They specialise in large-scale video projection, using light manipulation, projection, illumination, graphics and animation to create the "visual vibe" of events and gigs - including various Louis Vuitton store openings, the NZ Music Awards and Grazia Australia's launch in Sydney. For Splore City, Hodgson and his team will be bringing the historic organ to life. "Working alongside artists Shaun Madgwick, Dan Mace and Chris Macmillan, we are creating a series of ambient videos to play between the acts, plus a six-minute video moment that uses the structure of the organ as the palette. There will also be a few other video installations that the audience can play with," he explains. Here, some of Hodgson's favourite things.
* Splore-City, February 11-12, Auckland Town Hall, tickets from $85 at splore.net.
10 FAVOURITE THINGS
1. Robots, robots, robots
An absolute favourite of mine, I have been collecting robots for over 15 years. Not sure how many I have, possibly 200-300 but they cover a fair amount of our shelf space and live in boxes all over the place. About 10 years ago a friend brought a load of batteries around and we fired heaps of them up, turned out the lights and left them to march around, shooting and spinning and commanding instructions to loud techno. The ones in the photo were released the same year as the Apple Mac, you can record control info on to tapes and they will follow instructions... Whisky please!
2. Fluevog shoes
I found these a few years ago in The Haight in San Francisco while on tour with Pitch Black. I tend to live in my shoes so I have scored a pair each time I have been back to San Fran. I've worn five pairs down, to date, and I'll need another fix soon. The shop is just down the road from Amoeba, the best record store you will ever find. Thousands of releases at rock-bottom prices.
3. Threadless T-shirts
An online store where designers submit T-shirt designs which, if selected, are printed. A huge range of styles and a great range of images and perfect for a regular T-shirt wearer.
4. Splore
My favorite North Island festival. We always have a circle around the date for the bi-annual one at Tapapakanga Regional Park. This year with an urban twist at Splore City, it's at the Auckland Town Hall. I'm looking forward to seeing how the art team make the venue a pleasure to be in and seeing some of the acts I have not seen before.
5. rinse.fm
Streaming the best and latest in the London club sounds, My favourite show is Sunshine in a Bag with Crisis, a vibrant DJ who lightens up a Monday morning. Very deep, hard and full of the roots vibe. You can also download the shows to listen to anytime.
6. Mocka balance bike
We call it a fall over bike. The 5-year-old has already trashed one of these with zealous use. It puts training wheels right where they need to be - in the trash. Helps with the kids' balance and soon they are zooming down the footpath. The wee ones just move straight on to pedal bikes (without trainers) as this totally sorts out their sense of balance.
7. Native Agent
With the main shop now shut and the store moving online, you have no excuse that you can't get to Kingsland. The perfect place to get something for a friend who has been away from the long white cloud for too long. Awesome Aotearoa designed threads and great clothing with an edge.
8. 70s cheese platter
We found this gem in Eclectic Antique Centre in Nelson while on a driving holiday of the South Island in January. It was a bit of a shock to discover how many of our favourite second-hand shops are gone but we found enough to satisfy the addiction. It was probably the first holiday that the car was not full of awesome retro furniture, dinner sets and robots on our return.
9. Urbis Design Day
I participated in this last year, bringing a white office space to life with video projection, but I didn't get to see any of the other installations. Looking forward to jumping on the transport this year and seeing how designers bring the spaces to life. A great way to join various areas of design and put it into the live event world.
10. Turntable technics
Always a pleasure to put on the wax when the low bitrate of streaming music or Youtube channels gets too harsh. I've never been a DJ but this was the model before the 1200s. I'm currently listening to the original OnU sound vinyl I bought in the 80s, future dub for the new century. I bought it from a promoter friend who needed cash to cover a loss on an event.
