HEGO has designed and curated several public artworks which are collaborative by
design and aimed at challenging the possibilities of public art for positive and
meaningful interaction in one's city
Magnetic streetart (2012 -2013)
Video: ​https://vimeo.com/90291501
The latest interation in Hego’s mobile magnetic streetart series, these pieces were a precursor
to his static wheatpasted murals (from 2014 onwards). These mobile visual art pieces were
created for the general public to interact with in the street. Various images of friends and family
were ‘wheatpasted’ (using paper and glue) onto wood and then cut out and attached with
magnets and a riddle on the reverse. The pieces were installed around Sydney Australia and
documented in the short film ‘#magneticstreetart” (2013).
From 2010-13 Hego created a series of ‘catch and release’ magnetic street artwork
interventions (#takemeimyours! visits Philly! 2013) to test out how streetart can be a catalyst for
playful interactions with ones city and where the act of participation (with the artworks and ones
city) becomes as important as the physical artworks itself. The pieces have a riddle and magnet
on the back that challenged people to take the artwork from where they found it & then put it
back up in their city. The riddle reads: “Pick me up and hold me, though please do so gently,
then magnet me up, in a place you feel apt, so i can continue on my epic journey”. The public
was extremely proactive interacting with the pieces. Although they were original magnetted up
in the streets of Sydney, several artworks ending up all around the world (in America, Europe,
Asia & Singapore). The body of work was presented at the Sydney Biennale (2010).
Shooting Jozi, Johannesburg, South Africa (2007-2008)
Role: instigator & curator
After becoming inspired by the Academy Award winning film “Born into Brothels” In 2007 Hego
successfully pitched to produce his art project “Shooting Jozi’ while attending the People Building Better
Cities, Global Studio conference in Johannesburg, South Africa. His idea: to distribue 150 disposable
cameras (from FUJI Australia) in 4 shanty towns across the city where the conference was working
(Diepsloot, Alexandria, Mashalltown & downtown Joburg CBD). Kids, teenagers & elders all took part,
facilitated by participants from the International conference. The locals brief was to document their
everyday life, what they liked about their community and what they’d like to improve about their
community as well. After 3 weeks, 50 cameras came back and over 1400 photos were archived, as well
as physical copies given back to the community members who took part. Hego plans to return in 2018/19
to create murals and document with a film, 10 of the most powerful images captured by locals and see if
he can reconnect with as many photographers who took part as possible, asking them the same
questions as he did 10 years ago, in order to see what has changed or stayed the same in those
communities.
View photos from the project: Shooting Jozi 2007
Sculpture by the Sea (2007)
successful submission
A 1,000 milkcrate in area (1 milkcrate high) maze was proposed for Sculpture by the Sea
exhibition in Sydney Australia (the most visited outdoor sculpture exhibition in the world). The
successful submission aimed to draw attention to the tens of thousands of milkcrates that are
lost, stolen & repurposed in Australia by the general public each year alone. It achieved this by
the enticing the hundreds of children who gather at the end of the sculpture walk at Tamarama
beach to walk through, sit down upon & touch the zip tied milkcrates.