Hastings Icons

Hastings Icons is a multi-site installation work by Adrian Thornton geolocated in Hastings, Hawke's Bay.  It takes images connected to the theme of great things growing in Hastings - people, industries, ideas - and turns them into large-scale screenprints on public walls. Each print is linked through a QR code to more information on the subject, located online and accessed through a mobile device. This coming together of a tangible image and a web-based experience provides satisfying interactivity for the participant. The full art work is not experienced until the viewer accesses the online content, although each element can be enjoyed on its own.

The unexpected nature of the work, using stencil and bill sticking techniques, tricks the viewer into engaging with what could be read as subversive 'street art', this provides an experience that fits within the context of the urban environment rather than being authored by an official body. The interplay between the street art and the new media aspect of the work reflects Hastings as having connections to the past and the future.

The art works as a suite have been created as a loving salute to Hastings rich fabric of moments and personalities. It evokes local pride and rather than being a definitive guide to who's who it is a personal reflection on the stories that chime with the artist himself. 

Hastings Icons is created by Adrian Thornton, enabled by Jess Soutar Barron and funded through the Hastings City Vibrancy Fund and Arts Inc Heretaunga.