Ben

On December the 11th, 1963, a letter was sent from New Plymouth, New Zealand, to Don Lucas, a leader of the Mattachine Society at its headquarters in San Francisco, US. Signed “Ben”, the letter spoke of Ben’s trip to the US where they visited One, Inc., the oldest active LGBTQI+ organisation in the US. It spoke of how Ben had to cut the trip short and miss seeing Don in San Francisco. The letter unearths a relatively unknown chapter in Taranaki’s queer history: connections between local queer people and international queer leaders and organisations during the 1960’s. Ben is a body of work that acknowledges, explores, and expands on this period.

Ben was developed, curated, and scheduled by Hawkfish for the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. It is a series of digital interventions that allow Hawkfish to bypass formal systems and queer space on their own terms. Ben consists of four interlinked elements: Attraversare (a moving image work), La piel on the gallery exterior, Brilhar intensamente in the internal galleries, and Épaissir in interstitial spaces.