Violent Legalities

Violent Legalities is an interdisciplinary project that brings together contributors spanning the fields of anthropology, architecture, art and software design. The project was initiated by academic Karamia Müller, Lecturer at the School of Architecture and Planning, University of Auckland, and London/Boston based New Zealander Lachlan Kermode, software lead at human rights agency ForensicArchitecture, based at Goldsmiths University, London. Building on open-source software developed by Forensic Architecture, the exhibition launches new interactive maps of Aotearoa, specially developed to plot historical instances of violence and unrest and to track these against a chronology of legislative changes. This ambitious project draws on hundreds of documents and sources, including the Waitangi Tribunal, and is initiated in the wake of the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings. The exhibition trials this software as a potential tool in scrutinising such law changes. It presents a case, based on the group’s initial findings, that certain changes in legislation have led to the over-policing of non-Pākehā and the under-policing of white supremacist groups.

Fraser Crichton is a Pōneke/Wellington based visual artist who graduated from the Photojournalism and Documentary Photography Masters at University of Arts London in 2019. His research-based practice incorporates investigative journalism, data-visualisation, video, archival imagery, still photography, and community based participatory photography projects. Crichton’s work examines the power of the state in the context of social reform and the criminal justice system.

Mariachiara Ficarelli is an Italian anthropologist and filmmaker. She is interested in the potential of open source research for ethnographic methodology.

Lachlan Kermode develops full stack architectures, manages machine learning workflows, and handles the granular details of computer infrastructure across a range of Forensic Architecture’s investigations. He has a degree in Computer Science from Princeton University, and a range of experience both in industry and as a full stack freelancer. His academic interests are generally found in and between computer science, infrastructure studies, and cultural and critical theory.

Bhaveeka Madagammana is a postgraduate student currently studying architecture at the University of Auckland.

Davide Mangano is a computer graphics generalist with a bachelor’s degree in CG animation from the Istituto Europeo di Design in Milan. He has specialised in 3D environments for both real-time and rendered projects.

Karamia Müller is a Pacific scholar and feminist specialising in Pacific space concepts. Her research specializes in the ‘indigenization’ of design methodologies with a focus on indigenous spatialities.

The initial workshop, and subsequent research assistance for this project was funded by a University of Auckland, Creative Arts and Industries Faculty Research Development Fund Grant.

Image: Karamia Müller, Lachlan Kermode, et al., TimeMap Cartographic Diagram, 2014-20, software developed by Forensic Architecture