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Cobblestone Park light boxes

The light boxes at Cobblestone Park are a joint Te Herenga Waka–Victoria University of Wellington and Wellington City Council venture.

These light boxes are located in Cobblestone Park in front of Victoria University's Faculty of Architecture and Design Innovation at 139 Vivian Street – view on Google Maps.

Gut Punch, by Tonya Sweet

Current exhibition

Gut Punch

Tonya Sweet

Cobblestone lightboxes, from July to December 2025.

The Anthropocene, the post-human turn, the age of derangement, the age of uncertainty... The socio-ecological polycrisis that we are experiencing is a lot to swallow. In navigating the trepidation, uncertainty and anxiety associated with our ecological crisis, the gut emerges not only as a metaphorical but also a tangible site of wisdom and resilience. In many cultures and historical traditions, the gut is considered to be the seat of intuition and wisdom, which explains why we often refer to our “gut instinct”, “gut reaction”, and “gut feelings”. The gut may also be understood to be our second brain: our digestive tracts run on an in-house network of neurons that control its various functions independently of our central nervous system. The forms depicted in these images – created from industrial steel and bovine intestines – offer a visceral meditation on these ideas. This work beckons viewers to consider their own guttural reactions as actors within the Anthropocene.

Past projects

Any Time, Any Wear
Lexie Etherington

Horizons revealed
Philippe Campays, Jacqueline McIntosh, Bruno Marques and Carles Martinez Almoyna

Te Whānau Mārama
Leon Gurevitch

Ko Wai Au? | Who am?
Hannah Hopewell

Pupuke te Mahara
Bobby Luke

Kia niwha te ngākau
David Hakaraia

Two worlds/ two times
Daniel K Brown and Mizuho Nishioka

Bringing the German Pavilion Back Home
Jessica Wright

Transient Crossings: Embodiment in the Everyday
Stacey Mountfort

Christchurch through the Looking Glass
Ryan McCully

Prefabricated Architecture for a Circular Economy
Gerard Finch

Wai o papa: Waterlands (2016)
Wai o Papa, or Waterlands, is a Deep South project, one of the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment’s national science challenges. This cross-disciplinary project investigates how science, art and design can assist Māori coastal communities on the Kapiti-Horowhenua coast adapt to the impacts of climate change. The images on the panels represented on one side, an estimation of the impact of 0.5, 1 and 1.5 metres of sea level rise on the coast between the Waikawa and Ōhau rivers; and on the other, the mouth of the Ōhau River at the lunar high tide. Deep South Science Challenge: Dr Huhana Smith, Professor Penny Allan, Professor Martin Manning, Martin Bryant, Derrylea Hardy, Jane Richardson, Professor Murray Patterson, Abdallah Richards, Kevin Cartwright.

A Speculative Future (2015)
By Nicholas O'Connell, Holly Loft, Emma Erasmus, Tom Robertson.

Scraping the Sky: A Retreat Upwards (2014)
By Ben Allnatt, Declan Burn, Winston Dewhirst, and Tom Dobinson.

Digital Futures (2013)
By Simone Crane, Shiping Toohey, Jake Evill, Earl Stewart.

Glamping at Ngapotiki Reserve (2012)
By Jono Coates, Sarah Mokhtar, Daniel van Polanen, Tanya Mazurkiewicz , Michelle Hall.

First Light IN4MS (2012)
By Tobias Danielmeier.

Past projects gallery

Contact us

Pippa Sanderson, Senior Arts Advisor

Mobile: 021 454 039

Email: pippa.sanderson@wcc.govt.nz