Dr Bobby Hung will be speaking about his work and career at Tū Arotake on 7 July
To his students, Dr Bobby Hung is a visual arts lecturer in Unitec’s School of Design and Creative Arts, but for more than 20 years he has also operated under the graffiti artist pseudonym, Berst.
As a teenager growing up in the late 1990s, Bobby was inspired by the urban art he discovered while exploring Auckland’s train corridors on the weekends. Where others saw vandalism, he saw an informal art gallery and a site for youth to participate in a global visual culture.
His mother, however, viewed it differently, so to defer him from street tagging, she donated a back wall in their Epsom garden for Bobby’s artist endeavours. Having a place to channel his creative talents was important in building his interest in the visual arts.
In 2006, Bobby enrolled into Unitec’s Art and Design undergraduate degree (majoring in painting) to acquire the technical skills and knowledge of the formal art world. He was trained by renowned New Zealand artists and arts educators including Richard Fahey, Emma Smith, Mark Braunius, Karl Maughan, Mandy Thompsett-Taylor, and Julian Hooper.
Upon graduating from Unitec in 2009, Bobby joined the TMD crew, founded in 1997 by graffiti artists Phat One and Addict to bring together practicing West Auckland urban artists. Since its inception, the crew has won numerous international graffiti competitions, featured in major urban art exhibitions and festivals, and evolved to include a variety of diverse practice including fine art, photography, graphic design, video production, and illustration.
The members of the collective bloomed and for Bobby it was the beginning of a twenty-year career which has taken him and the collective’s members across the globe, sharing their process and being inspired by others.
Street art by Askew and Berst
From the street to the museum, the work of TMD is currently featuring in an exhibition, The Most Dedicated: An Aotearoa Graffiti Story, at the Lower Hutt’s Dowse Art Museum as part of their 50-year anniversary public programming.
In 2011, Bobby joined Unitec as a lecturer and has been combining his two careers since that time.
“I discovered that exhibiting in commercial galleries wasn’t the exact path that I wanted to take so I deviated towards further study in Education. I enrolled into a Postgraduate Diploma in Secondary Teaching, PGDip in Education, Master of Education, and finally, a PhD in Education,” he says. The focus of his PhD thesis centres around the legitimation of street art in visual arts education in the secondary school and tertiary sector.
Drawing on his experience in public art also gives his students an insight into professional pathways that did not previously exist a decade ago, he says.
“Contemporary arts are predominantly geared towards a gallery space, and having this background means they can see the potential of working in public spaces. I think that there’s definitely a connection with bringing relevance of what’s happening in the world, because things are changing very fast in the community and participating in practice is really important.”
The world has now embraced forms of public art such as ‘street art’ which has become a viable career path for many artists in New Zealand and abroad.
“There is a pathway for those who choose to be a creative practitioner and another one as an educator. For me, I’m fortunate to be able to combine both and underpin it with research. In essence, my identity involves being an artist, researcher, and teacher.”
On reflection of the past ten years teaching Bobby says he the thing he is most proud of is being a part of someone’s journey while they’re studying at Unitec.
“It feels good to be part of someone’s chapter in life, no matter how big or small, because teaching at Certificate level means you get to contribute to the student’s journey right at the beginning of their tertiary study.”
You can learn more about Bobby and the work of other artists on his Youtube channel