Three new books celebrate the poster art of a beloved indie music festival, returning in 2027 to mark 20 years since it started.
“The baby, with downy golden hair crowned by a pair of fluoro earmuffs, looked like she suddenly understood the meaning of life. Perched on her mum’s hip, her eyes were trained on the lead singer of Splinter, an experimental metal band from Ōtepoti, who was crouching on the ground screaming. The bassist and guitarist stood in wide stances, headbanging, and the drummer’s long hair was getting tangled in her own earmuffs.” So begins Gabi Lardies’ evocative review of the 2024 Camp A Low Hum, a legendary indie music festival staged, that year, in Wainuiomata. It had been ten years since the 2014 festival, and a buzz was on.
The buzz returned this year when Camp 2027 was announced, a whole year+ early so those baby festival goers can plan ahead, and travel arrangements for overseas Campers can be made. The first of the two festival weekends has already sold out.
While we all wait for Camp to return, festival maverick Ian Jorgensen (known as Blink) has published three beautiful books each celebrating the Art of a Low Hum. The first is a lush hardcover filled with intricate posters created by artists for every festival, and more; the second filled with the “renegade” poster art made by the people in real time, at Camp; and the third a colouring book with posters rendered in black and white, blank spaces ready to fill.
My personal favourite poster is Michael Hacker’s for the 2009 Camp (below). A pimpled face emerges from a coating of bees, still swarming in. It looks clownish: then you see how the letters “Camp” are warped, sliding down so so that “C” falls into “L” and the word “Clown” if your eyes do a trick, or “Clowm” if they don’t, fudges and blurs. It’s sort of gross and sort of fun. It says artists have been told to do whatever – go nuts. Get stung. Get buzzed. And that is what a good festival is all about.
To celebrate the release of The Art of a Low Hum trio of publications, we’ve selected two posters from every year of Camp. Zoom in, note the artist’s names. Enjoy. / Claire Mabey
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
2024
2027
You can purchase The Art of a Low Hum (hardback, $90), The Art of a Low Hum: Colouring Book ($45), and The Art of a Low Hum: We Made That ($49) at Unity Books Wellington.
