The art of Maurice Sendak brought to life.
With the Arcade Fire. Yes.
- Agnes
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Thursday, March 26, 2009
I promise...
this is the last of them...actually no, no I can't promise that.Construction meets minimalism, again.
This one was spotted on Mayoral Drive.
- Agnes
Cut and Paste
Photos from Trish's "Is there anybody here who'll listen to my story?" exhibition at Artstation, an experiment in storytelling through images. You may remember her as our old theory teacher and from this show that she had last year.
I was, unfortuantely, too tired to participate wholeheartedly as we had spent the day trekking through Gibb's Sculpture Park, climbing Sol Lewitts and fondling Anish Kapoors.
However, I do hope that you have more energy when you visit the show. It is on till April 8. Ch-ch-check it out.
- Agnes
Feature Friday: Fluoroflatables
A video from the studios.
Elliot is working on creating atmospheres and spaces at the moment. He's also been getting friendly with the air gun. Enjoy.
- Agnes
Monday, March 23, 2009
Globetrotting
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Although Claudia and I visited the United States over the break, one of our own, Laxmi, went on a very different route of holiday. She traversed back home to India. Asia is an interesting place to be looking at in terms of contemporary art so I was keen to get my hands on her documentation. After enough nagging, I managed to procure some photographs of her visit, including a trip to an Indian Contemporary Art Gallery.
Laxmi always talks about the beautiful saturation of colour in India, something that she continues to explore in her own painting practice. And it's also interesting to see the sculpture being produced as well. The precarious angle of the giant boulder in the 5th picture is my favourite of the bunch, something that I'm exploring in my own drawings as of late. So there you have it, India seems to have something for everyone!
- Agnes
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Wheels on the Bus...
The Artlink aka the 'pretty bus' (as coined by a passenger who looked about four yeras old), designed by Sara Hughes
Simon getting off after a long shift
The Peace Marchers, yet another surprise we did not know about
Last year, I had expressed once that if all this art stuff didn't really pan out for me, I would go and be a bus driver instead. I imagined I would be one of those super-awesome-cool bus drivers that people actually liked, you know, the ones that people did the thumbs up to when they drove past and was always friendly and asked how your day was. I thought it would be a good way of meeting all sorts of people, and getting to know their stories. And I do like to drive.
With this in mind, I had my dreams realised when I was asked to help out with the Artlink, a bus that takes people to galleries around the CBD for the Auckland Festival. This was my chance to get a feel for the bus in a way which was not that of a passenger. I didn't get to drive the Artlink, but that's really only a minor hiccup in my testing theory...plus the fact that we got to utilise these sweet walkie talkies made up for that.
Thus our day began. And with a giant crane blocking the front of Sue Crockford, we had to relocate to another departing point. Nothing that a seasoned driver would have difficulty dealing with of course. Go with the flow etc.
Then came the peace marchers, causing blockage. Yet another day on Queen Street for a Bussie, right?
But finally, the conversing with people. A man from Tauraunga, a music graduate from Kaitaia...story upon story of why people were where they were, what they thought of the exhibitions etc. Interesting people, all of whom, obviously, were active pursuers of art discussion.
Karena's 'Orchestra'
In between shifts on the bus, I was able to catch the beginning performance/artist's talk/workshop by Karena Way. She talked about being drawn to specific sounds and the ways in which she collects and manipulates it. Highlights were learning about electromagnetic pencils, where the graphite is used to conduct and produce frequency sounds depending on where you completed the connection. It's like playing the keyboard on a piece of paper! So, so clever! Why are you not already in my life?
I also got talking with the actual driver of the Artlink, who had a very positive outlook on his job. He seemed very easy going, parting wise words of wisdom about how to deal with the naughties and bad days on the road.
But by the end of the day, I was slightly dehydrated and starting to rethink the possibilities of enjoying being employed by MAXX...
In hindsight, my fantasy of bus driving was slightly naïve. Obviously I had not thought about the hours of traffic (queue the Queen Street Marchers) and the regular angries who like to think bus drivers and parking wardens are on a similar low-life level. But it wasn't until after spending 6 hours riding the ARTlink over and over again, that I realised, it wasn't so much those reasons, as it was the absolute repetitiveness of the job. In the 25 degree heat. Although I did have fun talking to people, it really wasn't as glamorous as I thought it would be. And in reality, there's no way I would be a cool bus driver, because I would be more inclined to being the kind that gets pleasure from soaking pedestrians by driving through puddles and throwing change angrily at passengers who give me $20 notes. Kudos to bus drivers though, you guys rock.
In the meantime, I'll devise another Plan B of 'Jobs I could do if art doesn't work out for me'. Any suggestions??
- Agnes
Last year, I had expressed once that if all this art stuff didn't really pan out for me, I would go and be a bus driver instead. I imagined I would be one of those super-awesome-cool bus drivers that people actually liked, you know, the ones that people did the thumbs up to when they drove past and was always friendly and asked how your day was. I thought it would be a good way of meeting all sorts of people, and getting to know their stories. And I do like to drive.
With this in mind, I had my dreams realised when I was asked to help out with the Artlink, a bus that takes people to galleries around the CBD for the Auckland Festival. This was my chance to get a feel for the bus in a way which was not that of a passenger. I didn't get to drive the Artlink, but that's really only a minor hiccup in my testing theory...plus the fact that we got to utilise these sweet walkie talkies made up for that.
Thus our day began. And with a giant crane blocking the front of Sue Crockford, we had to relocate to another departing point. Nothing that a seasoned driver would have difficulty dealing with of course. Go with the flow etc.
Then came the peace marchers, causing blockage. Yet another day on Queen Street for a Bussie, right?
But finally, the conversing with people. A man from Tauraunga, a music graduate from Kaitaia...story upon story of why people were where they were, what they thought of the exhibitions etc. Interesting people, all of whom, obviously, were active pursuers of art discussion.
Karena's 'Orchestra'
In between shifts on the bus, I was able to catch the beginning performance/artist's talk/workshop by Karena Way. She talked about being drawn to specific sounds and the ways in which she collects and manipulates it. Highlights were learning about electromagnetic pencils, where the graphite is used to conduct and produce frequency sounds depending on where you completed the connection. It's like playing the keyboard on a piece of paper! So, so clever! Why are you not already in my life?
I also got talking with the actual driver of the Artlink, who had a very positive outlook on his job. He seemed very easy going, parting wise words of wisdom about how to deal with the naughties and bad days on the road.
But by the end of the day, I was slightly dehydrated and starting to rethink the possibilities of enjoying being employed by MAXX...
In hindsight, my fantasy of bus driving was slightly naïve. Obviously I had not thought about the hours of traffic (queue the Queen Street Marchers) and the regular angries who like to think bus drivers and parking wardens are on a similar low-life level. But it wasn't until after spending 6 hours riding the ARTlink over and over again, that I realised, it wasn't so much those reasons, as it was the absolute repetitiveness of the job. In the 25 degree heat. Although I did have fun talking to people, it really wasn't as glamorous as I thought it would be. And in reality, there's no way I would be a cool bus driver, because I would be more inclined to being the kind that gets pleasure from soaking pedestrians by driving through puddles and throwing change angrily at passengers who give me $20 notes. Kudos to bus drivers though, you guys rock.
In the meantime, I'll devise another Plan B of 'Jobs I could do if art doesn't work out for me'. Any suggestions??
- Agnes
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Get me to Christchurch on Time
In the flurry of the last two weeks, I had only briefly glanced at an email informing me of a new space opening up in Christchurch. It wasn't until today that it nabbed my eye again and I'm glad it did because I've now placed it on the 'Official reasons why I need to visit Christchurch this year' list.
It is opened by Paintlust who describes themselves as so:
Paintlust is a painting project. Paintlust is a group of international artists and curators whose practices show the possibilities of contemporary painting, in a time when location and nationality do not neccessarily go hand in hand. These are artists and curators whose practices exist everywhere and anywhere, during a time where painting can be anything and everything. Paintlust will take the form of exhibitions, temporary project spaces, and participate in curatorial projects around the world.
A paint collective promoting contemporary practices across nations? Sounds good to me! Another source I can leech research from? Oh. Yes.
This space is only temporary, open till mid-July. Right now, they're hosting The Cooking Show which is a collab between Japanese artists Limocon and NZ artist Seung Yul Oh. Looks like a sweet sweet show and if anyone has visited and would like to tell us (painters stuck in Auckland in the meantime) how it is, muchos appreciation.
Preferably, this really needs to go on the 'Official reasons why I need to visit Christchurch before July' list, just slightly above the 'Class Trip to Wellington' possibility and the 'Get me to Melbourne in September!' project. Too many places, not enough monetary funds.
- Agnes
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