Engage............

"Engage" Graham Bennett. South Library, Christchurch. August 2008. Ajr

………is a verb that means to attract or involve someone’s interest or attention and Graham Bennett’s sculpture at South Christchurch Library certainly does that. It’s a bold seven-piece work that stands four metres tall at its highest point and moves from outside the library to indoors. I love the way the curved metal blades (balanced with head-sized boulders from the Waimakariri River), shimmer against the sky. Maybe I’m supposed to think more deeply than that but I’m a visual sort of girl and I figure as long as I’m ‘engaged’ with the work that’s okay. Graham will tell you that those curves are a reflection of the nearby meandering Heathcote River, the undulating Pot Hills behind and a counterpoint to the severe straight lines of the library’s architecture. Check out Graham at work in his studio by putting Artist Studios - 9 into the blog search box above left; or click on his name in the tags below to see all my blogs on Graham's work. www.bennettsculpture.info