On Thin Ice

Christchurch. July 2009 Ajr

The TV1 Ice Dome, erected in Christchurch’s Cathedral Square as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival Winter Garden 2009, contains a temporary ice rink, which opened on Friday afternoon. The 30-metre diameter dome was bought by the Christchurch City Council for $480,000 and was first used during the Ellerslie International Flower Show in Hagley Park back in March. I love its shiny, translucent skin and while it’s rather hard to photograph well from the outside, I did manage to get a few shots of the first skaters on the rink at a function there last night. What I like best is the beautiful 40-minute projection called ‘Lumiere,’ which runs continually from 6pm onward. It was compiled by the Auckland team, Spyglass, who created the projections for the giant rugby ball at the Eiffel Tower in Paris and it features nine different landscape images by Christchurch photographer, John Maylard…with a two minute snowstorm between each sequence. You'll find some exterior views of the dome by night below. www.artsfestival.co.nz