Reflections on Waterfront Art

So.....this is "Mimetic Brotherhood" by Peter Trevelyan, the latest work in Wellington's Four Plinths Sculpture Project outside the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

Not the best or clearest of shots I'll admit, but they do demonstrate just how variable the works are at different times of day, in different lights.

These four bulbous but flexible forms made from hinged and mirrored equilateral triangles, envelope the plinths. Trevelyan was one of six sculptors invited to submit a proposal for the 2010 Four Plinths Project and his was selected by the Wellington Sculpture Trust and a panel of artistic advisors. As stated in a small brochure about the work, written by Abby Cunnane: "730 daylight skies will pass overhead during the period Peter Trevelyan's sculpture occupies the Four Plinths in Te Papa forecourt. 730 nights, 730 dawns, 1460 tides will change guard in the harbour. Scudding debris, wind-tortured kites and red-faced pedestrians will appear, and orbit, and depart. All this will be reflected in the multi-faceted mirrored surfaces of the four massive forms. And at the end of two years, they will leave as unaccountably as they arrived, like fictions, like diamonds conjured by fantasy, like extraterrestrial observers."

A very nice little piece of writing I might add. www.wellingtonsculpture.co.nz

The Small Architectural Details

I'm a big fan of breaking down the big picture, of homing in on the small details and that applies as much in architectural photography as anything else - especially when a building has been photographed as much as the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.

And so it was a few weeks ago when I was roaming the Wellington Waterfront early in the evening, just as the light was turning. Te Papa showed another side of itself....the small details, cleverly illuminated, so how could I refuse to snap the moment.

I've returned in daylight and while I always have enjoyed the bold architectural statement of Te Papa, these particular details are less dramatic by day. But having seen them by night, it did prompt me to re-look at the building by day. I guess that's the important thing. We do after all, miss so much in the cold light of our busy lives - so many exquisite details go unseen as we hurry about our familiar environments. www.tepapa.govt.nz

Wellington Waterfront by Night

I'm currently in Wellington - and loving it - as always.

It's my favourite New Zealand city.

And last night, I went for a wander, just on dusk/nightfall, around the waterfront behind the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa The two shots above are details of Te Papa's architecture.

And of course, the classic night reflections.

www.wellingtonnz.com

More to come - Of course!

Opening the Vault

The billboards are up and the anticipation is high: Tonight is the opening of Neil Pardington’s fabulous photographic show, The Vault at Christchurch Art Gallery – a collection of 40 large-format photographs that give us a privileged peek behind the scenes at museums and art galleries around New Zealand. It’s a brilliant ‘expose’ of the behind-the-scenes artefacts and collections in storage.

He got the idea for the photographic series while he was working behind the scenes at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa and it has been a work in progress ever since as he has explored the vaults, archives and basements of museums, art galleries, archives, banks, libraries and hospitals – “my focus is on places we store those things that are precious to us and conversely, those very similar spaces we store the obsolete and unwanted,” he has said of his work. Pardington’s photographs ‘expose storehouses of memory and places filled with mystifying treasure.’ They include my favourites, the stuffed animals and birds…all with cute little cardboard labels attached to their legs; paintings attached to sliding storage walls; specimens in jars; rooms filled with mannequins; shelves filled with rolls of film in tins; Maori artefacts; buildings filled with army vehicles; textiles, card catalogues and much more. It’s a scrumptiously voyeuristic peek into the normally unseen, off-limits world of the nation’s treasures and it will be on show at Christchurch Art Gallery until March 14, 2010. www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz www.neilpardington.com Top Image: Neil Pardington Land and Marine Mammal Store #5 Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 2006. Lambda/C-print. Reeproduced courtesy of the artist & Christchurch Art Gallery. Bottom Image: Neil Pardington Taonga Maori Store #2, Whanganui Regional Museum 2006. Reproduced courtesy of the artist and Christchurch Art Gallery.

Te Papa - Another View

The Museum of New Zealand

Te Papa Tongarewa

Wellington

April 2009 Ajr

Porthole View

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. Wellington. April 2009 Ajrc I loved this huge round window punched into the side of Level One of the Te Papa building in Wellington. It's a great place to sit and people-watch - or to read the paper as these visitors seemed wont to do. Perhaps they were sick of museums? Seen it all before? Waiting for someone? www.tepapa.govt.nz

Capital Architecture

Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

There are some buildings I never get tired of photographing. The Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa is one of them. At any given time of day or night; from the inside or the out, there's a new composition just waiting for my camera. I like a building that keeps delivering visual surprises. www.tepapa.govt.nz

Another Museum Moment

Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa

Looking Extraordinarily Handsome

Image Courtesy Te Papa, April 2009

Another Monet Moment

Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

At the National Museum Te Papa Tongarewa.

www.tepapa.govt.nz

Shed Memories

"One Shed, Two Sheds" Ronnie van Hout, Te Papa, Wellington. April 2009. Ajr

I love this work by New Zealand artist, Ronnie van Hout and the way it interacts with the architecture on the roof-top sculpture courtyard of the National Museum Te Papa Tongarewa in Wellington. I photographed it when I was there last week (with permission). It's called "One Shed, Two Sheds" and was inspired by van Hout's memory of his father's locked and secret sheds. www.tepapa.govt.nz