Author Archives:

Save Yourself and Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

5 March 2010 – 9.36am
My last post was about the installation of Judy Millar’s 2009 Venice Biennale project Giraffe-Bottle-Gun. This and Francis Upritchard’s Save Yourself are now open here at Te Papa, so as promised this post features images of the completed installations.
Save Yourself

Francis Upritchard, Save Yourself, 2009. Installation view. Image: Michael Hall.

A long view of the three works that make up Save Yourself. In the foreground is Dancers, the middle Long and the background Lonely.

Te Papa has acquired Dancers for the collection.

Francis Upritchard, Dancers from Save Yourself, 2009. Installation detail. Image: Michael Hall.

Francis Upritchard, Dancers from Save Yourself, 2009. Installation detail. Imgae: Michael Hall

Francis Upritchard, Save Yourself, 2009. Installation view. Image: Michael Hall

Francis Upritchard, Long from Save Yourself, 2009. Installation detail. Imgae: Michael Hall

Francis Upritchard, Lonely from Save Yourself, 2009. Installation detail. Image: Michael Hall

 

Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

Judy Millar, Giraffe-Bottle-Gun, 2009. Installation view. Image: Michael Hall

Judy Millar, Giraffe-Bottle-Gun, 2009. Installation detail. Image: Michael Hall

Te Papa have purchased three works from Giraffe-Bottle-Gun. This shaped work  leaning on the wall  in the above image and the single shaped painting in the image below.

Judy Millar, Giraffe-Bottle-Gun, 2009. Installation detail. Image: Michael Hall

The third piece acquired by Te Papa from Giraffe-Bottle-Gun is not so easy to see in the current installation. It is the painting at the left of this image below – the one behind the other work.

Judy Millar, Giraffe-Bottle-Gun, 2009. Installation detail. Image: Michael Hall

Both the installations look great in the spaces and I recommend a visit if you can.

If you are interested in finding out more about the works and the Biennale, coming up on 18 March our Art After Dark is dedicated to the Venice Biennale.

The evening kicks off at 6.15pm with a floor talk by project curators Leonhard Emmerling, Director of St. Paul Street Gallery, Auckland, who curated Judy’s Giraffe-Bottle-Gun and Heather Galbraith, Senior Curator/Manager Curatorial Programmes, City Gallery Wellington, who co-curated Save Yourself with Barbican, London Curator Francesco Manacorda.

After the floor talk there will be a panel discussion on the Marae. For more detail go to our Art After Dark page:
http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/allevents/Pages/ArtAfterDarkToiotePoVeniceBiennale18march.aspx

 

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (0)

Installation in progress

22 February 2010 – 1.52pm
Early last week we began the installation of Judy Millar’s Giraffe-Bottle-Gun.

Giraffe-Bottle-Gun was Judy’s project for the last Venice Biennale and was on show in Venice, Italy from June to November 2009.

Giraffe-Bottle-Gun, 2009. Installation shot, La Maddalena, Venice. Photo: Kerry Brown

The works are scaled up versions of her paintings – scanned and enlarged by computer, then printed onto the same vinyl used for billboards.

Judy had specially made shaped plywood frames to stretch the vinyl over. The works are between 5 and 8 metres on their longest side. They are made to be installed almost any way and there is not necessarily a right way up.

The plywood frames for Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

When installing them Judy works with the space to engage with the archtitecture and create a situation where the works are responding to the pecularities of that space and of the experience of being in it.

The other major part of Giraffe-Bottle-Gun is the cylindrical painting. It is made by the same proces as the other works, but the vinyl is stretched over a 5 metre high and 6 metre in diameter wooden frame to make a towering cylindrical structure. It’s not quite a cylinder though – there is an ovelapping part. The shape is based on a curled strip of paper.

Giraffe-Bottle Gun cylinder during construction

Scaffold is assembled inside the cylinder and a scissor hoist is used outside to attach the ply panels.

The cylinder almost completely assembled.

The team beginning to roll the vinyl around the cylinder

The installation team has been assembling these in preparation for Judy’s arrival this week. The team has been working to Judy’s layout plan that she sent through earlier on. Once it is all laid out we will work with Judy to make any adjustments to where the works are placed and make the decisions about the final layout of the exhibiton in time for the opening on Friday 26th February.

The photography team has been up in the space too and they have set up a camera to record the installation as it progresses. Once the installation is completed we will do a short video interview with Judy which will be available here on the Blog through Te Papa’s YouTube page.

So now you have seen the progress shots come back soon to see the video footage and if you are in Wellington come and see the show. It is on show here in Toi Te Papa, Level 5, until 15 August 2010.

For more information about the New Zealand at the Venice Biennale 2009 exhibitions follow the links below.

Te Papa’s website page for New Zealand the the Vencie Biennale 2009:

http://www.tepapa.govt.nz/WhatsOn/exhibitions/Pages/NZatVenice.aspx

New Zealand at the Venice Biennale 2009 official site:

http://2009.nzatvenice.com/

Te Papa’s YouTube page:

http://www.youtube.com/user/tepapamuseum

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , | Comments (3)

Paul Cullen on his Sculpture Terrace project A Garden

5 February 2010 – 8.37am

Followers of the Te Papa blog will probably have seen the post I made about the latest Sculpture Terrace project by Paul Cullen.

The project opened in November last year and at the time Paul was here we worked with Michael Hall from the Te Papa photography team to make a short video of Paul speaking about the work.The clip is now edited and has been loaded onto Te Papa’s You Tube page (there’s lots of other great clips there too).

For quick access, here is the clip of Paul and A Garden.

Blog post about A Garden

http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/?s=paul+cullen

Te Papa’s You Tube page

http://www.youtube.com/user/tepapamuseum

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

A Garden forms on the Sculpture Terrace

8 December 2009 – 1.47pm

A Garden by Paul Cullen has recently opened on the Sculpture Terrace’s Outer Terrace. The project draws on Paul’s interest in the history and practice of garden design and also his ongoing interest in the methods and models of science.

The work was installed over a two week period beginning with some skilled help from a blocklayer who came with his concrete mixer to lay two low block walls.

Concrete mixing and blocklaying

Filling the wall

From those foundational parts that echo the lines of the architecture, the rest of the installation was arranged. The two-level blue platform, yellow trestle and the lamp were incorporated into the block walls.

Installation in progress

another progress shot, the lamp is in place.

The relationship of the trestle, platforms and lamp to the walls, the nature of the walls as building materials and the relationship of the walls to the architecture makes these two parts of A Garden the most fixed or permanent aspects of the installation.

Rocks and tables

The other elements – the metal tables and benches and the manufactured ornamental rocks – are predominantly at angles to the architecture and to each other. Their placement is deliberately scattered about the space to give interesting angles to view and to guide visitors movement within the terrace space. 

A Garden, completed

Working with space is a key aspect of garden design. For one there is the concept of the borrowed view where gardeners work with the lansdscape outside of the garden area, incorporating it into the view to enlarge the garden and enhance it. Garden designers also work with elements within the confines of the garden to frame the borrowed view and to create possibilities for negotiating the space of the garden itself.

A Garden

By now you will have noticed that this is a garden without plants. Paul’s choice to keep this vegetation free may not be a surprise to those who are familiar with his outdoor works. His interest lies more in the type of scientific observational installation often found in public gardens such as botanic gardens, or rooftop gardens. As seen in this recent project Weather Stations for Sculpture on the Gulf.

Observing the harbour city

Taking the Outer Terrace at its face value as an observation point six stories up overlooking the harbour, Paul has responded to the site as an ideal place to meausure and observe. However, whether the objects in A Garden might be made for measuring, and if so just what they might measure, is left completely unclear.

Contemplation on the Terrace

A Garden responds to the location by drawing in the common uses for such sites – rooftop gardens and observation decks. Paul draws these references into the work visually with the objects and their placement to make a garden space that is an ideal place for observation and contemplation.

If you’d like to see more of Paul’s work, he has work currently on show at the Waikato Museum  and at Jane Sanders, Art Agent in Auckland.

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , , | Comments (3)

Art on TV

16 October 2009 – 7.52am

New ArtlandFans of art and TV on demand may already know about the great series New Artland hosted by musician Chris Knox on freeview TVNZ 7, and available online.

The programme invites artists to make a new work involving a community. Series two has recently been uploaded, and they are already up to Episode 7. If you haven’t seen it yet then you’ve got some great catching up to to do via the internet.

Oddooki, Seung Yul Oh

Seung Yul Oh, Oddooki, Te Papa Sculpture Terrace, Level 6.

Episode 6 which screened on 3 October featured artist Seung Yul Oh. Seung recently created a project for the Te Papa Level 6 Sculpture Terrace called Oddooki.

Seung’s Oddooki project was on the Outer Terrace until early June of this year. You may have missed it, but if you did you can see a snippet of the work in the New Artland programme.

For the first programme of its first series New Artland made a programme with Ronnie van Hout.

Te Papa has a number of work of Ronnie’s in the collection and also a current Sculpture Terrace project by Ronnie called A Loss, Again.

A Loss, Again, Ronnie van Hout, Te Papa Sculpture terrace, Level 6

Ronnie van Hout, A Loss, Again, Te Papa Sculpture Terrace, Level 6

A Loss, Again will be on show until mid 2010 so there’s plenty of time to see the work on your next visit.

On 28 November we will be opening a new project on the outer Terrace. The project by Paul Cullen is called A Garden. Here’s an image of the artist’s model as a bit of a teaser.

Paul Cullen, artist's model for A Garden

Paul Cullen, artist's model for A Garden

In the meantime there are lots of great New Artland programmes to watch including Lisa Reihana’s one which is about her work
Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha also currently on show here at Te Papa in the Te Ara a Hine space, Level 2.

Lisa Reihana, Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha, Te Ara a Hine, Te Papa, Level 2

Lisa Reihana, Mai i te aroha, ko te aroha, Te Ara a Hine, Te Papa, Level 2

Many of the artists who created projects for New Artland are also in the Te Papa collection, you can search under their names through our Collections Online.

Happy viewing and searching!

Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments (1)

You be the judge

9 September 2009 – 5.12pm

 

Collateral, Dane Mitchell

Collateral, Dane Mitchell

Last Friday I was in Hamilton for the opening of the 2009 Trust Waikato National Contemporary Art Awards at the Waikato Museum. I was there as this year’s judge of the awards and the winner was announced at the opening on Friday night.

The winning entry was a work by Dane Mitchell titled Collateral, pictured above. If you watch TV 1 and 3 and read the newspapers then you probably know by now that it is a work, and decision, that has caused a bit of discussion.

Clearly I think that Mitchell’s work was the standout work of all the entrants for 2009. My decision was made after a lot of thought and consideration of all the entries. The fact is that I found that I kept coming back to Collateral, it captured me.

The work is a strong, simple idea presented with ease by the artist. Mitchell’s entry was a set of instructions submitted online to the awards as per their standard process. The key aspect of the piece for me was that it was an inspired response to the situation of entering a competition remotely via the internet, plus the additional fact that Mitchell was about to head away to Berlin to undertake a DAAD residency and was unlikely to be around to package and send a work to Hamilton if he was selected as a finalist. So an idea that was followed, to my mind, by a logical choice of material – the to-be-discarded packaging material from the other finalists’ entries – material that was for all intents and purposes spare, and yes headed for the rubbish.

Mitchell created a work that responded to and existed within these parameters, overcoming the difficulties and obstacles of the situation in an intelligent and clever way.

Mitchell has a considered approach to material in his practice and in spite of the chance element affecting the make up of this work, it still presents a work that is beautifully material. Some of the works of Mitchell’s in the collection here at Te Papa have a similar aesthetic and approach to both material and detritus.

Dane Mitchell, Present Surface of Tell # 03, 2004

Dane Mitchell, Present Surface of Tell # 03, 2004

The works Present Surface of Tell are casts from discarded materials such as bubble wrap, old 35mm slide projectors,computer keyboards and various bits and pieces creating fake archaeological finds which raise questions about the selection and authenticity of objects in museums. A pertinent question in relation to Collateral too – with this work Mitchell continues to challenge cultural production by mischief making inside the institution.

Don’t we want artists who challenge us?

Posted in Art | Tagged , | Comments (4)

The art life in Venice

3 July 2009 – 2.10pm
The Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge

The Grand Canal from Rialto Bridge

Avid art blog followers will now be familiar with Creative New Zealand’s NZ at Venice blog site. The project curators of Judy Millar’s Giraffe-Bottle-Gun and Francis Upritchard’s Save Yourself, and the venue attendants have been blogging regularly since the beginning of the installation period.

La Maddalena

La Maddalena

Posts are coming in thick and fast and it’s great to be able to get a sense of the daily life in Venice during Biennale time.

So now it’s my turn on behalf of Te Papa to post a report on the 53rd International Art Exhibition, known as the Venice Biennale, after my recent visit.

I was in Venice between 1 – 8 June to view Judy Millar and Francis Upritchard’s projects and to support them at the openings along with the folk from Creative NZ. It was a wonderful time to be there in the lead up to the openings and vernissage period that kicked off in earnest on 4 June.

Palazzo Mangilli-Valmarana

Palazzo Mangilli-Valmarana

The projects both look great in their respective spaces and they respond really well to the architecture. One of the amazing things about Venice is the architecture and the ornate interiors that are usually inaccessible except during Biennale time when many of them are opened and used for exhibitions.

In Save Yourself, self absorption that shuts out all else seems to be the common thread between Upritchard’s figures. The installation is in three parts – one for each room of Uprtichard’s space in the Palazzo Mangilli-Valmarana - each part unified by a table either scaled up or otherwise subtly altered by Upritchard from her own furniture or other tables she likes. The figures on each table ignore each other. They are placed so that they are facing outwards. Each named figure has its own character seen in their expression, colouring, posture and features.

Save Yourself, Dancers

Save Yourself, Dancers

Save Yourself, Lonely

Save Yourself, Lonely

Upritchard has commented that she thought long and hard about how to work with the opulent space and her use of the mirrors adds to the distance and self interest of the figures. Several of the figures are facing the mirrors and their separateness from their fellows becomes emphasised by their apparent interest in watching themselves.

Yet they are fascinating to look at, as curator Heather Galbraith writes in an essay in the new publication Save Yourself that ‘the seekers in Upritchard’s work are fallible, engaging and charming’ and she goes on to say that Uprtichard acknowledges Hieronymus Bosch and Pieter Bruegel as influential here. Additionally Uprtichard references Erasmus Grasser’s Morris dancing figures among other things.
 
 
Judy Millar’s Giraffe-Bottle-Gun is in the beautiful La Maddalena alongside the permanently installed paintings.
 
Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

In 1990 Millar studied in Italy and it was a formative period for her as she absorbed the numerous paintings in churches and, as written by Anthony Byrt in the new book Judy Millar You You, Me Me, published in time for the Biennale, Millar ‘decided that painting had contemporary potential’. Byrt goes on to explain that this type of painting brings performance, illusion and material fact together with the purpose of the buildings. Millar’s large scale shaped canvases certainly operate similarly although their purpose within the church architecture is not the same.
 
Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

Giraffe-Bottle-Gun

The works are scanned and scaled up ten times from paintings of Millar’s and reproduced on billboard canvas. The effect of enlarging the gestures and the size of the paintings is quite spectacular. What surprised me is that although they dwarf the viewer, they are not overpowering or overwhelming but are really approachable and even welcoming.
The play with scale in both artists’ projects is appropriate for Venice, which is a place of oddly shifting scale in relation to the human – you find yourself emerging suddenly from narrow alleys into open piazzas or from a maze of streets and stone to unexpected water views. Millar’s towering gestural paintings against the white stone of the circular La Maddalena and the dramatic figures of the paintings.
Canvas close up

Canvas close up

Millar’s colours are carefully chosen and the orange matches almost exactly the colour of the robe of one figure, the flesh colour is close too. Some of Millar’s enlarged gestures echo the figures movement, one looks almost the same as the sweep of an angel’s wing.
You may have already heard that Te Papa will be showing both artists’ projects in February 2010 to coincide with the New Zealand International Arts Festival here in Wellington. Of course when we exhibit the projects back here at Te Papa we won’t be recreating the ambience of the Venetian spaces, the works will be in the Level 5 high stud gallery spaces where Toi Te Papa is.
Posted in Art | Tagged , , , , | Comments (0)

James Luna Urban (Almost) Rituals

7 May 2009 – 4.11pm

 JAMES LUNA

URBAN (ALMOST) RITUALS

SPIRAL, 2009, IMAGE COURTESY TE PAPA; HAT, 2005, MARK VELASQUEZ; ASS, 2008, DAVID MERRITT.

SPIRAL, 2009, IMAGE COURTESY TE PAPA; HAT, 2005, MARK VELASQUEZ; ASS, 2008, DAVID MERRITT.

 Thursday 14 May 2009, 8am – 4pm

Te Papa Amphitheatre, Wellington. (Soundings Theatre if weather bad)

james_luna_map1

Commissioned by the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. www.tepapa.govt.nz 
odslogo_red_4coloronwhite
 

Posted in Art | Tagged , | Comments (0)

Update to the update

8 April 2009 – 3.47pm
James Luna, Pink Russian, 2007 from a series on an ageing artist

James Luna, Pink Russian, 2007 from a series on an ageing artist

We are really pleased to announce that James Luna is up and about again after illness and we have rescheduled his One Day Sculpture project Urban (Almost) Rituals for 14 May 2009, 8am – 4pm.

Put it in your diary now.

To recap with a bit from my last post on James:

Urban (Almost) Rituals promises to be a multifaceted piece that will unfold in four acts over the 8 hours. As one might expect if familiar with James’s work there will be a mixture of talk, music, action and installation of objects. I don’t want to give any details away so that there will be a sense of surprise on the day.
 
If you can’t make it to Te Papa to see the project then you can watch the work online via this link www.tepapa.govt.nz/jamesluna. At the moment this link takes you to the Te Papa info page on James, but on the day, during the performance it will be a live stream.

We are also working on organising a couple of talks while James is here so stay tuned for more information about these too. One Day Sculpture will be sending out an email announcement about the project, and they do the handy text reminders the day before. You can subscribe and sign up to the One Day Sculpture reminders through their website.

Posted in Art | Tagged , | Comments (2)

One week to go….

18 March 2009 – 2.09pm
 
James Luna, 2 /Worlds-War Dance Technology, 1989

James Luna, 2 /Worlds-War Dance Technology, 1989

UPDATE: Due to unforseen circumstances James Luna’s project Urban (Almost) Rituals has been postponed. James is unable to make it to New Zealand at this time. We are planning to reschedule the project. Check the Te Papa website and/or the One Day Sculpture website for updates. Sorry for any inconvenience.

 

James Luna’s project for One Day Sculpture will be next Thursday 26 March 8 am – 4pm at the Te Papa Amphitheatre (Soundings Theatre if the weather is bad).

The project is called Urban (Almost) Rituals and it promises to be a multifaceted piece that will unfold in four acts over the 8 hours. As one might expect if familiar with James’s work there will be a mixture of talk, music, action and installation of objects. I don’t want to give any details away so that there will be a sense of surprise on the day.

 
If you can’t make it to Te Papa to see the project then you can watch the work online via this link www.tepapa.govt.nz/jamesluna . At the moment this link takes you to the Te Papa info page on James, but on the day, during the performance it will be a live stream.
 
After Urban (Almost) Rituals the One Day Sculpture Symposium is launched with the Keynote lecture by Professor Jane Rendell  from 6-8pm.
 
The Friday and Saturday programmes include a mixture of formats including Project Case Studies – artist and curator discussions of One Day Sculpture projects. This includes a discussion between James Luna, Megan Tamati-Quennell and Caroline Vercoe on Saturday.
 
For more information see the Symposium page on the One Day Sculpture site.
 
For those who want to find out more about James Luna and his work before Urban (Almost) Rituals, he will be presenting a lecture here at Te Papa on Wednesday 25th March 3-4pm in Soundings Theatre. This is a free event and all are welcome.
Posted in Art | Tagged , | Comments (2)
Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.

Join 276 other followers