What is Art? Some thoughts

Tomorrow I am introducing a talk to the Christchurch Friends by local artist Matt Akehurst.  I first met Matt in the 2008 SCAPE Christchurch public art biennial, when were both involved in a 'group performance' orchestrated by Marnie Slater. 

Matt has the ability to to create experiences that at first glance may seem unexceptional, but which stay with you and lead to explorations of underlying meanings and questions about the nature of creative initiatives. In a sense he doesn't set out to create art, but uses art to create a perturbation in the viewers environment.  His work is wide ranging, although 'sculptoral' and 'performance'  are words I would attach to his oeuvre. 

Viewpoint. Sculpture on the Gulf 2013. Matt Akehurst

In Viewpoint we are presented viewing platforms that predetermine what we see. The implications of this raise wide ranging considerations of how our views of the world are shaped and constrained - often unconsciously - by external factors.

One of the perennial discussions in art meanders around the question intent. Does the artist have an intention in mind when creating a work? Then -do we need to be aware of it when we look at the work?  Matt's work, it seems to me, is falls at the 'awareness is not needed' end of the spectrum.  Indeed he does not self identify his work as objects of art - that is for the viewer, the audience, whose interactions  are necessary before any such identification.  In one performance creative work Matt wandered around Christchurch in a closely planned circuit dressed in a chicken suit ('Chicken man').  He reacted passively to interactions with the public, and garnered some quite bizarre responses.

Identifying a creative product as a work of art preconditions audience perceptions, an outcome that Matt tries to pervert. He has been instrumental in fanning my enthusiasm and appreciation for contemporary art, and artists. Matt is one of those whose creative inspirations advance the dialogue about the nature of art - dialogue that is necessary, tantalising, and endless.

Skates great!

When one gets to be a certain age, skaters grate. They make noise, are mobile and carefree, free spirits, and appear out of nowhere. All things that disturb the placidly settled.

Going past the Washington Way newly opened, expanded and upgraded skate park the other day made me pause and reflect on the irrationality of the old! On a sunny Sunday the park was full of kids, parents and friends enjoying slithering and sliding, some tentative, some spectacularly skilled, some on skates, some on scooters. All happy. What a great asset this is for our city.

WAsington Way. Midweek. It is swarming in the weekends.

Skaters have their own community of passionate aficionados. Its taken a while but I now appreciate the thrill, pleasure and camaraderie that Ben has enjoyed over these years. And for him this is now an international asset as he meanders around the world. Meeting others in Los Angeles, and being welcomed and hosted in Carolina.  All the best, Ben,  for your explorations of new communities - skaters and others - in your worldly meanderings.

This is not new. Many in my generation had great lives evolving from skiing and other passions. I have vivid memories of skiing in blizzards for the sheer excitement it offered, plunging through deep rivers in the Disco, and paddling through angry ocean waters in some of the enthusiasms that have captured me in the past. A couple of images from then:

After some river crossings, a peaceful river flat.  

A geocaching expedition, circa 2004. Cat, ben and Gee

Train Ride.

On Sunday we went on the Waipara - Waikari  train. It is very well restored, and proved a restful, and enjoyable day out. At Waikari we went to the  pub for a pub lunch (more on this later).  This was a group outing from Silverstream - there were about 25 of us.

On the platform - tin trunk on right

Some antique travelling luggage on a station trolley set the scene. One tin trunk was for W.MacKay, Wellington,  Labour Department of Procurement. He may have been procured but not, as far as I know, by anyone in our family.


A428 was built in 1909 (105 years ago). It was an impressive machine, snorting and tooting and puffing.

It uses about 1.5 tonnes of coal for the trip one way - call costs about $300 a tonne at present, although it is dropping a bit they say, with fingers crossed.

Huffling through the hills

The victorian era  design is impressive!! I was struck (not literally) by the massive coach springs, drive wheels and undercarriage. And at the end of the line the 91 ton engine is turned by hand!

Springs to die for

Drive on!

Turning on a pin head. 

Helpful messages to read  on the journey

The meal at the pub was something else. Margo and I chose urban sophistication - smoked chicken salad (me) and chicken schnitzel (Margo).

Two bits of smoked rubber, and four bits of salad gone!

The wise chose F and C. 

The pub caters for truckies!

And many thanks to the family who took us under their wing and manhandled the wheel chair up the hill. 

(Also see some new transport related history posts, too!)

Whats here ...

This site now has two main sections:

• The Blog Home page (this page) where the will be regular posts of observations of things that seem important at the time.  That is, most likely, important to Rod so they may well touch on art, life in Christchurch and NZ, and things that strike one from afar.   The comments section has been turned off on this page, at least temporally, as out has attracted some peculiar people who use strange forms of english in their effusions. HOWEVER, if you want to make a comment this is possible on other pages. 

• The Memories section is snippets of family history. It is two parts: the first is a page on this site which outlines the approach, has a link to Dalmore Memories (a separate file of posts), and a form to submit ideas.  It also has an indication of what has been added recently.
  The second part, Dalmore Memories, is a straight forward stand alone blog where  comments can be placed.  Items are welcome for inclusion in this. 

(The Why Dalmore page on the main Dalmore web site is really an aspect of history, too.)

• A other part of the site is CONTACTS.  This is a page of family address and contact information. This page is password protected, and on the main site side bar at the top. Clicking  on Show encrypted text opens up a box to enter the password.  If successful you get an invitation to CLICK HERE  to go to the list of contact information. (This is not as complicated as it sounds, although with a bit of thought I may come up with a short cut that still preserves privacy. (If you forget the password, no worry - there is a facility to email me to get it.)

If you want to while away a moment or two, place your cursor in the fish swimming around at the bottom of the CONTACTS page.

Phew! After all that there is a need for some light relief.  So, here are a couple of animal photos:

This is Sandy, the CA McKay's guard dog

And this is her toy, millie the sillie hillie billie 

2014 is here - another start!

The shift and adjustment from town to suburbs has taken more adjustment than I first thought, but now at last things are falling into place.  We now have an active WhatsApp family messaging regime that keeps us up-to-date on the vagaries of the day-to-day, so this blog will be rather more devoted to think pieces (which is a rather grandiose self description!) and odds and ends that might be of interest to the family at large.  But more of that in the next post.

For this first post for 2014 it seems appropriate to record something that has been achieved in Christchurch, after three years post quake.  (The City Centre is still pretty much empty grey shingle, a few wrecked buildings, and some construction sites - albeit the later are quickening in pace.)

Avon , East from bridge to the gardens

First a view of something that endures - the Avon in Autumn.


Second, something new: The new Visitors Centre in the Botanic Gardens was completed in time to be opened by the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge just before Easter (no photos of them as my invitations got lost in the post).

And it is really a pretty stunning building, and will get better as it is fitted out with a decent cafe (opens in June, with an on-site bakery) and more displays (although the opening displays are pretty good).  Seen from the car park when one arrives, the Centre snuggles amongst the foliage.  Over the bridge a sweeping path leads into to the entrance. The building is open, welcoming, and designed to immerse visors into the life of the gardens- the main plant nursery adjoins, as do exhibition spaces and reference rooms.

First view, over the river from the car park. 

Approaching along main entrance

The Reception area (emptying gas about to close)

One of the displays: garden tools through the years. Other 

The garden staff have done a great job over the last three years to recover, and reinvigorate the gardens, and to press for the completion of this satisfyingly calm and contemplative environment. And the old buildings remain: the tea kiosk will be used for education  and meeting, and the info centre is still an info centre, but now for the Department of Conservation.

Next post outlines the new structure of this web site.

Bang Bang for new home

It's been a year since my last post and last we are getting a little more settled. The tortuous process to leave our earthquake compromised home in Cranmer is now nearly complete, and we are settling into our new home in Silverstream  Village, Bishopdale. Yes, things are looking positive.

  

So as a last lingering glance at Cranmer, here is the door we have lived with for the last couple of years:

And here is what the new owners did as soon as we moved out on August 19: 

I've been looking at Peter's travel blog on www.teamrtd.co.nz and he has inspired me. If he can do lots of posts while travelling, then I should be able to it put up the odd post from the comfort of  a nice warm living room. So I've got the iPhone app  for blogger and here goes. 

Oh, and the Bang Bang? It is the quaintly named coffee grounds tamping box  bought for the new place; 

Hope to post again soon!

Cheers. Rod(dy)

Disco helps out

Our trusty Disco moved on to a new friend a couple of years ago. Photographer, Sea Kayaker and Outdoor man John Kirk-Anderson took over and in his care the trusty Landrover Discovery did sterling duty after the 22 February 2011 quake. One of the badly hit buildings was 'The Press' building in Cathedral Square, where John and his wife were both working when the 'quake hit. In a message in March last year John writes:

"... Mary and I are both fine, after escaping from the collapsed Press building. I can thank a sturdy desk for my survival as the floor above collapsed.

The Disco did sterling service in the days following the 'quake, as our work vehicles were trapped in the building. It was interesting to see the response from guys controlling access when I tried to get through. They looked at the Disco, looked at me, and waved me through. I used it to get an elderly woman into her flooded house in Bexley to get her medication, which earned hugs all round. ... "

A younger Nick enjoying life in the wild.

This photo of the Disco was taken by Frizz during a camping road trip around the North Island 4 years ago when  he, Helen, Nick, Georgina lived off the land for a coule of weeks.

The Darwin Fish emblem is still  in place onthe back door of the Disco, and no doubt ensuring its continuing development.