The Hutt is a seething mass of culture (as if you didn’t know), and at the moment there is a particularly splendid outdoor exhibition of sculpture, Shape Shifter. The art works are for sale, and we at the Wellingtonista Towers feel a few would look just the thing in the foyer. The exhibition is at the Civic Gardens, next to the Horticultural Hall and opposite the Dowse.
Why not make a real trip of it, and come out on Saturday for the Petone Fiesta. This street carnival features a vibrant and eclectic mix of music, food, theatre, arts and crafts. A certain shop may even be open especially late for the fun , and a certain shopkeeper may be guzzling grog to make the fun funner, but that is another story…
Petone Fiesta, Jackson St, 6pm-10pm 8th March.
Shape Shifter, Civic Gardens, 22 February – 16 March.
Now, everybody has seen the poetry which seems to appear just about everywhere down near the lagoon and around Te Papa, right?
This one took me by surprise though.
It’s Fiona Kidman, and is in such a comparatively out-of-the-way place I literally stumbled across it.
The full text of the poem is here.
But can you guess where the picture was taken?
Here’s another one of the wee guys in this series of temporary sculptures:
Quite an appropriate location, atop the long-abandoned toilets and amid the construction of the new Courtenay Place park.
Say hi to my new favourite statue.
I edited out his privates.
This is one of my favourite places in Wellington:
… and if anyone ever tries to do it harm, as I’ve heard rumours of happening in the past, well… they just better watch out.
Sorry for the crappy photo. Stupid phone. Looks like I also managed to catch a flying rat in full, uh, flight.
Well, you’d really have to know your way around to guess today’s piece just by the photo here.
One of the things I’ve been enjoying is not having to wander too far from the apartment to find some amazing[ly weird] stuff around for you to look at.
This piece is in Jack Ilott Green. You know, the little garden just off Jervois Quay, the one where they’re constantly promising to build something useful. At the moment it just seems to be a refuge for pot smokers.
OK, since I’m keeping you in suspense, here’s the side view!
Yeah, the Wellingtonista are thinking it too. Bloody strange bit of art.
It has this same bias relief on all four sides, and although the entire sculpture seems to be getting a little knocked about it’s still in good form.
Problem is, no-one is certain what in the heck it’s supposed to be. If you have any suggestions, fell free to leave them in comments.
But first! What is it!
Next in our series of overlooked Wellington public art is this beauty here to the right.
If you’ve not seen it before I’d be extremely surprised, because it’s plonked pretty much squarely opposite the Lido, somewhere seeming to always be awash with punters tipping the usual variety of liquids and solids into themselves.
As you can see, it’s a great piece, bronze, and textured in a marvelously subtle way. The slightly abstract lines just make it all the more curious to look at, and the complete absence of nose-hair suggests the model was extremely well-kempt.
So… what is it?
One of the things about living in a great city like Wellington is that there are a hell of a lot of things to take for granted.
I mention this because while listening to Don McGlashan in Civic Square the other day he mentioned that Auckland doesn’t really have any civic art. I’m not sure that’s entirely true… But, in the spirit of parochial one-upmanship I thought I’d bring you some of Wellington’s oft-overlooked art and sculpture.
Why oft-overlooked? Well, we have the Wellington Sculpture Trust and its glamourpuss art all over the blimmin place, but there’s also a lot of smaller, less noticed stuff that we here at the Wellingtonista want to celebrate.
So with no further ado, here is a sculpture. And ain’t it a little cutie?
The real question is of course whether you recognise it. And you probably don’t. This of course being the problem with a place like Wellington, sometimes there’s so much bloody public art you can’t walk three feet without tripping over the latest “abstract something”…
But I digress. So what is it?! More after the jump!
Assuming you haven’t swanned off to sun yourself in the miserable bloody New Zealand Christmas weather, dashing in and out of the rainstorms and/or hail with your bottle of BananaBoat, toweling hat, and lawnchair, then you’re probably still around Wellington.
Assuming you’ve made the right decision (and are having your hols in February), then we here at the Wellingtonista advise you to get yourself along to the City Gallery for the FREE Bill Hammond exhibition, Jingle Jangle Morning.
And why? Because even when it’s crappy out, Bill’s painting is there for you.
