In Motion at Starkwhite

In Motion runs at Starkwhite this week and through to 8 August. The show includes work by Rebecca Baumann and Brendan Van Hek (AUS), Alicia Frankovich (DE), Len Lye (NZ) Laszlo Moholoy-Nagy (US) and Grant Stevens (AUS). Read more here...
Images (top to bottom): Rebecca Bauman & Brendan Van Hek, Untitled (2015), acrylic and aluminum; Alicia Frankovich, Becoming Public: Actor (2015), C-print & The Female has Undergone Several Manifestations (2015), curtain, ribbon, fan, cord, plug; Len Lye, A COLOUR BOX (1935), Laszlo Moholy-Nagy,  Ein Lichtspiel: schwarz weiss grau (A Lightplay: Black White Grey), (1930), film still; Grant Stevens, Particle Wave (2013), six lenticular panels. A COLOUR BOX (1935) is presented in In Motion courtesy of the Len Lye Foundation and the British Postal Museum and Archive, from material preserved by the BFI National Archive and made available by Nga Taonga Sound and Vision. The Len Lye Foundation also acknowledges the support of Technix Group Ltd. Ein Lichtspiel: schwartz weiss grau (A Lightplay: Black White Grey) is presented in In Motion courtesy of the Moholy-Nagy Foundation.

A coastal walk of art

Len Lye's Wind Wand is a striking and much-loved feature of New Plymouth's coastal walkway, which also includes John Reynolds' Big Wave Territory. This work celebrates Taranaki's rich cultural landscape, directing passers by to various local and regional destinations - the Mountain, Paritutu Rock and Sugar Loaf Island, SPOT X and The Forgotten World Highway. Using Transit New Zealand's road design format and materials, the high reflection sign also provides cultural points of departure, including artistic legacies, such as the writing of celebrated author Ronald Hugh Morrieson and Len Lye's kinetic sculpture.

Images: Len Lye's Wind Wand and John Reynolds, Big Wave Territory, Coastal Walkway, New Plymouth

New Plymouth's coastal walkway: a lesson for city planners on how to create social space

Visitors to the new Len Lye Centre and refurbished Govett-Brewster Art Gallery have another treat in store for them - New Plymouth's coastal walkway. Like many New Zealand cities, New Plymouth was cut off from its waterfront by a four-lane highway and railway line until a plan was hatched to buy up properties along the foreshore and create an elegantly landscaped walkway for local residents and visitors to the city. Created through a multi-disciplinary approach (urban design, landscape architecture, environmental heritage, public art and town planning) it is a brilliant example of how to create social space for residents and support other creative city agendas such as tourism. It's a must-see piece of social engineering.
Image: New Plymouth's coastal walkway offering views of the sea and back over the city to Mt Taranaki

Three new Pacifika soundtracks for Len Lye's Tusalava

Recently the Mangare Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku presented Len Lye: Agiagia, an exhibition co-curated by Paul Brobbel and James Pinker exploring Pacific influences in Lye's work. The show included screenings of Lye's 1929 short film Tusalava. The film originally had music composed for two pianos, which was played live at the premiere, but the original score was lost and Tusalava has remained a silent film for many years. Pinker and Brobbel spotted the window of opportunity and  commissioned three Pacifika composers to create soundtracks for New Compositions: Three Composers Respond to Tusalava. This link takes you to a review of the new scores,which were played consecutively alongside the film in the Agiagia exhibition
Image: Still from Len Lye's Tusalava presented with new compositions in the exhibition Len Lye: Agiagia, Mangare Arts Centre Nga Tohu o Uenuku, 24 December 2013 - 16 March 2014

Len Lye film wins Van Gogh Award

Art That Moves, Roger and Shirley Horrock's film about Len Lye, has been awarded the Van Gogh Award at the Amsterdam Film Festival. You can read more about the film and award here.

Image: Len Lye, Self Portrait (With Night Tree), 1947

Len Lye's Wind Wand

Our recent post on Pontus Kyander's end-of-year move to an art museum in Norway left us wondering about the future of public art in Auckland. (Kyander currently manages the city's public art programme.) So we decided to put the spotlight on some of the best examples of public art located in cities around the country. Over the next week we'll post some high points, beginning today with Len Lye's Wind Wand located on New Plymouth's Coastal Walkway.

Wind Wand is a 45ft high kinetic sculpture, strong enough to stand upright but flexible enough to bend and sway in the breeze by up to 20m. By night the globe on top emits a soft, red glow. When it first appeared on the waterfront it generated a storm of controversy. The fact that New Plymouth is home to the Len Lye Collection and Archive (housed at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery) didn't cut much ice with residents. However, with the passing of time, public opinion has changed and Wind Wand has become a much-loved icon, often featuring in marketing campaigns promoting New Plymouth as a creative city and tourism destination. 

Image: Len Lye, Wind Wand, installation view, Coastal Walkway, New Plymouth