Drive

Back in 1995 Michael Stevenson made an installation that included a selection of rental videos. The bogus movie titles illuminated Stevenson's perspective on the NZ art world and its idiosyncrasies. The trouble with Henry: Kissinger and the Museum of New Zealand was one and so was Curatorial protocols: who gets into exhibitions but the sharpest (at the time anyway) was Planes, trains NOT automobiles: the case of non-drivers in the art world. The work referred to the large number of art world people who didn’t drive but were driven including Robert Leonard, Hamish Keith, Wystan Curnow and Francis Pound. 

This oddity came up when we saw a Glengarry van parked inside Michael Lett's gallery unloading beer for Campbell Patterson's opening. We probably shouldn’t have been surprised as the gallery was once a drive in drive out repair shop. Then Michael told us a great story that when some Milan Mrkusich paintings were hung in the gallery Milan’s son drove the artist right through the gallery, past the paintings, and dropped him off at the office. #wishwe'dbeenthere.