Crate news

The Australian artist Hany Armanious has had a long association with New Zealand. Formidable exhibitions at Hamish McKay and Michael Lett and an outstanding presentation at the City Gallery in 2007 and later this year in September his installation Selflok. When we were in Sydney last year we had a look at what Hany was up to in the studio. We're accustomed to his producing substantial objects but tucked in a corner was what looked like a maquette for something that was, judging by the size of the tiny model people around it, bloody enormous. Hany confirmed it was a maquette for a site somewhere in Sydney. Artists can dream like anyone else, we thought. As brilliant as it was the idea of a 13.7 meter upended milk crate getting the green light anywhere seemed pretty remote.

So this week we've been eating mental humble pie since we saw that Pavilion (a riff on a giant up-turned milk crate) by Hany Armanious along with work by Tracy Emin and Junya Ishigami had been given the go-ahead for installation in central Sydney. There has been a predicable grumbling, some funny memes and another artist who has problems with the work. You can see what else was in Hany’s studio at the time we visited here on OTNSTUDIO

Images: top, an early maquette for Pavilion in Hany Armanious's studio in October last year and bottom a visualisation of the finished work