Highly prized

The Walters Prize was awarded tonight to Peter Robinson for Ack, his exhibition at Artspace.

Frog marched

"Hulk not like. Hulk smash." And so it proved with the career of Corinne Diserens, director of the Museion museum of contemporary art at Bolzano. A while back we told you how a crucified frog by artist Martin Kippenberger had upset the Pope. Bad idea, as it turns out. This week Diserens was sent down the road because of “the difficult financial situation” caused in part by “unauthorised spending”. You can read the full story here.

Dome sweet dome

This satellite image is of the Rita Angus cottage in Wellington. We were there last week when Ronnie van Hout was in residence while putting up his Te Papa installation. The Google image was pulled up to see if there was any sign of the geodesic dome that until recently sat on the cottage’s back garden. It might be there in the image, it’s hard to tell. The dome was built by someone we only knew as Frank, and from memory he lived in it for a while when Alister Taylor was in the cottage in the early seventies. There was a book on how to build geodesic domes published by Alister Taylor, but it wasn’t by Frank. Rupert Glover, son of Wellington poet Denis, did the honours.

The reason for all this dome fever is that we noted that it is 50 years since Buckminster Fuller’s patent for the geodesic dome was first used for specialized industrial use for the Union Tank Car Company. A more famous structure was the dome he created for Expo 67 in Montreal. We visited it years ago but even then its plexiglass covering had long been destroyed by a fire that swept through the structure in 1976.

Image: What might be a blurred sighting of Frank’s effort in the back yard of the Rita Angus cottage via Google Earth.

Wonky

Best of 3 is on a chocolate jag today which reminded us of a great story we read about the Frieze Art Fair. This from Adrian Searle the Guardian art critic on one artist's attempt to undermine the tight selection process the Frieze Art Fair puts attending dealer galleries through.

“Frieze is a fair, and the commercial angle must never be forgotten, however stringent the vetting of galleries that want to attend. This process - carried out by committee - has this year been undermined by artist Cory Arcangel, who sent out bars of chocolate to all the galleries who had made unsuccessful applications to exhibit. One bar contained a golden ticket, offering a free stand at the fair.”

The winning chocolate bar went to Studio di Giovanna Simonetta, from Milan. Searle described the gallery’s presence at the fair as “…dismal stuff, and the gallery a total dud, but it is actually not much worse than a lot of things on view elsewhere.”

Image: A rare chocolate bar used in the film Willy Wonkas Chocolate Factory that has a golden ticket inside. Most of the chocolate bars used on set were eaten. Chocolate fans can bid for this one here.

Drawing conclusions

These stills are from the University of Canterbury’s current TV ad for Ilam Art School.

Voice over: “I grew up in an artistic environment, so creativity is in my blood. I wanted a quality arts degree, and at UC that’s what I’m getting.”

What we are getting is a screenful of mixed messages. In front of a background that looks like it comes courtesy of Vincent Ward and Robin Williams, a nicely dressed young woman sketches realist drawings of heads. To reinforce this old-school impression she is sitting on a chair that would have been more familiar to her grandmother. Let's face it, this hasn’t been anyone’s idea of quality artschool teaching since Bill Sutton left the building.

To get a more accurate view of what UC actually offers, prospective arts students and parents would be better off visiting the “UC” site.
An OTN hat for anyone who can reveal whether this is a real student or an actor.

On the road

On the road is an ongoing series celebrating the Ministry of Land Transport and Local Body support of New Zealand artists.
For others in the series search 'on the road' in the blog search box above.

By the numbers

In an email from Parsons Bookshop a while back we got notification of a book by Oliver Stead due for publication later this month. It’s called Art Icons of New Zealand. The email gave a sample of a few of the icons represented including Pat Hanly’s Figures in Light No 17, Tony Fomison’s Each Must Decide and rather off left field, Ralph Hotere’s Rosemary.

We decided to use that well-known visual icon calibrator Google Images to check out the iconic status of Stead’s selection. First we did a test run with New Zealand’s most loved painting Rita Angus’s Cass according to The Sunday Star Times. It scored 14. Then we put Parsons’ sample to the test. Here are the results in terms of number of images found. Firm, but fair.

Neil Dawson Ferns - 31
Michael Parekowhai Ten Guitars - 11
Pat Hanly Figures in Light No 17 - 3
Edward Fristrom Pohutukawa - 3
C F Goldie Tamehana from Life - 2
Tony Fomison Each must decide - 1
Jeffrey Harris Family - 1
Frances Hodgkins Summer - 0
Ralph Hotere Rosemary - 0
Robin Morrison K Road - 0
Filipe Tohi Lavalavaometry - 0

Image: If its in the New World supermarket, its an icon – end of story.

Big Ears

“He won’t be told, but he’s easily led.”

Australian art dealer talking about an NZ collector

To go

Ethnic restaurants in K-Road have taken a hit with the opening of Split Fountain the art bookshop /design studio. It has moved into the space previously occupied by Murli Indian Takeaways (nee Dinnis Indian Café). Now news that Sue Crockford is to move from her harbourside buzz-up to replace the Saigon which is next to Split Fountain which is next to the entrance to Gambia Castle.

Images: Top, the Murli with Teststrip entrance on right. Bottom, wideshot courtesy of Teststrip, showing Saigon next to Dinnis next to Teststrip

Saucy art

You’re stuck in that same old steak restaurant you always end up in, and no one is paying you any attention - as in NO ATTENTION AT ALL. So, what are you going to do? Make art, that’s what. The first 15 seconds will give you the idea.

Art is where you find it

Wellington’s Bucket Fountain is revitalised as a conceptual piece while the figurative stuff is away being repaired.

Family time

In our Last Supper frenzy we missed out on this version featuring the cast of the Sopranos. It looks like a Last Supper pic is on the tick-sheet of any big tv show, we've also seen versions for Battlestar Galactica and House.

Be careful what you wish for

The Otago Museum reckoned that Te Papa owed them $4625.44. Te Papa said nuts to that, and over the last couple of years letters have flown up and down the island fuming over who owes what and to whom and calling for resolution.

Then, just when Te Papa and the Otago Museum threatened to become New Zealand’s Jardine v Jardine, Otago’s Shimrath Paul wrote Te Papa’s Seddon Bennington.

"We wish this matter to be resolved and all correspondence to cease. Should you find it beyond you to settle in full, then don't pay at all - we will consider the matter over,"

On 19 September Seddon Bennington replied regretting "the tension this has caused between our institutions" and announcing Te Papa was pleased to accept Paul’s proposal that the matter be settled in full, without further payment.

Fame

Massey University has reached back again to find a visual artist to induct into their hall of fame. Last year it was Len Lye (1902-1980) and now the university has announced it will honour Gordon Walters (1919-1995) who was a student at the Art Department Wellington Technical College and taught there 1945. Sally Morgan, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Creative Arts said Walters demonstrated “the contribution that an art and design education can make to the stamping of New Zealand’s mark on the world.”

Artists in Ad Land: Gilbert & George

In the days when it wasn’t cool for major movie stars to shill for luxury brands, actors like Brad Pitt snuck across the ocean to do it in Japan. The rules were simple: what plays in Japan, stays in Japan. How ironic is it then that just as luxury brands start to struggle under the onset of the credit crunch, a couple of UK artists were pulling the same stunt.

Take the appearance of Gilbert & George flogging suits for Comme des Garçons in Tokyo. The two lads were careful not to use images that would offend high-end shoppers selecting their 1986 work The Long March to background the pinstripe. This is the same G&G who once said, “We don't have anything to say except with our pictures.” And the same ones who inspired Comme des Garcons in the 1990s with the models wearing either wigs of slick hair parted on the side, like Gilbert's, or hair nets to mimic the receding hairline of George. Like Tracey Emin they like it have it all ways. She was happy to pitch for Bombay Sapphire in the UK under a “Taste. And see” by-line.

The film-stars-for-fashion phenomenon is well documented. You can see a good range of it here. Who’s up for the artist version?

Images: top: G&G for CdG. Bottom, Comme staff fuss over the G&G display.