Field Theory by Hadyn Green

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Field Theory: A post about art (sort of)

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  • Hadyn Green,

    Haydn's [sic] passage "filled with statues of the great players from Wellington's sporting past" could look something like this. I am just warning you, that is all.

    Ew, busts! No I was thinking more like the sculptures outside baseball parks in the States. And I was really only thinking of one or two.

    As for Weta, I would be loathe not to describe them as artists. Max Patte for example has created some very nice things for the waterfront. It's just that in this particular case they have designed something awful. Very very awful

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • Sue,

    Bernie Fraser !
    maybe an artistic recreation of bernies corner at athletic park?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    maybe an artistic recreation of bernies corner at athletic park?

    Athletic Park is now a retirement village but apparently there is a Bernie's Corner in it.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    The tripod is:

    - relevant to Weta's industry;
    - site-specific;
    - self-mocking;
    - playful.

    I thought they were just channelling Louise Bourgeois.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Robyn Gallagher,

    An idea that might work in film is unlikely to work the same in bronze. This should be a no-brainer.

    Weta aren't just about digital special effects. They have skilled and talented model-makers, whose work has extended from film sets to the public.

    They have the technical ability to make stuff, but not necessarily the artistic vision.

    Hamilton's extremely cool Riff Raff statue is a Weta work, but it's pretty much a literal representation of Richard O'Brian as Riff Raff.

    Weta's strength in original work seems to be the sort of cheeky sci-fi and fantasy model work, like the tripod in Courtenay Place and the sort of stuff you see for sale in the Weta Cave.

    When it comes to actually creating sculptural art, Weta just doesn't seem to have an impressive body of work.

    Since Nov 2006 • 1946 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Zardoz in Chch...

    Take, for example, the Canterbury Heroes...

    please do take them...
    ...and what's worse, I believe the corporate-minded goons who now run the Arts Centre actually think that these "disembodied notables" fulfil their brief to provide "public art" to the community...

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    Christchurch art critic Andrew Paul Wood on the Weta statue:

    Would someone please explain to me why the fuck Weta is doing this and not an artist? Why is Weta taking bread out of the mouths of New Zealand’s sculptors with this unimaginative pseudo-Fascist tat? Sadly it appears that art in this country is getting assimilated into entertainment, which means New Zealand audiences and patrons are going to have some very strange expectations of our artists. I would rather see the most hackneyed Neil Dawson (a giant lacework rugby ball probably) than this uninspired piece of Hitleresque nonsense.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    Christ, if you set `rugby statute on the waterfront' as part of the first year course at Canterbury or Auckland you'd probably get something better than this.

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

  • 81stcolumn,

    Take, for example, the Canterbury Heroes, Sir Miles with the giant head in particular. Haydn's passage "filled with statues of the great players from Wellington's sporting past" could look something like this. I am just warning you, that is all.

    AT least it wouldn't look like this......grrrrrrrrr.

    Nawthshaw • Since Nov 2006 • 790 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    That sculpture looks like something you'd buy. from one of those "gifts for men" shops at the mall for your rugby-loving uncle, the afternoon of his 60th birthday.

    It is art for people who don't like art.

    It's art designed by an advertising executive. In fact I'm pretty sure I saw that same concept in a TV ad somewhere. Was it for the promotion of the six nations in the northern emisphere? Something like that.

    It is five metres high and it is horrible.

    What the man said. And I agree that if we really, really must have it (that's 300k the Wellington ratepayers are never getting back) it should be on the stadium concourse.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    I do congratulate Richard Taylor on having an idea that makes the Wellywood sign seem desirable in comparison though.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Tom Beard,

    Gio: I think I vaguely remember the ad you're talking about. There's also this.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1040 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    There's also this.

    If I may be allowed to cross threads for a moment, I propose an objective measure of the quality of a work of art: if it has the words "iconic" or "legacy" attached to it, it's crap.

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Paul Litterick,

    if it has the words "iconic" or "legacy" attached to it, it's crap.

    Works for me; perhaps "celebration" as well.

    I watched the video of Taylor introducing the work to the media, and noticed that the maquette rotates on a stand. I hope the finished work will do the same.

    Auckland • Since Nov 2006 • 1000 posts Report Reply

  • Sue,

    I watched the video of Taylor introducing the work to the media, and noticed that the maquette rotates on a stand. I hope the finished work will do the same.

    but only rotated by wind... right ;)

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 527 posts Report Reply

  • Hadyn Green,

    Gio: I think I vaguely remember the ad you're talking about. There's also this.

    Why all the lineout art? It's not even our strong point. Could we have a statue of stoic defence?

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 2090 posts Report Reply

  • giovanni tiso,

    Works for me; perhaps "celebration" as well.

    I think this one is going to be the celebration of an iconic legacy.

    Why all the lineout art? It's not even our strong point.

    It would if we were allowed to use the surging undead. Time for a new ELV?

    Wellington • Since Jun 2007 • 7473 posts Report Reply

  • Megan Wegan,

    It would if we were allowed to use the surging undead. Time for a new ELV?

    By the next World Cup Brad Thorn may have started looking like the undead, after all.

    Welly • Since Jul 2008 • 1275 posts Report Reply

  • Ian Dalziel,

    Why all the lineout art? It's not even our strong point. Could we have a statue of stoic defence?

    The scrum also rises...

    ...and noticed that the maquette rotates on a stand. I hope the finished work will do the same.

    That's a roundabout way of saying
    a Lazy Susan, right?
    or was it a more streetwise invitation
    to - "sit on it and rotate"?
    ... in the words of Jean-Luc Picard
    "Maquette so!"

    Christchurch • Since Dec 2006 • 7953 posts Report Reply

  • caycos,

    The Melbourne Cricket Ground has statues outside the stadium and I think it works well. They're an appropriate size (not 5m!!) and also make sense at that venue.

    I know it doesn't do to be like Australia, but in this case, works for me..

    Wellington • Since Jan 2009 • 29 posts Report Reply

  • LegBreak,

    Another consideration about this sculpture; especially if it’s going to be put between pubs and the harbour.

    It looks very climbable.

    Wellington • Since Nov 2006 • 1162 posts Report Reply

  • Scott A,

    Andrew Paul Wood said:

    Would someone please explain to me why the fuck Weta is doing this and not an artist? Why is Weta taking bread out of the mouths of New Zealand’s sculptors with this unimaginative pseudo-Fascist tat? Sadly it appears that art in this country is getting assimilated into entertainment, which means New Zealand audiences and patrons are going to have some very strange expectations of our artists. I would rather see the most hackneyed Neil Dawson (a giant lacework rugby ball probably) than this uninspired piece of Hitleresque nonsense.

    See, this annoys me, probably as much as Weta doing this sculpture annoys Mr Wood. He seems to have a built in assumption that getting a job that pays you to use your skills means you are no longer an artist.

    I'm sure this likely offends many of the very talented visual artists who work at Weta.

    I do hope Mr Wood realises that while starving in a garret may have created some great works of art it is not, in itself, a necessary condition for being an artist.

    The wilds of Kingston, We… • Since May 2009 • 133 posts Report Reply

  • philipmatthews,

    I do hope Mr Wood realises that while starving in a garret may have created some great works of art it is not, in itself, a necessary condition for being an artist.

    The likes of Andrew Drummond, Neil Dawson and Bill Culbert aren't exactly starving in garrets. They're just producing stuff that looks a lot more interesting than that Weta sculpture.

    Christchurch • Since Nov 2007 • 656 posts Report Reply

  • Kyle Matthews,

    The likes of Andrew Drummond, Neil Dawson and Bill Culbert aren't exactly starving in garrets. They're just producing stuff that looks a lot more interesting than that Weta sculpture.

    I have no particular comment to make on the actual sculpture as presented, but the idea that the people working at Weta aren't artists is wrong. I know a couple of people who slaved away on the various movies and got their jobs precisely because they had fine art degrees.

    No doubt because it's produced at Weta it might tend to be a certain style of artwork, but that doesn't mean it isn't done by an artist - Weta employs many.

    Since Nov 2006 • 6243 posts Report Reply

  • Keir Leslie,

    I have no particular comment to make on the actual sculpture as presented, but the idea that the people working at Weta aren't artists is wrong. I know a couple of people who slaved away on the various movies and got their jobs precisely because they had fine art degrees.

    Possession of a fine arts degree is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for being an artist.

    Also, there's a difference between sculpture and set design. (Demarcation issues, as the guild of philosophers sez.)

    Since Jul 2008 • 1452 posts Report Reply

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