Posts by Peter Alsop
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to JacksonP,
Hey, thanks all for not chastising my annoucement and instead helping celebrate the moment, apprecated. Great to share that with some other bookies who have had the feeling and like the content. Someone asked about akld gig. There will be a launch in mid october in Parnell, though unsure of invite numbers as yet. Happy to be open minded re an invite (but cant promise it), so drop me an email thru the site if you keen. The launch will coincide with a painting exhibition of Marcus King, one of the great poster artists but an incredibly accomplished painter as well, in fact my own favourite artist. Light over water was his specialty and i believe he captured the light and tones of the nz sky and environment better than any other i have seen. Big call i know. So, will be great to celebrate his contribution to the art of early tourism with the akld launch. ...... Just anothe part of the dream coming true in this project. Thx all for support.
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Not sure if anyone is still listening, but ….. First few hard copies arrived yesterday, few flown in for marketing purposes etc. got it today from the friendly folk at Pottons ….. 2 years in the making … Highs … Lows … Hurdles … Tenacity … Passion … Pleading … Asking … Grovelling ….. It was all worth it, the hard copy is amazing. Yup, conflict of interest to declare this for sure, but to hold your first book is a pretty cool feeling. The print quality and overall production oozes quality. It is big and thick. Seeing the full bleed pages properly cropped just tightens the look and feel. Precious day. Hopefully not too ‘gloaty’, just wanted to share the thoughts with some other passionate people about the content and to say that, if you have taken the plunge or will take the plunge, you are going to love the book in print!
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Doh! Sorry all, i had my detail wrinked .... Paul Lawler, a US artist, designer for Pan American (pan am). Sorry, my mistake. Thx for comments. Some nice articles coming out soon ... Check out Tourism Business Magazine this week re the importance of this legacy to the industry. NZ Geographic, an immaculate mag, the week after with about a 14 pg spread on mountain tourism with beautiful images alongside. North and South coming up on the role of the material in shaping national identity. Sorry for the shameless advert, but thought the followers of this article may enjoy those stories. Thx for interest to date.
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Joe, be great to chat more, about your experience and a new book I am starting work on 'selling prosperity: the art of early nz advertising', you are likely to have some experienced pointers for a younger obsessed enthusiast like me. If you feel able to chat more, pls contact me at peter@sellingthedream.co.nz (along with anyone else interested enough). The book also records a few memories of Alan Collins who was Art Director and MAnager ( top boss then) of the NPS, and there for about 40 years. I think the closure was a bit later than 1980, but would need to check my records to be sure. A shame for NZ history that the stories of design studios, incl the govt ones, are not yet better told, and prob past the optimal record point by a quite a few years now given the death of many of the key players .... Why it was so great to chat with Aan and Gerald.
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Went tonight to see a chap Gerald Phillips that silk screened many Tourist Department posters, a real craftsman. Told of the pain of the National Publicity Studio being shut down, and the wholesale trashing of much of the work …. Where oh where were the museum curators? One of his poster creations, for Eugene Collott as artist, required 19 hand cut stencils, incredibly intricate. Collot’s signature was also a stencil, and you would swear in the flesh it was hand written on with a fine nibbed Watermen pen …. The stencil cut is that refined and that good, the most curvacious, smooth curves you can image. Hand cut with a knife! These guys were good, real, real good – we overlook the technical craft in these images in today’s photoshop cloning retouching world.
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to Joe Wylie,
Fascinating stuff. The chapter 'planes, trains & automobiles (& ships)' is a large one with some great images. It is easy to appreciate the significance of these transport modes as their time came and their efficiency evolved, such as the opening of the panama canal taking 6 days off the trip to NZ .... A major step fwd in our relative attractiveness to adventurous voyagers. The subject matter also lent itself to transport companies themselves becoming tourism promoters, often with blended imagery reflecting mode of travel and nz as a destination. The cover image of the book is a good example of this, 1941 we think, part of a series of indigenous women done by Pat Lawlor in the US for Pan American. 2 other posters in the series turned up in closing weeks and are shown in one of the international essays. I love the 'machine age' aura of these transport posters, a feature in international poster design as well (canvassed in the book by Nicho Lowry, a vintage poster specialist in New York).
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to Chris Waugh,
Well put Chris. You and Hebe are going to really like Mark Derby's essay when you read it.
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to Hebe,
Thx for the thoughtful comments re the Chief, lets not forget he has a name, Topia Peehi Turoa. Ive gone full circle dwelling on this through the day for the sort of reasons Russell went into. It is what it is, from a period, right or wrong. We can look back at it and see some good things about it - well i can - and some not so good things. But is watching Schindlers List wrong? Dont think so. What i can say though is what a great decision not to use it as the book cover, mindful of sensitivity! and if we had of we would have spoken with the hapu (being more of a statement than a page in an historically focussed book). There is also a difference in my mind between display in context, a book about the period, versus a tea towel or t-shirt now, which is not a form of reproduction i can personally condone for any of these posters (accepting however that there is a role for some reproduction of art, as done in galleries throughout the world). Dare i also say it though, amongst the appropriate debate of cultural appropriateness, what a skilled piece of design! Two people that worked with Marcus King attributed this image to him, which I would bet on as well, though with some uncertainty I think i left the artist attribution as unknown in the book. Sorry for length and thx all for the thoughtful and interesting comments.
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to Islander,
Some 'deep' posts to awake to ... A wide ranging kaupapa has emerged ... great to read. Looks like i may have to rethink my enjoyment of the Maori chief in the dining room .....
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Speaker: Selling the Dream: The Art of…, in reply to FletcherB,
Adventure tourism runs deep in our veins ..... The tarawera eruption was still being talked about in the early 1900s as part of the mystique and adventure inherent in a 6 week boat trip to the 'thermal wonderland'. Obviously perceived by the publicists as having a net benefit but, as you allude to, no doubt a put off to some as well. But, hey, we needed some points of difference right?