I Like Your Form

An image of one of my favourite sculptures in Christchurch. Christchurch city centre is such an interesting back drop for art. The city is constantly shifting as space is opened and closed as buildings come down and new ones go up. This sculpture is on display at The Arcades which is on the site of a demolished hotel.

"I Like your Form is by Lonnie Hutchinson and is a 50-metre-long eel trap, or hinaki.

The giant hinaki is a reminder of traditions that might not be immediately apparent in the midst of Christchurch’s hectic rebuild. Hutchinson says the Avon River plays a unique role in the traditional economy and culture of local Māori.

“The intervention of the kupenga (net) tensioned between the two sets of arcades is a reclaiming of ‘site’ that is of significance to Ngāi Tahu.”

The sculpture was specially lit during FESTA.

On the Tourist Trail 2

Whilst visiting Utrecht I also climbed the famous Dom Tower. The Dom Tower’s bells ring out across Utrecht every hour, each time playing a different sequence so that the residents can tell what time of day it is. On the weekend the official bell ringer is in residence and treats the town to a campanological concert; I Love to Hate You by the Pet Shop Boys being amongst the choice chimes on the Saturday I was there.

Instead of a ticket for Dom Tower you get a little passport and some badges to take away. I’m unsure why you’d need a passport, as such, to climb a tower however as examples of collateral I think the Dom Tower’s artwork is nicely considered and much more fun than plain, old admission tickets.

The view from the top: Utrecht from above with Dom Tower's shadow

On the Tourist Trail

Walk into any tourist information centre and there’s a myriad of leaflets for activitites, all competing for your attention.  These flyers, for Utrecht Centraal Museum’s different attractions, caught my eye in particular.  As well as the Rietveld Schröder House, the dick bruna huis is another one of the Centraal Museum’s attractions. dick bruna is graphic designer, famous for being the creator of Miffy. 

I love the strong layout of information on these pamphlets as they highlight how white space is effective on designs. In addition they fold out into a poster showcasing the respective attractions. In a sea of tourist pamphlets these leaflets, with their graphic layout, are attention grabbing. 

Garage Project Beer Cans

Garage Project, what great beer and what great artwork. I think there is hardly a beer in the Garage Project line where I don't adore the artwork. Their approach seems to have been to just take inspiration from the beer name; as opposed to a fixed look for the entire range that gets adjusted accordingly for each product. 

The result is a plethora of brilliant and often humourous designs with influences that include vintage advertising, Jamie Reid, Film Noir, vintage computer games, Arts and Crafts, and Godzilla.

As well as being seduced by the beautiful artwork I chose these two cans due to their contents; particularly La Calavera Catrina which is brewed with maize, habanero chilli, watermelon and rose water!

That's whole lot of creativity in a can.

North Island Typographical Tour Part 2: Taranaki

I had to finish with one of Cardiff. Dim unman yn debyg i gartref ♥

North Island Typographical Tour - Manawatu and Wellington

This Summer I went on a North Island road trip with my partner. We had a wedding to attend in Greytown and I had a big open water swim in Taupo so we decided to spend some time on a friend’s Taranaki dairy farm in between. Inspired by some nice typography on some signage in Greytown a little holiday photography project was born. I started to look out for different type (at first, Art Deco) on the buildings as we travelled through the Manawatu (found some beauts in Whanganui) and on to Taranaki. It eventually turned into a bit of an obsession which probably made for irritating slow progress as far as my partner was concerned, as I requested we pull over so I could take a picture of yet “another building”.

I’m not sure where the resulting images sit. Somewhere between a collection of type, Victorian and Art Deco facades, shop signage or a few snaps of small town New Zealand? Perhaps it doesn’t even matter. It’s certainly testament to how much fun a little project can be and the different things you can see if you look up, instead of straight ahead as you walk down the street.

Sydney - Potts Point Deco

I love Sydney. There’s a ton of cool swim spots, great places to eat out and some lovely architecture if you like Art Deco, which I do. According to Wikipedia Potts Point is the site of some of Australia's earliest apartment buildings so as a result has the highest concentration of Art Deco buildings in Australia. I took these pictures as I wandered through the suburb using type as a loose basis for a project but then segueing into taking a few snaps of the gorgeous geometric doorways and foyers of these buildings.

I love that many of the buildings have names and not just adjective-driven ones. Perhaps giving buildings nice names is something we should do more in Christchurch as the rebuild ramps up.