Thursday, January 17, 2008

hone

just a few days after ed hillary died, another important nzer has passed away. hone tuwhare wasn't as famous as ed, but he played an important part in nz literary history. he was a well-loved nz poet - accessible, witty and insightful. in 1964 he published 'no ordinary sun' - the first published full book of poetry by a maori written in english. it remains in print and is in it's 10th impression. he was also known for his collaborations with visual artist ralph hotere.

one of his best known poems is this one:

Rain
I can hear you
making small holes
in the silence
rain

If I were deaf
the pores of my skin
would open to you
and shut

And I
should know you
by the lick of you
if I were blind

the something
special smell of you
when the sun cakes
the ground

the steady
drum-roll sound
you make
when the wind drops

But if I
should not hear
smell or feel or see
you

you would still
define me
disperse me
wash over me
rain

[image from www.honetuwhare.co.nz]

Friday, January 11, 2008

sad day

i was just out delivering some work and noticed that the flag at tauranga airport was at half-mast. and then i noticed another one further on that was the same. i thought, "who would warrant that kind of respect?" and my first thought was "sir ed hillary". sadly, when i came home to check, it turns out that it was in fact ed hillary who passed away today.

ed hillary was easily the most famous new zealander alive - he and nepalese sherpa tenzing norgay were the first people to reach the summit of mt everest. or as he put it "we knocked the bastard off". he came to personify the typical kiwi bloke - no fuss, just get the job done sort of attitude.

he was an all-round adventurer and travelled to the north and south poles - the first man to achieve the everest, south pole, north pole trifecta. he was also a humanitarian, tirelessly working for the nepalese people. tragically, nepal claimed the lives of his wife and daughter in a plane crash in 1975.

it's sad that he's passed away - it's a loss for new zealand. at 88 he had a good innings, and will always be considered a legend.

[image from wikipedia]

Saturday, January 05, 2008

5 days into 2008

this morning i watched a biopic on jackson pollock starring ed harris. it was a pretty good film. i can never watch a movie about art without wanting to do something of my own. ever since taking pictures in alleyways in town a few days ago, i've had multiple ideas firing around in my head about how to use them.

watching the pollock film gave me the idea to just get on with it and see what emerges. i decided to start work on an idea i've had for several weeks. like the last piece i did (the plastic stag one) it was a long-term idea that really evolved when i started playing with the elements.


it incorporates the following elements: one of my alleyway photos, my standard artwork of me (blindfolded and degraded), an image of blue sky over the suburb of bureta, the safe little world brand, and as a little bonus, a map of tauranga (bureta to central city) that covers the area where the alley is, taken from the perspective of where the blue sky is.

on the headphones: 'thou shalt always kill' by dan le sac VS scroobius pip. check it (you won't regret it).