Intensity

Heather Hansen is a New Orleans-based artist who creates incredible geometries using her body on pieces of paper. Part performance art, the symmetrical forms made with her movements allude to the Virtruvian Man in many iterations.

The performance of creating a piece such as this is not completely new – in the 2008 Olympic opening ceremony in China, dancers-cum-artists danced upon a sheet, creating an amazing Chinese-style calligraphy painting whilst maintaining the grace of a dance.

Hansen's work is different in its intensity. The sheer focus given to her work and the piece is reflected in the centrally weighted lines she sits in. Her pose at the end of the piece reminds me of meditation and the spell circles of fantasy novels. 

She doesn't mind getting her hands (or her body) dirty. It's a show of the grit involved in art making, countering the usual sterility of the white, curated gallery. 

13

13 Rooms - the 27th Kaldor Public Art Project

13 Rooms is a collection of 'living sculpture', the 27th Kaldor Public Art Project. Is this performance art?  It has vibes of buskers on Queen St or Amanda Palmer's 8-foot bride but in the distilled gallery environment, these pieces confuse and confront. I love the ideas embedded in this variety of work.

Making a statement on the archetypal 'high art' plinth.

One of the curators, Klaus Biesenbach, talks about how you are compelled to think certain pieces are merely video installations, or a tricky projection, or perhaps a life-like model. Once you enter the room, you are faced with a live human. Art has too often taken the representation path. The realness of 13 Rooms is so much more engaging.

It is only on for 11 days so make sure you get in quick if you're in Sydney. It's free too! Probably only on for a week because of all the staffing - they really made the effort.

Dance

Last night I went to 1000 Lovers, a contemporary dance performance by MAP (Movement Architecture Productions) that uses the public space of the waterfront. Amazing, and they also ran the performance twice during White Night (an Art in the Dark event).

Performing at the Gantry at Silo Park.

The audience downloads a music file and listens to the track as they are guided through the site. All the while the dancers perform the entire 50 minute piece counting in their heads and arrive in sync with each other. 

Using the Viaducts Event Centre as a 3D stage.

The barrier at Karanga Square becomes a platform displaying the 'widow' and 'bride'.

Having worked with MAP before, it's fascinating seeing this production come together. I was even lucky enough to go on the first site visit for this rendition (previous performances Tongues of Stone and Blood of Trees). The conversations we had about each of the key locations have come through boldly and with traits of the previous performances.

I'll keep you all updated about MAP's future performances, well worth going. It'll open your mind about places that you probably already use. For more photos from the performance, see the Google+ album.

Silo

Silo Park by night

I actually can't believe I haven't blogged about this before because I'm a real ranting fanboy of Silo Park and Wynyard Quarter. Right now 'Summer of Sculpture' is on, turning the urban waterfront park into an interesting sculpture walk. In the period before this, Askew One, a renown NZ street artist that I've featured before, did a series of pieces on the decommissioned silo tanks (see above). They act as a backdrop to all of the activity and signals the increasing move towards making Silo Park as a space a creative one. The sculpture in the foreground is one of the many great pieces out there at the moment (the pose kind of reminds me of Assassins Creed).

In fact, the park holds many creative disciplines - music (there's even an old piano sits in one of the silos, for anyone to play on), films with the summer outdoor movie nights, dance, art, fine cuisine in the night market stalls/restaurants architecture and award winning urban design. 

Imagine that just a few years ago, this space was a broken down industrial waterfront. I hope that the spirit in the place is what Auckland as a whole can move toward - an accepting space open to rejuvenation and creativity.

Whitney

Remake

This rehash of Rihanna is possibly the best thing that's happened to the song and the dancing is just extraordinary. Seems inspired by the Roaring Twenties.

Choreography and dancing by Keone Madrid and Mari Martin. Song performed by James Cullum.

Move

By United Visual Artists. They make some of my favourite
interdisciplinary creative projects.
http://www.uva.co.uk/