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No more than 2 months ago I heard on local radio an ad for the Govett-Brewster that used the adjective ‘groundbreaking’. Then I saw it in an Adam Gallery e-mail. And a day or two ago I saw it in print somewhere else, put it aside but can’t find it at the moment.

Cutting edge has been the artspeak favourite for some time, but I can imagine groundbreaking taking over. It has more gravitas although just how many groundbreaking shows there can be at one time I’m sceptical about. Still that won’t deter the copywriters.

Other shifts have been the change from ’emerging artists’ to ‘new artists’ to ‘new generation.’ New Generation is a phrase that will stick for a while I think. The Arts Foundation are using it, and we just had a show here at the Govett-Brewster for New Generation artists, although Peter Madden was in it and he was born in 1966 which I would have thought was pushing it a bit.

These phrases all raise interesting questions eg could an ’emerging artist’ be a 60 yr old whose career was coming on stream. Similarly could a ‘new artist’ be someone who was older.

I’m waiting for some shows for ‘receeding artists’.

There have been many visitors in town because of the Tom Kreisler opening on Saturday night. (see posting below) Went to the after-after match party which for me is staying up late. Bed somewhere around 3.30 Sunday morning, hence no blog yesterday!

Noise control came to the party, not because of me I hope. Certainly, on the front page of the Taranaki Daily News this morning, there were no photos of Peter Peryer being forcibly restrained by members of the Riot Squad.

One highlight conversation I had was with Wystan Curnow, and it was about Buick Dynaflows. He told me that Ray Charles uses the word Dynaflow in one of his songs. I need conversations like this, where there is cross-connection, it’s brainfood.

I missed out on the opportunity to ask Wystan if it’s true that he is named after W.H.Auden, (Wystan Hugh Auden). I heard this many years ago and I’ve never asked him. I hope it’s true.

I’m sorry that over this weekend, someone wasn’t employed to make a documentary of this event, or at the very minimum, even if it had been done in the most rudimentary manner, take some photos. I would like to be able to link you to a page that showed you snaps (preferably flattering) of who was there. Oscars New Plymouth style.

Saturday afternoon I cleared out surplus spectacle cases and laid them on a table so that guests here as result of the Kreisler opening, could help themselves. I fetched a camera but I don’t think that this image below passes, but all the same, I was surprised that I was still burrowing into this territory because I thought that Matisse 2005 had solved it. I’d written up the theorem so to speak.

It was a time when I felt a connection with Surrealism in general and Dali in particular and when I came to have a new respect for him. There were others too of course, I mean no disrepect to their achievements. Miro I come to appreciate increasingly, for example. Arp as ever, Calder’s kinetics. And seeing two El Greco works in Spain in the late 90’s changed my thinking somehow. They had power and it was raw.

Here are some photos from the last 18 months.
The one at the top is the spectacle cases, Saturday evening. I bit mannered I feel. Matisse is better. After Dali 2005/06 I still think is too interesting to consign to the dustbin.

I’m going through my history and as a result came across this contact sheet.
I remember this occasion, I was at St.Aubyn’s Street, Devonport Auckland.

The image that I chose 22 years ago was the top right hand one.

These Russian Yak sports planes were flying over my home on Sunday afternoon. Luckily for me three of these planes are based in New Plymouth.

When in the 90’s, latter part, I was visiting Sydney from New Zealand, on a regular basis, I took this photo.

On one of my trips, I went to a maritime museum in Sydney Harbour. On view was a Russian submarine that had been bought by someone with good taste after the collapse of Communism, although I don’t know who. I could be wildly wrong here but I think that they were for sale for $US250,000. My understanding was that it was one of fleet kept in Vladivostok, and used to patrol the Pacific. I went on a detailed tour of the Sydney one and I recommend it to anyone.

Again Im relying on my memory here, but my current understanding is that there were 17 of these submarines based there, and that were used to patrol the Pacific. There were rumours that they went through Cook Strait, although I know no facts.