Here some impressions from the puppet making event at the Storylines Familyday in Auckland yesterday. It was absolutely amazing. I think the faces of the kids speak for themselves. They simply loved it. We had a steady stream at the table. In the end we had to pinch a few paper coffee cups from the cafeteria, because we had run out of items to use for bodies. :)
Archives for category: Auckland
There is no inspiration without Groucho…. Today Liar showed us his favourite quote, which was sent to the Dedes by @renfieldwantsmore “Who is that Groucho Marx guy” called Top Dog from behind the curtains “he copied that one straight out of my book! I will sue him.”
Then Top Dog came out of his hiding place and walked straight up to Liar. “You and I are definitely cut from the same cloth,” he said, “do you want to be my campaign manager?”
This didn’t go down well with a few instagram readers. Sorry guys, it is out of my hands. The two seem to be the dream team.
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I am not sure if I get round to updating you tomorrow as I have a full-day gig making puppets from trash at the Auckland Storylines Family day. The puppet making is themed healthy eating. Munch and Kin will be the baddies that need to be fought off.
I was busy all week sifting through surplus and left-over material and whittled it down to two boxes full of rubbish to take. This is a job that takes ages, as I easily get sidetracked with making things myself. I also had to remove oodles of rusty pins, so the kids don’t injure themselves when they comb through the treasures. I love these workshops. I find it amazing to see the kids being totally engrossed for an hour or so and come up with their gorgeous creations. I hope I will get some good pics, but I might be too busy running around with my glue gun, helping to stick everything together.
Here is one puppet I prepared earlier, to give the kids an idea what to do. Not that they need it, but had fun making it.
Now that Pinkpok is already old news, the Dedes continue with their inspirational quotes. Calamity showed the one she tries hard to live by. But she is adamant in her picture the shadows definitely outweigh the highlights. According to her, she can’t do anything about it no matter how hard she tries.
“Who cares about inspirational quotes anyway” said Munch to Kin, “all I care for is junk food.” These two special characters came out of the closet for the weekend. I made them a while back to promote my friend’s book about good nutrition. And this Sunday they will have an exciting outing. They will attend Storylines Auckland Familydays, where we will be making puppets from junk.
Pig and Professor love the arts and I had to promise them long time ago that I will take them to the gallery as soon as possible so they can have a look at all the wonderful works. In the next two weeks all the participating artists are taking turns in manning the gallery and it was my turn last Monday. I will be there tomorrow and next Wednesday again, but Pig and Professor didn’t want to wait any longer. So here I can show you their first impressions. There is more good work on display in the gallery, so if you are in Auckland and in the neighbourhood of Mt Eden swing by and judge for yourself. You enter through a narrow door and go down a flight of stairs. The gallery is on two floors below street level.
When the two Dedes came down the stairs, Pig stopped in his tracks and turned in awe to Professor “This space is amazing” he whispered “We should have volunterred to take part in the installation.” The images you see in the background here are by Sonja Gardien. It is a photographic series reminding us of the impact of climate change.
Opposite Sonja’s image are Stacey Simpkin’s photographs of some of the old baches (holiday homes) on Rangitoto Island, a very well-known volcano located just outside the Auckland harbour entrance with a wonderful checkered history.
Here Pig and Professor move towards Dorina Jotti’s amazing Photograph “Cross-Referenced”. This snapshot doesn’t do the image justice at all, as the blues look too light and washed out. In reality it is of a rich and dark colour, which is very difficult to reproduce with simple devices. The photograph was craftily printed on a ten-colour printer.
At the top right you see a display by contemporary jeweler Sarah Walker-Holt. Once again, the snapshot doesn’t do the work justice. Art is best viewed in original. :)
Another fantastic work by Dorina Jotti. This is a zen meditation exercise, an enso, which is a circle drawn in one uninhibited brushstroke to express the moment when the mind is ready to let the body express.
The wonderful series “Brotherhood” was created by Kirsten Weir and depicts members of the Hell’s Angels in their headquarters. Pig didn’t want to get any closer, as he knows that Kirsten has to seek approval each time she wants to exhibit the images and Pig doesn’t want to get her into trouble. But you can believe us, these images are striking.
The deer is another one of Carly van Winkel’s photographs. Her series is about animals that are raised purely to be released in front of hunters to be shot. Sad!
Carly is an excellent photographer and you might remember that she took the images at the launch of “The Artist’s Survival Cookbook”. If you want to learn more about how to take breathtaking photographs… Carly and I are running an “Intro to Photography” workshop at Studio 541 in Auckland on 4th June. She also does tell some hilareous story’s about the capture of her hunting photos.
On the bottom floor you will find a series by Alice Ng showing dilapidated buildings in the Auckland area. There is a special aesthetic in such images, isn’t there?
And then of course there are the Dedes with their mobile phones. Professor and Pig were so excited when they finally discovered their mates in the last room (they requested to be placed as far away from the entrance as possible) so they can do some work. Even now, they hardly looked up. That was a bit of a disappointment for the visitors.
This was just a quick walk around the gallery. There is more work by Vicky te Puni, Julia Glover, Toni Mosley, Yvonne Shaw, Trish Campbell, Melanie Tollemache and Jessie Rolston It’s worth the trip.
dedepuppets 