Paul

Three events coincided recently which raised the perennial question of ‘What is Art?’. The first was the death at age 89 of the renowned art theorist and philosopher Arthur Danto in October; the second was the appearance in news media of an oversize rubber duck which had so far visited 14 international ports (including Auckland in 2011); the third was a very amusing interview with Charles Firth who, as director of the Sydney Museum of Words convened an exhibition of ‘donated’ words. Charles Firth

Simon foreground, Gavin at rear At the suggestion of a stone wall builder friend – Gavin Dench – who is also a keen enthusiast for wood fired pots - I eventually decided to replace a rather dilapidated wire fence near the house with a stone wall built from stones collected from this property.  If I had known at commencement what sort of task it turned out to be I probably would not have started.  Having built it now, I have absolutely no regrets

Reigning Queens: Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom.1985 The exhibition of Andy Warhol works at Te Papa promised a new look at this controversial artist. Curator Sarah Farrar is quoted by the Dominion as saying: “Warhol’s such a popular icon, but we have a one dimensional idea of him”. She hopes that this show will change people’s views by emphasising Warhol’s obsession with people. These comments were made in the context of an article that featured his images of Prince, Sylvester Stallone,

Barry Brickell’s mantra is “It’s not the thing it’s how”. What he means is that the materials the object is made from, the way it is made and the technology used, contain the object’s essence and meaning much more powerfully than whatever it is trying to represent. Brickell’s work uses clay from his own property, processed on site, made into objects with age-old methods and fired in kilns using wood or coal. His sculptures are made from and refer to the landscape, the living world

Cast glass by Jim Dennison and Leanne Williams. At Aratoi until 17 March 2013 The decanters as originally displayed in the Sarjeant Gallery in Wanganui ‘Fancy Fools Flight’ is Martinborough glass artists Jim Dennison and Leanne Williams touring exhibition.  They call themselves and their workshop / studio ‘The Crystal Chain Gang’.  The exhibition has been shown in Auckland at Objectspace and Piece Gallery, at the Sarjeant Gallery Wanganui, at Pataka in Porirua, in Nelson at the Suter and now at Aratoi.  The Sarjeant