LEAVE the Statue Alone —gormless university can piss off

At Facebook:

FFS pull your head in, lady.

This is a public statue properly positioned in a public space (Queens Gardens).

—NOT a trifle to be STOLEN by ivy-league wankers to decorate their private vajayjay !!

There is Nothing wrong with city brothels fronting public spaces.
Or, city brothels fronting public works of sculpture.
What is more Human, Egalitarian and LEGAL than that.

At a public forum this week the Dunedin City Council was asked for its support to move the statue of Dr Donald Stuart from its place in Queens Gardens to an undecided location near the University of Otago clocktower. Dr Stuart was the minister of Knox Church for 33 years and led the congregation until he died in 1894. (ODT)

Related Post and Comments:
30.8.15 La Maison House of Pleasure, Queens Gardens —then and today
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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

This post is offered in the public interest.

DCC: Restriction of Vehicles from Parts of Jetty Street DECLARED

Received by direct copy from Lynne Robins
Wed, 16 Dec 2015 at 3:29 p.m.

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From: Lynne Robins
Sent: Wednesday, 16 December 2015 3:29 p.m.
To: Karilyn Canton
Cc: craig.borley@odt.co.nz
Subject: Update – Proposed Restriction of Vehicles from Parts of Jetty Street

Further to my emails on the Proposed Restriction of Vehicles from parts of Jetty Street, please note the following update.

Council met on Monday 14 December 2015 and gave consideration to the recommendations from the Jetty Street Hearings Committee. Council approved the proposed recommendation and has declared parts of Jetty Street to be a pedestrian mall as per the attached declaration.

The declaration was been made under section 336 of the Local Government Act 1974. Under that section 336, any person may appeal to the Environment Court by 14 January 2016 or such later date as the Environment Court may allow. The Council would not oppose any request to the Environment Court by an applicant for the appeal period to be extended until up to 1 February 2016, but that would be a decision for the Environment Court rather than the Council.

A copy of the declaration will be published in the Council’s ODT noticeboard.

Thanks

Lynne Robins
Governance Support Officer
Dunedin City Council

█ Download: Jetty Street -declaration

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█ TOPICAL But what has Large Retail got to say on DCC Planning decisions affecting Large Retail [zoning] ?! Watch this space.

Related Post and Comments:
4.6.15 Exchange makeover —or pumps and pipe renewals, um

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Exchange makeover —or pumps and pipe renewals, um

Image: National Library of New Zealand

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COUNCIL NEWS

### ODT Online Tue, 26 May 2015
Council goes with Exchange revamp
By Chris Morris
The Dunedin City Council is to press ahead with a $1.1 million plan to revamp Exchange Square and create new car-free zones in the Warehouse Precinct. Councillors at yesterday’s full council meeting voted to approve both projects for public consultation over the next few months, which could be followed by construction later this year. Plans for the Exchange envisaged a $602,000 revamp, paid for from existing budgets and including a new layout, new grey-blue concrete paving, furniture, plantings and LED lighting.
Read more

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During Long Term Plan deliberations, the council had brought forward a $602,000 upgrade of Exchange Square. Tony Offen says he supports the council’s plans, but wants to have more direct input to help refine the details.

### ODT Online Thu, 4 Jun 2015
Exchange should be ‘showcase’
By Chris Morris
A new group created to push for improvements in Dunedin’s Exchange says the area should be a “showcase” for the city. Tony Offen, a Dunedin businessman and John Wickliffe House co-owner, has created the group Vibrant Exchange to work with the Dunedin City Council on planned improvements. The informal movement so far represented the building’s co-owners and their interests, but Mr Offen told the Otago Daily Times he hoped to expand the group’s reach over time.
Read more

AGREE. POSITIVE. OWN THAT SPACE.
Businesses in the Exchange Area should not accept carte blanche anything proposed, detailed or supervised by the Conflicted Hat mural pushing make-believer(s) scarcely out of shorts. And who was it, dishonest enough NOT to declare the $600,000 unspent budget at Transportation Planning, which was SUDDENLY (!!) prostituted for the cause – when council departments had been asked to flag unspent budgets for potential retirement of council debt. Of course, this low manoeuvre stabs to the very heart of motives. Those of our DCC chief executive, frothed by the boy scout, sullied by the likes of Bendan Grope and Death Cull riding the back of the penultimate vote-catching Pet Project.

Anyhow, businesses/property investors are more fully capable of leading and dispensing greater aesthetics and improved public facilities than DCC, with its penchant for UGLY bloody curb protrusions and cycle lanes.

Then. South Dunedin went to flood.

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█ Wikipedia: Princes Street, Dunedin

Related Posts and Comments:
31.5.15 Cr Vandervis (LGOIMA) on $2 million “interest underspend”
27.5.15 Dunedin Heritage Light Rail Trust Newsletters 2015
23.5.15 DCC rates rise | ODT editor nonplussed
13.11.14 John Wickliffe House, 265 Princes Street LUC-2014-203 | Decision
5.8.14 DCC staff-led CBD projects…impact ratepayers | consolidated council debt
17.7.14 John Wickliffe House – application to paint exterior
25.3.14 Hotel We LIKE: Distinction Dunedin Hotel at former CPO
27.7.13 Heritage: Old BNZ, Dunedin —restored
22.6.13 Dunedin’s former Chief Post Office
26.2.13 Bank of New Zealand Building, 205 Princes St (cnr Rattray)
17.3.12 Call for photographs or building plans…Standard Building, 201 Princes St
31.1.12 Rattray St buildings up for full demolition say McLauchlan and Darling
24.10.11 Former Standard Insurance building, 201 Princes St, Dunedin
11.10.11 180 Rattray St, Dunedin — former P. Hayman & Co. Building (1872)
25.8.11 180 Rattray St, Dunedin…building demolition means loss of 19th-C alley
10.3.11 Layers of Gold – Dunedin Heritage Festival 18-21 March 2011
5.3.11 Former Chief Post Office, Dunedin – magazine feature…
14.6.10 Investing in Dunedin’s historic heritage: former BNZ
21.1.10 Sensitive area: The Exchange
23.11.09 High Street Cable Car a possibility
24.10.09 Rodney Wilson: Dunedin as national heritage city
23.10.09 Weekend ODT looks at The Exchange
20.7.09 DCC + former CPO + others(??) = a public library (yeah right)

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

DCC pals up with Chorus —gigatown and telecoms cabinets

Dunedin City Council – Media Release
Return of the Cabinet Art

This item was published on 05 Nov 2014

The Dunedin City Council is calling on Dunedin artists to send in designs for the second round of Chorus’ telecommunications cabinet art programme, adding to the city’s growing street art scene.
Earlier this year the DCC and Chorus worked together with artists to transform regularly vandalised cabinets into works of art, many of which reflect stories about the communities surrounding them.
Following the success of this first round of cabinet art, the DCC and Chorus have opened up a second round and are calling for proposals for cabinets in Caversham, Roslyn, Concord, Brockville, Bradford, Mosgiel, St Clair, Wakari, The Glen and Momona.

Artists wanting to submit proposals need to supply an A4 hand sketch of their design, clearly define which cabinet the design is for, a short description of what the design means and a brief biography of any relevant experience. Proposals should be sent to the DCC by 12 noon on 12 December 2014.

For each of the ten cabinets Chorus will again pay $1000 to cover the design, painting and application of graffiti guard to protect the works. Materials, such as paint and brushes, are paid for on top of the fee. Artists are also provided with instructions on how to prepare the cabinet and graffiti-guard it once the painting is finished, with payment being made once the work is satisfactorily completed.
The DCC is helping collate submitted proposals and organise consent for the works while Chorus is the final judge of the art work chosen. Chorus will also consult with any adjoining landowners, if necessary, and engage successful artists to do the work. It is expected chosen artists will be asked to complete the works in January-February, once consents are finalised.
A list of the specific locations for this round of cabinets and entry details can be found at http://www.dunedin.govt.nz/cabinetart. All finished art will be included on the Chorus website and already completed murals can be seen at http://www.chorus.co.nz/cabinet-art.

Contact DCC Policy Planner on 03 477 4000.

DCC Link

● 5.11.14 ODT More cabinet art for Dunedin city

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Related Post and Comments:
29.10.13 DCC (EDU) invents new job! —Gigatown/Digital Office

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: chorus.co.nz – street box art by (from top) Sam Ovens (Castle/Dundas Sts), Jon Chapman (George/Warrender Sts) and Aroha Novak (Neville St)

Octagon: What?! DCC pointy heads actually care about small businesses?

So they should.

The following report will be tabled at the Council meeting to be held on Monday 3 November 2014 at 2:00pm (Council Chamber, Municipal Chambers).

█ Report – Council – 03/11/2014 (PDF, 1023.1 KB)
Options to Trial Pedestrianisation in Lower Octagon and Lower Stuart Street

Octagon to Steamer Basin, cherry stains by whatifdunedin

█ Octagon Webcam

█ [Agenda and Other Reports, including Financial for Monday]

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The “do minimum” option – one of five options councillors will consider – has the support of lower Octagon and lower Stuart St business owners and retailers, who have banded together to oppose any road closures.

### ODT Online Fri, 31 Oct 2014
Council cools on Octagon trial
By Debbie Porteous
The Dunedin City Council may back away from trialling any ban or restriction on vehicles in the lower Octagon and lower Stuart St. Council staff are concerned rushing any “pedestrianisation” trial in the area could be costly and potentially have negative effects if it goes ahead without proper investigation.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
19.10.14 Dunedin: Randoms from inside warehouse precinct 18.10.14
● 3.10.14 DCC: Octagon entrée to more spending
● 28.9.14 “DCC entitlement” about to ramrod change at CBD #manipulation
24.9.14 Dunedin old boys, councillors & staff collude on 5-star accommodation
● 5.8.14 DCC staff-led CBD projects that impact ratepayers…
4.8.14 Cr Wilson’s integrity ‘in tatters’
23.6.14 DCC Annual Plan 2014/15 + Rugby and Rates
● 22.6.14 Vogel Street Heritage Precinct (TH13)
22.5.14 DCC Transportation Planning —ANOTHER consultation disaster
7.5.14 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2014/15 hearings
6.5.14 Roading network screwed by council staff
● 30.4.14 Octagon mud
21.4.14 Dunedin economic development strategy — low flying Year 1
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Daaave’s pals from… [April Fool’s?]
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
24.12.13 Daaave’s $47 million Christmas present to Jinty. We’re paying.
4.12.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten greeted by DCC silence
17.11.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten’s alternative route
11.11.13 DCC: Councillors delegated street furniture decisions to staff
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal
5.11.13 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy
● 21.10.13 Harbourside: Access to a revamped Steamer Basin…
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC
4.9.13 Draft Dunedin City Transport Strategy
8.3.13 Stupid bid for two-way highway ditched for now #DCC
31.10.12 Cull’s council takes business away from retailers
● 26.10.11 Dunedin Harbourside: DCC “caved”

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: etourism.co.nz – Octagon aerial; pxm-tut.com – cherry

DCC: Octagon entrée to more spending

From the DCC website:

The Octagon Upgrade

The Octagon is Dunedin’s key central public space. Its form defines the central city and the area has great historic, social, cultural and economic significance. As a consequence, the Octagon has a special place in the heart of Dunedin residents.

Looking to the future, there are a number of challenges and opportunities for managing, protecting and enhancing the Octagon. These include providing enough public space, improving the safety of pedestrians and cyclists and investigating traffic use.

We also need to look at how to provide a safe environment both day and night, and how to reduce conflicts between different user groups and ensure commercial and non-commercial groups can both benefit from the area. Also to be considered is monitoring the health and future of the plane trees and appropriately recognising the historic and cultural significance of the area and its important heritage buildings. Other issues include improving urban amenity and the role of public art.

An initial concept put forward by consultants proposes a staged approach to the Octagon:
● Stage one would focus on improving pedestrian and public space in the lower Octagon within the road reserve outside existing bars, cafes and nightclubs on the northern side of the Octagon
● Stage two would focus on improving pedestrian and public space in the lower Octagon within the road reserve outside the Regent Theatre and neighbouring cafes, bars, and businesses
● Stage three would focus on the upper Octagon and the reserve area in the lower Octagon. The idea is to better link the two sections of the Octagon, maximise the area of usable public open space and views of significant heritage buildings, and look at traffic flows.

However, at this early stage no design has been chosen for any upgrade to the Octagon. The Council is keen to hear how people see the future of the Octagon and what they would like to see in the area, before launching a formal consultation process to discuss future options.

Aims
● To provide an attractive public open space in the central city
● To improve safety in and around the Octagon
● To increase room for pedestrians and make the area more vibrant and people-friendly
● To enhance opportunities for businesses around the Octagon
● To provide opportunities for a range of users, both day and night
● To provide a setting for key city events
● To respect and enhance the historical importance of the Octagon

Proposed improvements may include
● Pavement improvements
● Adjustments to road layouts
● New bins and seating
● Interactive play equipment and/or public art
● Enhanced lighting
● Street trees and planting improvements
● Cycle racks

Status
● Project planning underway
● Consultation to be programmed

Associated initiatives
● Princes Street upgrade
● George Street upgrade
● Pocket parks
● Improvements to Queens Gardens and improved links to neighbouring tourist precinct
● Upgrade of Exchange Square

DCC Link

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2011 concept for redevelopment of The Octagon up for debate again at last night’s Dunedin City Council CBD planning workshop:

The plan was not a proposal, and would need to be reconsidered by the council and implemented over time, but “may be able to happen”. –Kobus Mentz, Urbanismplus (Auckland)

### ODT Online Fri, 3 Oct 2014
Reimagined CBD proposals heard
By Chris Morris
Visions of a redeveloped Octagon, a more pedestrian-friendly George St and a buzzing network of free buses took centre stage at a Dunedin City Council workshop last night. The ideas flowed as about 45 people gathered at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery for a second night to share their views on the future of the city’s central business district.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
● 28.9.14 “DCC entitlement” about to ramrod change at CBD #manipulation
24.9.14 Dunedin old boys, councillors & staff collude on 5-star accommodation
● 5.8.14 DCC staff-led CBD projects that impact ratepayers…
4.8.14 Cr Wilson’s integrity ‘in tatters’
23.6.14 DCC Annual Plan 2014/15 + Rugby and Rates
● 22.6.14 Vogel Street Heritage Precinct (TH13)
22.5.14 DCC Transportation Planning —ANOTHER consultation disaster
7.5.14 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2014/15 hearings
6.5.14 Roading network screwed by council staff
● 30.4.14 Octagon mud
21.4.14 Dunedin economic development strategy — low flying Year 1
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Daaave’s pals from… [April Fool’s?]
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
24.12.13 Daaave’s $47 million Christmas present to Jinty. We’re paying.
4.12.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten greeted by DCC silence
17.11.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten’s alternative route
11.11.13 DCC: Councillors delegated street furniture decisions to staff
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal
5.11.13 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC
4.9.13 Draft Dunedin City Transport Strategy
8.3.13 Stupid bid for two-way highway ditched for now #DCC
31.10.12 Cull’s council takes business away from retailers

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images: Octagon Webcam; DCC Graphic – Artist impression (2011)

“DCC entitlement” about to ramrod change at CBD #manipulation

For the groupies…..

Dunedin City council – Media Release
Help Shape the Future of Dunedin’s CBD

This item was published on 26 Sep 2014

Do you have a vision for the future of Dunedin’s central business district?

Whether you’re a retailer, resident or property owner, you are welcome to attend a free public workshop next week focusing on the future look and feel of the CBD. This discussion will build on feedback from earlier workshops on the Central City Plan (2011), the Warehouse Precinct Revitalisation Plan (2012) and Princes Street (2014).

The goal of the workshops is to hear people’s ideas and aspirations for the rest of the CBD, from the Octagon to the tertiary precinct, including George Street, lower Stuart Street and the surrounding streets.

These workshops and other comments received will feed into [WTH] transportation and amenity improvement projects in this area over the next decade.

[Oh no, not Mr Mentz AGAIN] Next week’s interactive workshop, which will be led by Kobus Mentz of Urbanism +, will be held on Thursday 2 October, 6pm to 8pm, at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery.

The DCC will also be working with the Otago Regional Council to look at the future location of a central city public transport hub. Feedback from the workshop will also link in with consultation on the central city cycle network.

█ [Love the extent of warning, all about bulldozing pre-envisioned DCC plans through via “Insider-Stakeholders”] Stakeholders in the area have been invited to a workshop on 1 October.

█ People [for rubber stamp duty] wishing to attend the public workshop on 2 October need to RSVP to centralcityplan @ dcc.govt.nz by Tuesday.

█ If you cannot attend the workshop, you can email your ideas and priorities for the future of the CBD to centralcityplan @ dcc.govt.nz [because DCC’s good at stealing your complementary ideas to push staff advancement and salaries, not to mention extending Mayor Daaave’s political agenda]

Contact DCC on 477 4000

DCC Link

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Related Posts and Comments:
24.9.14 Dunedin old boys, councillors & staff collude on 5-star accommodation
● 5.8.14 DCC staff-led CBD projects that impact ratepayers…
4.8.14 Cr Wilson’s integrity ‘in tatters’
23.6.14 DCC Annual Plan 2014/15 + Rugby and Rates
● 22.6.14 Vogel Street Heritage Precinct (TH13)
22.5.14 DCC Transportation Planning —ANOTHER consultation disaster
7.5.14 DCC Draft Annual Plan 2014/15 hearings
6.5.14 Roading network screwed by council staff
● 30.4.14 Octagon mud
21.4.14 Dunedin economic development strategy — low flying Year 1
1.4.14 HOTEL Town Hall… Daaave’s pals from… [April Fool’s?]
14.1.14 DCC: Hospital area parking changes #cyclelanes
24.12.13 Daaave’s $47 million Christmas present to Jinty. We’re paying.
4.12.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten greeted by DCC silence
17.11.13 Dunedin cycleways: Calvin Oaten’s alternative route
11.11.13 DCC: Councillors delegated street furniture decisions to staff
8.11.13 Dunedin Separated Cycle Lane Proposal
5.11.13 DCC, NZTA: Cycle lanes controversy
24.9.13 Mediocrity and lack of critical awareness at DCC
4.9.13 Draft Dunedin City Transport Strategy
8.3.13 Stupid bid for two-way highway ditched for now #DCC
31.10.12 Cull’s council takes business away from retailers

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: DCC Webmap – Inner city Dunedin

Tom McLean on works by Peter Nicholls #sculpture

Late last year Dr Thomas (Tom) McLean (pictured) published an article on some recent works of New Zealand sculptor Peter Nicholls. Dr McLean, a senior lecturer, teaches English at the University of Otago, but also writes on art for the US blogsite The Migrationist. Peter Nicholls suggested I would be interested in the article, and yesterday Dr McLean forwarded the link. The writing is briefly sampled in the hope you’ll pleasure in reading and sharing the full article.

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The Migrationist: A collaborative international migration blog
Culture & Integration, Personal Stories
Immigrant Woods
December 13, 2013 · by Tom McLean · in Culture & Integration, Personal Stories

My mate Pete and I had just left our Saturday morning coffee gathering when we noticed a tremble of dark feathers in the street. A female blackbird (which in fact is brown) was not doing well. Unable to fly, she had struggled through the grass and stumbled down the curb into the road. I picked her up and placed her under a tree; but this only saved her from cars or bikes. So what to do? Abandoning her to nature seemed logical but heartless. I found a cardboard box, and Pete got his car. Continues/. . .
Art helps us think beyond life’s cardboard box, and as I reflected on my blackbird encounter, the work of Peter Nicholls came to mind. Nicholls’s large sculptures are found in every major New Zealand collection. Bringing together disparate materials, his works are all about movement and encounters: set firmly in place, they encourage the participant (not simply a viewer) to make a journey. One must walk beside or pass through his large works to fully engage with them. His 2008 retrospective at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery was appropriately titled Journeywork, and it included long, stream-like sculptures in wood and metal that seem to flow along the floor. While his works show fine craftsmanship, they are not illusionary; they do not hide the effort that went into them. Nor do they suggest a simple return to nature: those elongated works might suggest a highway as much as a bloodstream or river. Even his most photographed work, Tomo (2005, Connells Bay Sculpture Park), is complex: is it the visualisation of a forest’s lifeblood, or a human imposition on nature? A sinewy marriage of art and nature, or a Formula 1 racetrack through an idyllic landscape?
Read the full article

Tomo 2005 (detail), Connells Bay Sculpture Park. Image: Peter Nicholls

█ The Migrationist is an international, collaborative academic/professional blog designed to promote public discourse informed by academics and professionals who focus on issues surrounding migration, refugees, and human trafficking. The blog is intended as a medium for intelligent discourse on migration issues. The intent is to bring this discussion out of academia and into an accessible forum for anyone who is interested in migration. The Migrationist posts weekly.
The blog was founded in September 2012 by co-editors Amy Grenier and Lali Foster, former M.A. Migration Studies students at University of Sussex in Brighton, United Kingdom. They currently have regular contributors from all over the world and are always looking for regular and guest contributors.

█ Tom McLean’s latest post at The Immigrationist:
The Artist as Global Citizen: Cai Guo-Qiang in Brisbane January 10, 2014
In the mid 1990s I taught English in Xiamen, a coastal city in southern China. Xiamen (also known as Amoy) has a lovely subtropical climate, and today it’s a favourite holiday spot among the Chinese. But from 1842 to the Second World War, it was a treaty port. After the First Opium War, the British took over Hong Kong and forced China to allow foreign consulates to be built… Cont/

More about Tom McLean

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Peter Nicholls was born in Wanganui, educated at the Canterbury University School of Fine Arts, Auckland Teachers’ College, Elam School of Fine Arts, and gained a Masters in Sculpture at the University of Wisconsin at Superior, USA. His sculptures from the 1970s and 1980s are noted for their amalgam of figural, landscape and architectural abstraction, and energized dynamics in large timber works. It was tectonic and universal rather than site specific. From 1990 it became laterally configured, river hugging and site/place specific, often interrogating historic impositions of order on primal land. Nicholls has numerous large-scale works in private and public collections internationally. http://www.peternicholls.co.nz/

Otago Sculpture Trust

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: odt.co.nz – Peter Nicholls (portrait detail)

Botanic Garden: Visitor-vandals caught by DCC webcam

“Dunedin City Council parks manager Mick Reece said the botanic garden team had been intending to install security video for some time, but the weekend’s vandalism had made it an imperative.” –ODT

oooooohhh . . .

Ouroboros with nighttime visitors via DCC webcam. Photo supplied.
[click to enlarge]

The group were there for about 15 minutes on Saturday 11 January.

DCC website: Dunedin Botanic Garden cam
Views of the botanic garden from the top of Croque-o-Dile café.

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### ODT Online Wed, 15 Jan 2014
Vandalism spurs CCTV move
By Debbie Porteous
Closed-curcuit television is to be installed at the Dunedin Botanic Garden after vandals damaged the city’s latest piece of public art. Someone entered the garden at the weekend and put a dint in the steel worm sculpture, also known as Ouroboros. The sculpture was installed in mid-December.
Read more

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Related Posts and Comments:
30.12.13 Botanic Garden: Ouroboros (more images)
15.7.13 Art in public places: Dunedin worms and wyrms #snakesinthegrass
3.1.12 Art in public places #Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Botanic Garden: Ouroboros

### ODT Online Sat, 14 Dec 2013
The worm has turned up
By Debbie Porteous
A giant glowing worm has appeared above ground at the Dunedin Botanic Garden. It is not a supernatural phenomenon, but the city’s latest piece of public art. The flexible worm, which can bend because it is constructed from thousands of pieces of interlocked and articulating marine-grade stainless steel, was installed over the past two days.
Read more

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Comment at ODT Online:

Worm and landscaping spend
Submitted by ej kerr on Mon, 23/12/2013 – 3:20pm.
Interesting as always to read your columnist Peter Entwisle’s opinions of the stainless Ouroboros at the Botanic Garden (Art Beat, 23.12.13), and the shoddy process adopted by the city council. This alien is planted in an exceptionally poor section of ‘landscaping’ – a meaningless affront of professionally laid and poorly envisioned hard paving, with a ‘playground’ landing pad. The effect of this cynical deadening forecourt on the tea kiosk with its umbrella-style roof is harsh and fully remiss, architecturally – a boffin job of worst kind. Even the ducks are electing to rest for the evening on nearby lawn – having left their excrement across the pavers. Not sure this metalwork is composting!

On Sunday afternoon I was photographing the wormy presence, it’s bluntly phallic at the supported ‘head’ end… when a local resident asked me what I think of the whole thing. Not a good thing to say. He wasn’t terribly impressed either – he said the project in total was worth about $150,000. For such a cruel mess.

Poor Wendy and … Attendants, they need rescue! The fairy tale plot is lost, crashed, abused.

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Related Post and Comments:
15.7.13 Art in public places: Dunedin worms and wyrms #snakesinthegrass
20.5.13 Comment [ODT item and DCC report]

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Post and images by Elizabeth Kerr

Art in public places: Dunedin worms and wyrms #snakesinthegrass

Updated post Monday, 2 Feb 2015 at 4:07 p.m.

### ODT Online Mon, 15 Jul 2013
Editorial: How the worm turns
It seems there is nothing quite like the issue of public art to stimulate debate. Whether it be form, function, meaning, materials, longevity, cost, location, the work’s title, or the artist’s “qualifications”, the works inevitably prompt a great outpouring of comments from the public. When it comes to publicly-funded art in the outdoor public arena, it is understandable some ratepayers want to have their say. After all, they have to see it and they have to pay for it. One of the most-debated issues is often the cost, with many projects being deemed expensive.
In a city rich with educational institutions, heritage, and a strong artistic legacy, such projects have been deemed worthy of funding by the council for many years, and frequently indicated as important by the public in the likes of residents opinion surveys. There is no doubt striking the right balance is no easy task, particularly given art, by its very nature, is subjective, and cannot necessarily “please” everyone.
Given that the response to art works is the huge unknown – it is all the more important the areas that can be calculated are done so – and done so clearly: the artist, the artist’s brief, the art work’s purpose, visual expectations including height and size, suitability for its location, and of course, cost. And, sadly, it is in these fundamental areas in which the latest controversial public art proposal appears to have fallen down.
Read more

Related ODT stories:
8.7.13 [Opinion] Art Beat: More than just a muddle
3.7.13 Council rejects artwork criticism
2.7.13 Sculptors question selection process
1.7.13 Botanic Garden to get huge worm
30.6.13 Botanic Garden marks 150th
30.6.13 [Magazine] Putting down some roots

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Related Posts and Comments:
15.1.14 Botanic Garden: Visitor-vandals caught by DCC webcam
30.12.13 Botanic Garden: Ouroboros
3.1.12 Art in public places #Dunedin

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Images via ODT [screenshots]

Art in public places #Dunedin

### ODT Online Tue, 3 Jan 2012
Rethinking DCC role in public art
OPINION The Otago Sculpture Trust suggests it might be time for the Dunedin City Council to take a step back from such direct involvement in sculpture in public places. In light of the controversy, particularly over the past two years, regarding installation of sited public art works in Dunedin, we, the Otago Sculpture Trust, feel it is our role as an independent body of professionals to add our voice to the debate, in the hope of creating better understanding around issues of public art here. […] Anomalies between the original and current Dunedin City Council art in public places policies have perhaps accounted for the deterioration in community liaison.
Read more

• The Otago Sculpture Trust was established in 2002 by a group of practising sculptors with a general aim of doing what [it] can to foster and develop sculptural practice across Otago and beyond. The trust seeks to promote public sculpture in its many forms, including accessing resources and influencing public art policies as a lobby group.

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Related Posts:
23.10.11 Dunedin: “It’s All Right Here”
28.9.11 Russell Garbutt met with Cr Bill Acklin
21.9.11 Can it be true? Nahhh
16.4.11 Dunedin conniptions over RWC 2011, yawn [see Comments]

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

*Image: Haka Peepshow (aka ‘Black Penis’) by Rachael Rakena, Octagon

Minor alterations to pylons !

### designdaily.co.nz 04 Oct 2010 12:31 pm
Architecture/Design
When giants roam the landscape…
By Design Daily Team
There’s nothing like a meddling mass of metal in the form of a power pylon to create a blight on the landscape. Enter Boston-based Choi+Shine Architects, “A practice of thoughtful design”. Thoughtful indeed as these adapted pylons show. The pylons, designed by Jin Choi and Thomas Shine, have been proposed for the Icelandic landscape, and require only small alterations to the existing pylon design.
The proposal is so good, it received an honourable mention in 2008 at the Icelandic High-Voltage Electrical Pylon International Design Competition and this year, was one of four winning project for the Boston Society of Architects ‘2010 Unbuilt Awards’.
Read more

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Cities: Wellington, or Dunedin?

I doubt the Dunedin stadium’s pulling power in attracting new residents. It’s ugly, it’s essentially redundant and its intimidating bulk will hinder people-friendly development of the surrounding area. –Meg Davidson

### ODT Online Mon, 27 Sep 2010
Let us, too, become the city of the verb, not expletive
By Meg Davidson
Dunedin resident Meg Davidson laments opportunities lost and asks if the city could follow Wellington’s lead.
Last month my daughter was lost to Dunedin. I was with her in Wellington, the new object of her affections, when she was seduced and I, a passionate Dunedinite, was seized by the same unexpected delight in the city I hadn’t visited for three decades.
Read more

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We’re almost there, inside our final year – and nothing our dwindling band of critics say will deflect us from our primary purpose: to deliver, on time, on budget and fit for purpose, New Zealand’s first roofed, multipurpose performance venue and something all can be proud of. –Malcolm Farry

### ODT Online Mon, 27 Sep 2010
Something we can all be proud of
By Malcolm Farry
Carisbrook Stadium Trust chairman Malcolm Farry reflects on the journey towards building the “the best stadium in New Zealand”.
When I was asked in 2004 to lead an investigation into an upgrade for Carisbrook, the challenge was to investigate and recommend the best option that would produce most benefits to Dunedin and the region.
Read more

● Malcolm Farry is the chairman of Carisbrook Stadium Charitable Trust.

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr

Hopkins’ London 2012 Olympic Velodrome roofed

### london2012.com 01 Apr 2010
World Champion sees Velodrome roof structure complete
World Champion track cyclist Ed Clancy today visited the Velodrome to see the completed roof structure.

The distinctive double-curved roof has now been lifted into place in one of the biggest cable-net roof lifts in the UK, keeping the venue on track for completion in early 2011. It will be the first Olympic Park sporting venue to be finished.

The site was visited today by British cyclist Ed Clancy who became the new World Champion in the Omnium event at the Track Cycling 2010 World Championships in Copenhagan. Ed also won gold at the Beijing 2008 Games as part of the record-breaking Team Pursuit quartet.

Ed Clancy said: ‘Becoming World Champion was an amazing experience and a reminder of the excitement of racing at a major championship, so it was great to see the Olympic Park Velodrome where I hope to compete on home soil in 2012.

‘The Velodrome is already shaping up to be a fantastic venue and I can’t wait to come back here to help Team GB continue our gold rush in 2012.’

The 6,000-seat Velodrome will host the Olympic and Paralympic Track Cycling events during the Games. After 2012, the venue will be used by elite athletes and the local community. It will include a café, as well as bike hire and cycle workshop facilities.

The completion of the Velodrome roof comes as the Olympic Delivery Authority marks its fourth anniversary and announces it is on track to meet its latest set of construction milestones.

View latest images of the Velodrome

View latest aerial images of the Olympic Park

Read full media release

darjole – 18 July 2007
Designed by Hopkins Architects, the 2012 Olympic velodrome with be situated in the north of the London Olympic Park and be an iconic centrepiece for the cycling and BMX events during 2012 before becoming the UK’s premier cycling facility.

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The Velodrome is being constructed by ISG who were also responsible for replacing the track at the Manchester Velodrome where the British team secured nine gold medals at the World Cycling Championships in 2008.

The design team for the VeloPark is made up of Hopkins Architects, Expedition Engineering, BDSP and Grant Associates, who were appointed in 2007 following a design competition judged by leading names from the world of architecture and design as well as Olympic cyclist Sir Chris Hoy.

london2012 – 11 September 2008
Chris Hoy talks about the London 2012 VeloPark design.

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Public Art
Also coming to Olympic Park, artist Anish Kapoor has won a commission to design a 115m high public artwork, to be built as part of London’s Olympic Games in 2012. The sculpture, called ArcelorMittal Orbit, has been designed in collaboration with structural engineer Cecil Balmond of Arup. Link

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Related Posts:
28.1.10 After 2012 Olympics, the legacy is…
8.1.10 Scotland Yard donates to London’s 2012 Olympic site
12.11.09 Zaha Hadid: ‘Gateway into the Games’ London 2012 Olympics
25.3.09 London 2012 Stadium legacy plan

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

Dunedin City public art: “susceptibility to decay and damage”

An honest if contrived conceptual work that carries its themes well.

### ODT Online Thu, 1 Apr 2010
Dental fixture still to be polished
By David Loughrey
Regan Gentry’s problems with his wisdom teeth while studying at the Otago Polytechnic, along with Dunedin’s dental school, heritage buildings and harbour mouth, were all inspirations for the artist’s striking new installation in Portsmouth Dr. Harbour Mouth Molars comprises six large wisdom teeth constructed from concrete and Oamaru stone, each weighing 6.5 tonnes, and paid for by the Dunedin City Council under its art in public places programme.
Read more

Related post:
24.2.10 DCC Art in Public Places: New work commissioned

Post by Elizabeth Kerr

They’re doing it everywhere

I came across this gem in the wonderful website Fast Company (yes of the magazine fame).

New York’s Architectural Eyesores Become Public Art

“Starting last week, the Alliance for Downtown New York’s Re:Construction project has been dressing up five sites around Lower Manhattan with work by artists like Katherine Daniels and Maya Barkai. It’s a follow-up to the first phase of Re:Construction, started in 2007, which covered ten sites.”

A very short article but nice to see our ‘problems’ are universal.

Link to Fast Company website article

{Author – Paul}

Can we do the main span like Auckland Harbour Bridge?

At Former Logan Park Art Gallery talks James mentions Denmark’s Aalborg Tower (54.9 m), a fantastic structure…

Aalborg Tower

Originally uploaded by flower_man

Looking up

Originally uploaded by cats_in_blue

View other photosharing files to see the full height of the observation tower.

Reminds me of simple things NOT to do… like not scrapping the Port Otago mobile cranes that used to ‘inhabit’ the Dunedin wharves (sob, too late) – if ever we needed structural-sculptural expressions of working port history at the Steamer Basin, to make a contemporary edge-place for public gladness and wonder.

This secondhand from notes scribbled on the history of Otago Harbour Board achievements at the Dunedin wharves:

“Major improvements were made to the wharves in the 1960s, including the replacement of wooden decking to take forklift and articulated truck operations, construction of a new oil jetty (the first cargo was delivered on 18 January 1963), new wharf sheds at the X & Y berth – these came into service in 1964, to enable contractors to start on the T & U berth and two sheds almost immediately. T & U received a much more extensive reconstruction than X & Y, with the old wharf giving way to a wide, modern, steel sheet-piled concrete-decked structure, two new sheds and four very futuristic looking Stothert and Pitt 5 ton cranes. The contractors handed the berth over to the board in December 1966.”

Great engineering workhorses are NOT to be confused with that vertical element planned for the Otago Settlers Museum.

How to decorate around utilitarian architecture. Now, about the stadium and its immediate deathly surrounds.

How for it not to look like an impoverished aircraft hangar on the tarmac – can we walk over the main span like Auckland Harbour Bridge for new vantage points? We’re talking leisure and recreation over the dead duck…aka Dunedin adventure sport, a spot of goodwill hunting and DESPERATION to make it pay.

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AJ Hackett Bungy New Zealand
Auckland information and videos:
Auckland Bridge Bungy
Auckland Bridge Climb
Auckland Ultimate Bungy Spectator

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Posted by Elizabeth Kerr