Navigation for Upbeat

Upbeat for Friday 20 May 2016

  • All about the (double) bass

    1:40 PM.From death metal rock concerts to chamber music, orchestras to jazz bands, double bass player Alex Verster is so versatile he's won a 2016 Patricia Pratt Scholarship. After playing jazz bass for years… Read more Audio

  • Jealous Saboteurs

    1:10 PM.New Zealand artist Francis Upritchard and jeweller Karl Fritsch discuss their work together. The Germans have a word for it: Gesumptkunsthandwerk: the marriage of art, craft and design. Francis… Read more Audio

1.00 Jealous saboteurs

Brown Sloth Creature an art work by Francis Upritchard and Karl Fritsch

Brown Sloth Creature an art work by Francis Upritchard and Karl Fritsch Photo: Christian Capurro

Gesumptkunsthandwerk; the marriage of art, craft and design is a collaborative artistic practice from New Zealand artist Francis Upritchard and jeweller Karl Fritsch. Upritchard’s enigmatic figures wear Fritsch's hand made jewels, with the work often displayed on Martino Gamper's furniture. Francis moved to London in 1998 and has become one of our most significant overseas artists. Karl has gone the other way and moved here from Germany to establish his practice in Wellington.

Travellers Collection by Francis Upritchard

Travellers Collection by Francis Upritchard borrowed from London’s Saatchi Gallery—a cabinet of curiosities, including a mummy, ceramic canopic jars and faux-Maori artefacts Photo: Francis Upritchard

1.30 All about the (double) bass

2016 Patricia Pratt Scholarship winner Alex Verster choosing a bass for his music school audition at Thwaites Fine Stringed Instruments in London

2016 Patricia Pratt Scholarship winner Alex Verster choosing a bass at Thwaites Fine Stringed Instruments. Photo: Supplied

From death metal rock concerts to chamber music, orchestras to jazz bands, double bass player Alex Verster has just won a 2016 Patricia Pratt Scholarship. At 23 Alex decided to move from jazz to classical and took only 9 months to learn how to play the bass. He's now on full scholarship at the Trinity Laban School in London.