Standing Room Only for Sunday 1 July 2018

 

 

12:15 Ferns and why we need a public art registry - Sue Elliot

This week Ferns - a giant aluminium ball by Neil Dawson that became something of a visual icon for Wellington City - was re-suspended midair above Wellington's Civic Square. Its back after three years away having back then been judged unsafe due to due to structural problems.

Other public sculpture is not so lucky. Left to crumble, forgotten in some corner of the city or, worst still, languishing in some council depot or, heaven forbid destroyed. Two years ago Radio New Zealand covered calls for a public art register to keep track of our public art but - like the re-instalment of Neil Dawson's Ferns - work on this has been slow. Now its picking up a head of steam. Mark Amery spoke to Sue Elliot, chair of the Wellington Sculpture Trust.

 On July 14 people can join Sue on a walking tour of two E Mervyn Taylor murals in Masterton. Details here.

 

12:30 Upu Mai Whetu - a tribute to Maori and Pacific poets

For a culture to progress - or even exist - it needs the chance to tell its stories. And Maori and Pacific performers have experienced a massive growth in the popularity of spoken word poetry - in events like Poetry Slams, amongst groups like the South Auckland Poets Collective and of course in the wave of words from hip hop culture.

Tapping into that is an upcoming live show at Auckland's Basement Theatre. Upu Mai Whetu is being organised by poet, director and youth worker Grace Taylor - and what makes it distinct is it taps into the words - the Upu - of some of the big names of Maori and Pacific literature, using some famous current stars, including Mia Blake, Rawiri Paratene and Nicola Kawana.

Upu Mai Whetu - a tribute to some great Maori and Pacific poets - opens at Auckland's Basement Theatre on the 10th of July.

 

12:45 Natasha Conland on the Walters Prize and Jacqueline Fraser

Established in 2002 and held biannually the Walters Prize is New Zealand's preeminent contemporary art award.  

As well as discussing the work of Jacqueline Fraser - The Making of Mississippi Grind - Mark Amery talks to the Auckland Art Gallery's Natasha Conland about how the Walters is put together.

Natasha was the first coordinating curator of the Walters Prize back in 2006 shortly after joining the Gallery.

This was the last of our four interviews with the artists shortlisted for the Prize, which will be announced in November. Click on these links for the rest: Ruth Buchanan, Pati Solomona Tyrell and Jess Johnson and Simon Ward.

The Walters exhibition opens in August.

Also opening this week  in Auckland is a new Jacqueline Fraser installation in the same series, The Making of Carbon Copy at Michael Lett Gallery

 

1:10 At The Movies

Simon Morris welcomes the New Zealand International Film Festival, and has his annual chat with Festival Director Bill Gosden about a few of the highlights. The web version offers a director's cut, featuring 10 more minutes of essential insights! Some of this year's highlights include Cannes Festival winner Shoplifters from Japan, from American director Debra Granik, the acclaimed Leave no trace, starring New Zealander Thomasin Harcourt-McKenzie, and from Russia with love, Our new President celebrates Donald Trump…

 

1:33 Rima Te Wiata on her career and the brilliance of Taylor Mac's Hir

Silo Theatre in Auckland's latest production Hir is what its American playwright Taylor Mac called a critique of "troglodyte fascist heteronormative" culture. But as Mark Amery finds out there's some humour as well as anger there. Taylor Mac is a gender-queer playwright, drag queen and performance artist who Time Out New York called "one of the most exciting theatre artists of our time". Well, one of the most exciting theatre artists of new Zealand's current time might be Rima Te Wiata, known for her work in theatre television and film. Rima discusses both the play and where she's at in her career. Hir opens at the Herald Theatre in Auckland on August 2nd.

 

1:50 Sydney to Dunedin and back - Aboriginal artist Jonathan Jones

Australian artists who regularly exhibit in new Zealand are rarer than you think - particularly those reflecting Australian aboriginal culture. One exception is artist Jonathan Jones - from the Wiradjuri and Kamilaroi nations of south-east Australia. Known for his work with florescent tubes, he shows with Tim Melville Gallery in Auckland and his giant wall work 'Untitled (D21.281 Galari Bargan)' is showing at the Dunedin Public Art Gallery until December 31. The work is inspired by the colonial exchange of artefacts between Otago Museum and the Australian Museum in Sydney. Included in the traded collection was a Galari (Wiradjuri) bargan (boomerang) from the Lachlan River, one of the three rivers that are central to Wiradjuri identity. Today the boomerang is identified in the Otago Museum collection by its registration number, D21.281.

 

2:06 The Laugh Track - Mike Minogue of Wellington Paranormal

Mike Minogue star of the TV spinoff of What we do in the shadows called Wellington Paranormal (screening this month on TV2) on The Laugh Track. Mike's picks: The Young Ones, Mickey Flanagan, and TV series' Toast of London and Seinfeld.

 

2.25 People from Featherston stand up - poet and sculptor Sam Duckor Jones

Sam Duckor Jones is a talented young artist best known for his distinctive, whimiscal clay sculptures of men -  characters he sends out into the world. 

But sculpture is just one of Sam's media. He is also a poet, and his first book of poetry and drawings is about to be released by Victoria University Press. It's called People From the Pit Stand Up.

Mark Amery spoke with Sam and they started by chatting about Wairarapa township Featherston. 

 

2:35 Children's theatre stalwart on surviving and the bringing the joy: Tim Bray Productions

This year Tim Bray Productions is celebrating its 27th year - which is pretty much ancient in New Zealand theatre company terms - that's 27 years of school holiday productions in Auckland.

Tim adapts children's literary classics, many of them beloved New Zealand stories, and for his services to children and theatre received a Queen's Service Medal last year.

Tim has adapted The Great White Man-Eating Shark and Other Stories by Margaret Mahy for ages 3 to 8.  The show opened in Auckland last night and is on through the school holidays until 21st of July before touring Northland.

He spoke to Mark Amery about starting the company at Central Theatre - now Basement Theatre Auckland - in the 1990s and how they've managed to survive.

 

2:40 My Heels Are Killing Me - Will the bricks come tumbling down?

So what do people actually want, and are physical stores still relevant? Sonia Sly finds out more in this latest episode of My heels are killing me.

Surviving in the retail industry is tough, and today it’s a battle for stores to keep their cash registers ticking over. The rapid rise of e-commerce is partly to blame for the changes in shopping habits. But fingers also point to Millennials who opt for experiences and travel over material purchases. Online shopping is here to stay and it has made life easier for consumers who can now purchase products from anywhere in the world. But the downside for retailers is an increasingly competitive space where brick-and-mortar stores need to be more innovative and conscious of strategies to keep customers walking through their doors with purchases in hand.

 

3:06 Drama at 3 - At Least We Have Our Jobs by Francesca Emms with songs by Robbie Ellis

Our drama hour this afternoon offers a modern musical cabaret. Jenny leaves the world of the unemployed to work for a government funded agency. Suddenly she's confronted by  the grim realities of the workplace, but she can also examine her own life and ambitions. And it's a musical! At Least We Have Our Jobs by Francesca Emms with songs by Robbie Ellis.

 

Artist: Elvis Presley

Song: That’s All Right

Composer: Arthur Crudup

Album: The Sun Sessions

Label: RCA Victor

Played at: 12.12pm

 

Artist: The New main Street Singers

Song: Potato’s in the Paddy Wagon

Composer: John Michael Higgins

Album: A Mighty Wind: The Album

Label: DMZ

Played at: 12.35pm

 

Artist: Mississippi John Hurt

Song: Coffee Blues

Composer: Mississippi John Hurt

Album: The Best Of Mississippi John Hurt

Label: Vanguard

Played at: 12.55pm

 

Artist: The Muppets

Song: Coconut

Composer: Harry Nilsson

Album: Favorite Songs From Jim Henson's Muppets

Label: Silver Eagle Records

Played at: 1.30pm

 

Artist: Faith Hill

Song: Mississippi Girl

Composer: John Rich Adam Shoenfeld

Album: Fire flies

Label: Warner bros

Played at: 1.55pm

 

Artist: The Allman Brothers

Song: Jessica

Composer: Dickey Betts

Album: Brothers and Sisters

Label: Capricorn Records

Played at: 2.05pm

 

Artist: Steve Forbert

Song: Romeo’s Tune

Composer: Steve Forbert

Album:Jackrabbit Slim

Label: Epic

Played at: 2.55pm

Be Altitude: Respect Yourself