Mediacircus | Art & Design news collected from NZ & beyond

Auckland Art Gallery Toi O Tāmaki Development

"The development signals an exciting future for the gallery which significantly expands the role it can play in building and defining Auckland’s cultural and community identity. A modernised and extended gallery enables us to be more innovative and ambitious in opening up the world of the visual arts to a new generation of New Zealanders. We can display more of our key works more often and, with increased and more flexible spaces, we can enrich the story of art told through our collections and exhibitions programmes."

Chris Saines,
Director, Auckland Art Gallery

Charles and Ray Eames

Good article from Step Inside Design on Charles and Ray Eames discussing the impact they had on many different fields of design. Capturing the spirit and vision of artists/entrepreneurs Charles and Ray Eames is akin to grasping white-hot sparks. During their lives, which ended on Aug. 21, 1978, and Aug. 21, 1988, respectively, the Eameses impacted the global design community and mainstream culture with significant, award-winning contributions in architecture, film, furniture design and exhibitions.

Gateway by Chris Booth

This sculpture was created between 1986 and 90 by Chris Booth just outside my work on Victoria St East at the entrance to Albert Park.

Following a year of careful consideration, the elders of Ngati Kura and Ngati Rehia hapu, representatives of the Department of Conservation and the local landowners approved a particular selection of boulders for the sculpture. Ngati Kura elders lifted the tapu from the stones and donated them for the project as a gift to Auckland City.

Because of the threat of seismic movements, structural engineers required the 18m columns to be basalt boulders on the lower half with a lighter material above. Aluminium is a very common mineral in the earth and could be made to complement the boulders. With many setbacks, the work took two years to complete all the components, but only two weeks to assemble on the site.

Design of the year award winner

Shepard Fairey’s Obama poster has won the Brit Insurance Designs of the Year 2009 award.

Spike Jonze + UNKLE = Heaven

Spike Jonze returns to his music video roots to direct this UNKLE track Heaven

Canon 5D Mark II

Canon 5D Mark II from Focal Bliss on Vimeo.

First test footage with the Canon 5D Mark II. While pleased with the results of the camera, it felt a bit awkward at first especially trying to keep your eyes on the viewfinder hoping focus is achieved. Most of the night shots were hovering in the " is this going to be too noisy?" 1000 to 3200 ISO range maybe even 6400. All I can say is wow! The low light capabilities are stunning.

East vs West

In anticipation of the Biggie Smalls move, Flicks.co.nz has a brief history of hip hops east coast vs west coast 'wars': Media beat up? Record company propaganda? Or real-life vendettas? The tale of hip hop's 'East vs West' conflict - with the death of Tupac Shakur and Notorious B.I.G. at its centre - has a lot of ins, lot of outs. Biggie biopic Notorious is now playing in cinemas, and so we present this prelude - a brief history of music's most intriguing drama...

Design Assembly tonight (March 18 2009)

Design Assembly is a graphic design event. An evening of talks and discussion run by Graphic Designers for Graphic Designers that is held four times a year. The evenings provide the opportunity for Graphic Designers to meet and connect with other Graphic Designers in Auckland. It also provides a forum to listen to three speakers each evening on a variety of topics relating to Graphic Design, with the purpose of educating and inspiring.

Graffiti in context – Elliot ‘Askew’ O’Donnell
In the wake of the Pihema Cameron and Bruce Emery case, graffiti has cemented itself back into the mainstream psyche - re-igniting public outrage and prompting radical law reform. Graffiti writers are beginning to understand that documenting and presenting the history of the movement is in their hands. Bringing meaning, valid critique and context to the work is vital. Askew is one such artist advocating this approach. He combines a host of todays available technology and ‘Real World’ design to realise and document his work.

Why ideas are king for telling stories – Simon Shaw
Looking forward with image creation and new crayon technology. Illustration in NZ - how we use illustration in a country with a very young and fragile illustrative history.

Let’s Change the Flag – Paul Newfield
Paul Newfield and a group of his colleagues at Morrison & Co are aiming to reignite the debate about New Zealand’s flag. Back in 2004 Lloyd Morrison, the founder of Morrison & Co and Infratil, launched a campaign to change the flag. The campaign failed - mainly because we underestimated the huge effort required to communicate the aims, objectives and benefits of the campaign to the masses. Four years later the underlying issues haven’t changed. New Zealanders are still not emotionally connected to their flag, and are still dissatisfied with its design and with what it represents. We believe that choosing a new flag is an important step in defining our identity and aspirations as a nation. We’d like to challenge New Zealand’s design community to play an active role in the process.

Talks Milton Glaser: How great design makes ideas new

From the TED archives: The legendary graphic designer Milton Glaser dives deep into a new painting inspired by Piero della Francesca. From here, he muses on what makes a convincing poster, by breaking down an idea and making it new.