Headland - The Big sculpture show on Waiheke

Headland,
Sculpture on the Gulf
Matiatia, Waiheke Island
Until February 15

The most contentious work at this year's Headland exhibition was a couple of power poles that were not even part of the exhibition.

Local iwi pointed out that the holes for the poles which were being used to provide electricity to some of the exhibits were dug into the ancient burial grounds on the foreshore of Matiatia.

This unintentional outcome is a powerful example of the way in which the man-made can conflict with the social and natural environment. The bi-annual sculpture show is often at pains to stress the way in which the site specific art works are created in sympathy with the landscape. It is obvious with most of the sculptures in this year's show that the artists have all dealt with the often conflicting notions of the art works being site specific, connecting with the landscape, referencing with the history and culture of Waiheke Island along with making strong visual statements and demonstrating technical skills.

Among the works which engage sympathetically with the landscape is Veronica Herber's “Landform” which is seen most dramatically as the ferry approaches Waiheke. The artist has used strips of white fabric to create a series of circular patterns on the grass. The work looks like a huge abstract painting imposed on the land but is also a topographical drawing outlining the contours of the headland.

A couple of the works refer directly to Waiheke as with Richard Maloy’s “Tree Hut” ($20,000). He has previously made a number of simple constructions, the most recent in the Auckland Art Gallery’s Freedom Farmers exhibition. This work made from recycled timber connects with the baches of Waiheke made with assorted materials. The work also connects with both the winner of the last Headland show, the complex construction of Gregor Kregar and also with Matt Ellwood’s work “Half a Pallet of Building Blocks” ($9000) consisting of several handmade wooden blocks, copies of ordinary concrete block which is a commentary on the boutique houses being currently being built on the island.

One of the more sophisticated works is “Crossed Wires” ($10,000) constructed by Sharonagh Montrose with a soundscape by Helen Bowater. The work appears to be the tops of telegraph poles (an unintentional reference to the previously mentioned poles on the foreshore) almost completely buried with power lines stretched between them.

Emanating from these is a soundscape, which is a mixture of music, voices and natural sounds as though they are they are capturing the songs of the earth like an Aeolian harp, a huge stringed instrument which sits lightly in the environment but reaches deep into the subterranean.

In contrast Anah Dunsheath’s “My Pic is my Bond” ($19,500) showing an image of James Bond (Sean Connery) taking a selfie sits brazenly on a hillock like one of the ornate frames which have been set up in some of the regional parks to focus our attention on the view. The work demands viewer participation and many in the crowds were using the work as a background to their own selfies.

Denis O’Connor's complex work “The Archive Wine Bar” is something of a companion piece to Regan Gentry’s “The Rocky Bay Store” from the last Headland show, which currently sits on the ridge above Matiatia. It is a pop gallery featuring a mixture of histories and invented histories of Waiheke Islands wine culture. It displays wine bottles, wine posters, fiction al magazine articles and reproductions of the artist's own work all set around a bar.

Some works interact with the viewers and environments in clever ways such as “Field Apart” by Angus Muir and Alexandra Heaney. The work consists of 36 tall mirror glass square pillars. The 144 reflecting surfaces create a visual experience which is part fun fair, part disorientating kaleidoscope and part surreal maze. Passing through the forest of mirrors, the viewer encounters flashes of images – sea, sky, grass, and glimpses of other people in an ever changing collage of images disorientating, intriguing and whimsical.

The work “Target” ($45,000) by James Wright derives from the artist's several attempts to be part of the headlands show. A huge corten steel target is punctured by one large steel arrow with others sticking out of the ground as if it were a giant’s archery field. They represent the number times he has applied for (and failed) to gain a place in the headland show. The work is also a metaphor for the challenges and failures of life.

Some of the favourites among the 31 works in the show include three giant steel kinetic dandelions, “Stop the Clock ($25,000-35,500) by Jane and Mario Downes, Tania Patterson’s Flowers of the Sky ($35,000), a domed structure composed of laser-cut floral silhouettes and “Artificial Astronomy” ($9700) the work by Finnish artists Elin&Keino consisting of seven black buckets in which can be viewed major constellations. Several of the works are more conceptual than sculptural, often requiring audience participation these include the winner of the $30,000 Lexus prize Cushla Donaldson for her work “The Precariats” which attempts to engage viewers with new models of social and political structures as well as new approaches to art creation and patronage.