I've heard a few people comment over the last week that they're a little tuckered out by all the festival atmosphere around town, and while I can understand how you can have just a little too much fun and good times, it has to be said that the last few weeks have well lifted my opinion of good old Wellington.
Much of the festival itself was outside of my budget, but I tried to take in as many of the free or just plain interesting events going on around town, mix it up with the people, all that kind of stuff. I thought then that I'd put on a dusty old copy of 'Amnesiac' to get the cerebrum moving and tell you all about it.
For starters the Patricia Piccinini exhibition at the City Gallery is a must-see, being both compelling and repulsive. The way in which she has contrasted banal interaction with animals with her exotic creatures is fascinating, and evokes dread in people I've spoken to, while also instilling a need to discuss their reaction to her work.
By way of example, one sketch depicts a baby with this creature kind of lying on it. It's awful, and immediately causes the viewer to assume the creature is predatory or 'evil'. But the position it's lying in is essentially the same as a well-known and vicious predator like a cat would indeed lie on a baby. Amazing stuff.
The next thing is the Earth from Above exhibit that's been showing in the new and very flash Waitangi Park. I'll return to the park, but for now lets say that the crowds who've turned out to see this captivating series of pictures has been well and truly good for the city. There's something about heaps of people bringing friends and family out to see some art that just makes me think good of the world.
Putting the one-world undertones to one side, I saw almost every kind of person out looking at the exhibit over a number of visits to the park during the past few weeks. It's something of a pity it can't stay, they've drawn what seems like a huge number of people down to the waterfront, Wellingtons newest great place to be.
I was living in Auckland when the viaduct started to kick off as a place to socialise and it's only on the most recent trips to Auckland (specifically last month) that I've thought it had any real feeling of cohesion. I should add that my status as a visitor meant I was only gaining glimpses of what it is 'really like'. But it did always seem like it was a little too angled at people with cash to spend, and not so much like a public space? As opposed to say Mission bay, which while also angled at cash was more of a place to hang out.
When this impression of Auckland was being formed, I'd not long left Wellington, where the waterfront was nothing short of appalling. I was having lunch with a mate from 'back in the day' on Sunday and neither of us could remember actually ever heading down to the waterfront for anything. I did however recall a New Years Eve party being thrown in some place called 'Shed 5' and remembered thinking, "why in the hell would you head down all the way over there for a party?" So many both the Wellington and Auckland waterfronts are coming along nicely at around the same time.
And coming along the waterfront is. The walk along from near the government end of the city to Te Papa and Waitangi Park has become pretty much the standard trip for a lot of people, and it's a great public space. There is sculpture galore, for instance the fantastic new Len Lye 'Water Whirler', which I've thus far only seen in the daytime, space for cyclists, roller bladders, skaters, joggers, walkers and jogger-pushers alike, the harbour in all its glory, and a lot of surprisingly good weather.
I seem to remember Wellington being freaking miserable, but if anything the past year has nothing but surprised me. The last winter was comparable to Melbourne, just a little windy. Unsurprisingly. The main difference is the way in which the city has brightened up. Again, having spoken to a couple of people who remember what the place was like in the late 80s and 90s, the sparkle and glitz around the place really does make a substantial difference to the place's liveability.
Finally, in the 'surprising amount of knowledge' category, I joined Tom from Well Urban, Hayden from Grabthars Hammer, and couple of the attendees at the BlogHui in a tour of Wellington architecture this past Sunday. Tom should run that event again, because it was fascinating. More detail about what's going on and the reasons for things than you could shake a stick at.
What else is there to say? With all this and my underwater jungle gym breaking into three distinct pieces despite being in great condition just before Christmas, things here aren't too bad.
Still hankering for the gelato at Gelobar on Lygon Street though.
Ah well.