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Len Lye Committee MEETING AGENDA LEN LYE COMMITTEE Thursday 14 July 2016 at 2pm Plymouth Room Chairperson Cr Marie Pearce Members: Cr Richard Handley Cr Howie Tamati Mayor Andrew Judd Dr John Matthews Dr Roger Horrocks Mr Evan Webb LEN LYE COMMITTEE THURSDAY 14 JULY 2016 Addressing the subcommittee Members of the public have an opportunity to address subcommittees during the public forum section or as a deputation. A public forum section of up to 30 minutes precedes all subcommittee meetings. Each speaker during the public forum section of a meeting may speak for up to 10 minutes. In the case of a group a maximum of 20 minutes will be allowed. A request to make a deputation should be made to the secretariat within two working days before the meeting. The chairperson will decide whether your deputation is accepted. The chairperson may approve a shorter notice period. No more than four members of a deputation may address a meeting. A limit of 10 minutes is placed on a speaker making a presentation. In the case of a group a maximum of 20 minutes will be allowed. Purpose of Local Government The reports contained in this agenda address the requirements of the Local Government Act 2002 in relation to decision making. Unless otherwise stated, the recommended option outlined in each report meets the purpose of local government and: • Will help meet the current and future needs of communities for good-quality local infrastructure, local public services, and performance of regulatory functions in a way that is most cost-effective for households and businesses; • Would not alter significantly the intended level of service provision for any significant activity undertaken by or on behalf of the Council, or transfer the ownership or control of a strategic asset to or from the Council. Len Lye Committee Thursday 14 July 2016 LEN LYE COMMITTEE THURSDAY 14 JULY 2016 HEALTH AND SAFETY Emergency procedures APOLOGIES None Advised CONFLICTS OF INTEREST None Advised PUBLIC FORUM None advised DEPUTATIONS None advised MINUTES RECOMMENDATION That the minutes of the Len Lye Committee Thursday 8 June 2015 and the proceedings of the said meeting, as previously circulated, be taken as read and confirmed as a true and correct record. Carried B ITEMS FOR RECOMMENDATION TO COUNCIL B1 LEN LYE COMMITTEE UPDATE The purpose of this report is to provide an update on matters relating to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre. Len Lye Committee Thursday 14 July 2016 LEN LYE COMMITTEE THURSDAY 14 JULY 2016 Len Lye Committee Thursday 14 July 2016 1 ITEM FOR RECOMMENDATION ITEM B1 LEN LYE COMMITTEE UPDATE PREPARED BY: Simon Rees (Manager Govett-Brewster) TEAM: Recreation and Culture APPROVED BY: Teresa Turner (Recreation and Culture Manager) WARD/COMMUNITY: District Wide DATE: 11 July 2016 FILE REFERENCE: ECM 7173478 PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to provide an update on matters relating to the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery / Len Lye Centre. RECOMMENDATION That, having considered all matters raised in the report, the report be noted. SIGNIFICANCE AND ENGAGEMENT This report is provided for information purposes only, and has been assessed as being of some importance. DISCUSSION Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre — Programme of Activities The focus of the Govett-Brewster activities has been the exhibition EMANATIONS: The Art of the Cameraless Photograph curated by Geoffrey Batchen and the ‘projection series’ Syncopated Cinema curated by long-term, and former, NZ Film Archive director Frank Stark. These projects concentrate of Len Lye as maker of photograms and direct animations. The exhibition of kinetic sculptures Four Fountains has remained extant through the period — with the3 addition of moving image material from the documentary The Walls Came Tumbling Down: the Art of the Sixties showing Len Lye at work in his studio with various kinetic sculptures. The New Zealand imprint of the book accompanying EMANATIONS has one of Len Lye’s portraits of Georgia O’Keefe on the cover; and the Govett-Brewster is about to release a publication gathering all of Lye’s photograms. During this period director Simon Rees has travelled extensively preparing institutional collaborations for the Govett-Brewster and on behalf of the Len Lye programming with a view to establishing exhibition programmes with: Tate Modern and Tate Britain (UK) in 2018; and the Tinguely Museum (Basel, CH) and Henry Moore Foundation (Leeds, UK) in 2019. The director and chief curator of the Tinguely Museum, Roland Wetzel and Andreas Pardey have booked travel to New Plymouth in late-November (2016). Rees also spoke as a keynote at the “Keeping Things Moving” conference of the Conservation Branch of the International Council of Museums [ICOM] annual congress in Milan (IT) — delivering a paper co-authored with Len Lye curator Paul Brobbel. At the congress Rees conducted an Len Lye Committee Thursday 14 July 2016 2 ITEM B1 ITEM FOR RECOMMENDATION important meeting with Tom Learner the Director of the Getty Conservation Institute [GCI]; with a view to sourcing funds from the GCI for kinetic sculpture and film restoration. Sarah Wall, assistant Len Lye curator, is currently preparing her first larger-scale exhibition for the Len Lye Centre’s Gallery 3. Set in Motion pairs work by Len Lye with work by a generation of artists making kinetic sculpture today; two of whom have been directly inspired by Lye. The participating artists, are: [Len Lye], Rebecca Baumann (AU), Zilvinas Kempinas (LT & US), Taree Mackenzie (AU), Ross Manning (AU). Revolving around Zebra and a 16mm film projection of Color Cry (1953), Lye’s kinetic sculpture and films become important points of reference for the younger artists’ work in this exhibition. It inspires us to consider how Lye’s work continues to be a catalyst and source of inspiration for artists today. Set in Motion includes a new work by Ross Manning, following his research in the Len Lye Collection and Archive. Manning drew inspiration from Lye’s abstract cameraless animations, and the kinetic qualities of cinema itself. The exhibition will be accompanied by a catalogue featuring commissioned essays by Amelia Groom, Dr Adam Jasper, Hannah Mathews, Patrice Sharkey, and Dr Danni Zuvela. Happily, the project has been awarded significant financial support by the Australian Government through the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body. “Re-discovery” of a Len Lye photogram Approximately one month ago, while doing research in the Len Lye Foundation Research Archive curator Paul Brobbel “found” the photogram Earth Magnetic (1930). It had always been intended that EMANATIONS include every known photogram made by Len Lye we didn't know about this one, hiding and yet to be catalogued in the archives. It was the one that almost got away. While the image is familiar, it is Lye’s cover design for Laura Riding’s book of poetry Though Gently, this is something special. (A copy of Though Gently has been included in the vitrine of publications on show in Gallery 3 since the exhibition opened). This is the original work, Earth Magnetic, a photogram made by Lye in Majorca in 1930 where he lived and worked with Riding and her partner, the poet Robert Graves. We’ve been able to put Earth Magnetic into EMANATIONS in a special spot on the mezzanine of the Govett-Brewster, highlighting the depth of the Len Lye Foundation Collection and Archive, and the ongoing work to research and catalogue this wonderful resource. We hope there'll be more such surprises in the future. Simon Rees made a Stop-Press on the new publication collecting “all” of the photograms to insert Earth Magnetic; delaying the publications release date — but for a good reason. Restoration/repair of works Arranged by Simon Rees in conjunction with Paul Brobbel and Evan Webb, Len Lye Foundation director, a version of Len Lye’s Grass that has been in bad repair and on public display at Lumley House on Shortland Street in Auckland has been returned to New Plymouth for restoration — at the cost of the owner. Once repaired the Govett-Brewster and Foundation will undertake to draft new provisos to ensure it is displayed properly and duly looked after in the years ahead. Len Lye Committee Thursday 14 July 2016 3 ITEM FOR RECOMMENDATION ITEM B1 After one year’s worth of restoration work in New Plymouth by Stuart Robb and Leith Robertson, for the Len Lye Foundation, and videographic recording by Bryan James, the Len Lye sculpture Loop (1965) was returned in full working order to the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago. Loop hadn’t been exhibited in many years and this October it will be returned to view within the Art Institute’s permanent collection. Events On Friday 8 July the Govett-Brewster produced the one day symposium “Practices in Contemporary Photography in collaboration with Te Papa Tongarewa the Museum of New Zealand, which had hosted a related one day event on Saturday 11 June. The first such ticketed event —with speakers from Melbourne, Auckland, and Wellington — the symposium was a sell-out (with all 62-places in the cinema full). The audience travelled from all over New Zealand to be in attendance. Media Coverage for Len Lye and/or Len Lye Centre May (2016) • Gekkan NZ • Objektiv Norway • Gay Express • Taranaki Daily News • Taranaki Daily News • Taranaki Daily News online • The Silent Grapevine / Deaf New Zealand • The Listener • Radio NZ • Trends Ideas • Art News NZ • Slate Magazine June (2016) • The Big Idea online • The Listener • Mind Food • New Zealand Herald • Taranaki Daily News
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