‘Seeing Shadow Shapes’ – ‘Discovering the City as a Tourist, and the Suburb as a Detective’

‘DISCOVERING – UNCOVERING – RECOVERING’ – 15th April, 2021 Part 1: Continue to discover and explore a part (Central Business District: CBD) of Tāmaki Makaurau as a tourist.

As I walked around the CBD I discovered many contrasting buildings and sculptures, some with old constructions, and some with new. I reflected upon the development of architecture in Tāmaki Makaurau, and was impressed with some contemporary buildings.

Some building and sculpture planes looked thin and flat like a piece of paper, until you shifted your body position to discover their edges and volume of form from different angles.  

I am interested in history, and Albert Park has many histories, and is now a domestic and tourist destination for events and visits. There are reinstated cannons that were once buried after the war, a Band rotunda, traditional statues, and newer sculptural art works, all spaced out amongst the brightly coloured annual garden beds. It has a visual art connection through the protected trees to the Auckland Art Gallery, Toi o Tāmaki.

Neil Dawson, Throwback, 1988, Concrete and Steel. I like how Dawson’s D-shape sculpture stands proudly amongst the large trees. Its body mass is immense, bold and striking! Even though the half oval frame material is made of heavy, solid concrete and steel, it sits happily tilted on an angle, an engineering feat. I like seeing a window view through sculptures, and it has many gaping portals to see both the green garden beyond, and the surrounding concrete jungle of Tāmaki Makaurau.

Nature is inspiring to me, so I am interested in gardens and plant life, and in particular the trees in Albert Park. Historically, the oak trees at Albert Park were planted in 1908 by a group of American ‘Great White Fleet’ officers from the United States of America Navy. After viewing the 112 year old trees and listening to their leaves breathe in the breeze, my detective eyes discovered a self-seeded plant growing out of its Palm tree host as I walked by.

DISCOVERING – UNCOVERING – RECOVERING’ – 15th April, 2021. Part 1: Detective exploration around my neighborhood in Tāmaki Makaurau. Familiar walks can always find new sights… it is the third day in a row that I have stumbled upon fungi growth! I wonder if they are poisonous. This time I discover a large city of golden mushrooms growing on a compost pile next to a construction site!

Detective work on my walk reveals many constructions, from bird nests, spider web homes, to fungi cities. I live in one of the oldest and earliest European settler suburbs of Tāmaki Makaurau. Now, many older style buildings have been remodelled and reconstructed, yet some have been completely demolished, and new architecture is creeping in. ‘Something Old, Something New’ is my suburb’s motto.

I like how the criss cross scaffolding bars create a volume covering the majority of pictorial space, and how their lines contrast against the soft watercolour painted sky.