Centre of attention

You know it’s happening but it's still a shock to see half of the Govett-Brewster demolshed along with the buildings that used to stand beside it. The ground area left behind is huge and leaves the old G-B building looking rather forlorn. Over the next two years (the Centre is slated to open in 2015) this chunk of land will become the new Len Lye Centre. It will be New Zealand’s first single-artist institution and will sit alongside the G-B sharing some exhibition space. It’s a big gamble for New Plymouth and to match it the New Plymouth City Council will pay the new director up to $122,279 a year.

The investment in the Len Lye Centre is based on the assumption that the new museum will attract both the people of New Plymouth and (very importantly) people from outside the region.  At this stage the Govett-Brewster is projecting an annual target audience for its proposed Centre of 56,000. New Plymouth is a city of 69,000 so interesting to see how this estimate compares with the experience of other single artist institutions.

The Andy Warhol Museum - 115,000 visitors a year in Pittsburgh, population 307,000

The Georgia O'Keeffe Museum - 170,000 visitors a year in Santa Fe, population 68,642.

The Norman Rockwell Museum - 125,000 visitors a year in Stockbridge, population 26,000

Noguchi Museum - 25,000 visitors a year in Long Island City, population 126,000

Other OTN stories on the Len Lye Centre
The building
The audience

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have come the way of otn via its readers: rhana devenport the new director of the auckland art gallery was in new plymouth last week as a member of the panel selecting the new director of the govett-brewster  • applications from just about every curator you have heard of (and one who isn’t) have all passed to the next stage in the who-will-go-to-venice race run by creative nz • if you are anywhere near the hamburger bahnhof in berlin eight euro will get you in to see simon denny’s entry into the national gallery prize to be awarded 19 september • two and a half years after the departure of heather galbraith te papa has still not advertised for a senior art curator • when auckland university was out chasing up students to bulk up numbers at its  elam art school last week, it entertained the shanghai university delegation at dealer gallery starkwhite • francis upritchard has a work featured in the first exhibition held on new york’s high line • the auckland city council has launched a survey and the line of questioning suggests that a city artist in residence is in the wind • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us laugh out loud will be suitably rewarded.

Spam

unvarnished facts, reckless guesswork, insinuations and possible inventions that have landed in our email: te papa has advertised four art curator positions to help them 'enter a bold new phase' and 're-organise for the future' • dealers and auction houses report a stampede of hotere resales being offered to the market just days after the artist’s death • want to know where the money goes? this year cnz has announced when grants will be published on their web site and next up are the quick response grants on 14 march at 5 pm • the aag search team for a new director is thought to be jenny gibbs deputy chair of regional facilities, robert domm chief executive of regional facilities and an ex art museum director from australia (edmund capon?) • peter robinson and fiona connor have been selected for the 2013 instanbul biennale • a nielsen quality of life survey found only 7 percent of aucklanders ‘agreed strongly’ that their city had a culturally rich and diverse arts scene • starting work on the len lye centre will be further delayed to later this year as the tender winning construction company finishes the new plymouth police station • webb’s are following art + auction’s temp exhib at 30 upstairs in wellington last year with their own temp exhib at the new the young • any missed details, indignant denials or additions gratefully received, and any that makes us go into ‘wish we’d thought of it’ mode will be rewarded with an overthenet painting horse badge.

The Len Lye Centre gets another final go ahead

Things are certainly changing. Thanks to the New Plymouth District Council’s commitment to live streaming, it was possible to follow last night’s meeting on the Len Lye Centre. Essentially a sum of $750,000 was required in excess of other funds raised because the tenders came in higher than expected. The Council had to decide whether to stump up for the extra or not.

Not picking up the extra cost would delay or stop the project altogether. Most submissions started with a statement of support for the Centre but cost was the main point of contention. Questions were asked about the difficulty of raising funds in the current climate and it was suggested that the LLC efforts were putting other community fundraising projects at risk. There was a break of sorts when John Matthews showed pics of giant Len Lyes (Blades, Serpents etc) currently in production. Kinsley Sampson, the Chair of the Len Lye Trust, told Council that he felt they could raise any further sums required once people saw the building had started. The Council then debated the motion.

The Mayor spoke to the vote calling the project “a $10 million gift to the city” and something that will define New Plymouth for the future. He also felt there would be considerable support for further fundraising (Helen Clark and Chris Finlayson have both put up their hands). The seconder was very supportive and figured it was "too late to back out now." There followed a strange amendment about trying to raise funds by selling donated art works to raise the missing $750,000 (poor old bloody artists). But it passed by one vote. Then more talk for and against. And the vote to fund or not to fund? It was 9 votes to 6 to go ahead. As one councillor said “Art’s not my thing, Len Lye is not my thing but the community is my thing so I’ll be voting yes.”
YOU CAN READ THE LATEST NEWS ON WORK AND FUNDING HERE (11-03-13)

Images: The Len Lye Centre meeting being live streamed

First Govett-Brewster director slams Len Lye Centre

Frustrated by a lack of progress after a number of meetings, founding director of the Govett-Brewster John Maynard (and the person responsible for setting it on its course as a leader in contemporary art over the last 42 years) has publically called for a halt to building of the Len Lye Centre. 

In a letter to today's Council meeting addressed to the Mayor and Councillors of the New Plymouth District Council, John Maynard claims the current building project of  “over exaggerated cultural benefits and underestimated costs”. The letter calls for the Council “to apply common sense to the problem … send the Len Lye Centre back to the drawing board… incorporate the Gallery extension and insist that the design complies with the architectural brief and the budget.”

Maynard gives five reasons for this Hail Mary pass to stop the plan.

·      The failure of the proposed design to provide the museum standards outlined in the brief.

·      The ongoing costs of maintaining a stainless steel façade (Maynard points to the stained base of Lye’s Wind Wand as an example of the problem)

·      The waste (Maynard estimates around $4million) involved in demolishing the Award-winning 1998 extension as part of the project

·      The risk to TSB and the New Plymouth Council of further commitments if the project runs over budget

·      Under-estimation of the budget

Maynard describes the Patterson-designed Centre as “dull, pompous and self important” and “an empty metaphor for a great artist who was known for playfulness, wit and humour.”

You can read the Council papers here and watch today's 4.30pm meeting on the future of the Len Lye Centre live streamed here

The upward spiral

All art museums need more space. Our own Te Papa has plans in the wingsand the Govett-Brewster is off on a new build for their Len Lye Centre. But how about this idea for enlarging the Guggenheim Museum? It comes from Athens-based architects Oiio

China town

You want to talk architectural models? We did that when discussing the soon-to-be-started Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth but in Shanghai we caught the mother lode. It’s a model showing all the buildings in the central city and stretches out over an entire floor of the Urban Development Museum. And did they take liberties with heights, angles and distances between buildings? Well … maybe on that pointy-topped one you can see 1,347 from the left and 589 from the top.

Model behaviour

There’s a New Yorker cartoon that shows a couple of architects and their client standing around the model of a skyscraper. “Oh no, I think you misunderstood,” one of the architects is saying. “The $3 million is for the model.” Yes, architectural models have become crucial in the selling of architecture both to the client and, often more importantly, to the local community.

The reality is that apart from architects and builders (and architects will tell you most builders are marginal) hardly anyone can read plans. That’s why the spaces in so many buildings never seem to quite work for the functions that they are supposed to serve. The people who know what’s needed find it almost impossible to express what they know to the designers.

And then of course there is the exterior appearance of buildings. Architectural renditions and models are important not only to show what a building will look like but how it looks in its surroundings. And that’s where it can get tricksy. We’ve all seen presentations where the goal is to tone down how a building will impact its neighborhood. That’s how you can get a huge tower block shown as though it’s only just a tiny bit higher than the small wooden church it will in fact dominate. So the smart thing to do is look at models and renditions with a good dollop of suspicion.

Take the way the new Len Lye Center is presented in relation to the existing Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. A key requirement of the new building is that it ensures the Govett-Brewster retains its independent identity but you may be excused for thinking a few liberties have been taken.

1.     In the model the Govett-Brewster juts out into the street proud of the LLC. While this goes some way to downplaying that the LLC’s façade will be twice the length of the original Govett-Brewster building, it’s not accurate. The new stainless steel façade of the LLC runs in line with the existing gallery building. You can see this on the plans here.

2.     The artist’s rendition makes it look as though the new LLC has a large forecourt where people could gather. In fact, as you can see from the model and plans, it is the same width as the standard footpath that extends in front of the existing Govett-Brewster.

3.     In the gleaming façade of the artist’s rendition you can see a park land with trees reflected. It is almost bucolic. In fact it is the green area at the top of the street; the new LLC façade alongside the Govett-Brewster will reflect the White Hart hotel and other buildings.

Over-enthusiastic promotion or deliberate smoke screen? OTY.

Images: Top, model and bottom, artist's rendition

Other OTN stories on the Len Lye Centre: Fundraising, Design, Exhibiting Len Lye