Out of the Cracks. The Christchurch Earthquake Aftermath

I headed down to Christchurch last week to do a bit of imbibing with friends and family for Christmas.  It was my first trip since the second of the two big major quakes, and although I knew that parts of Christchurch was in a bad way, and that I thought I knew what to expect,  I was wrong.  It takes a physical visit to see the damage, to understand even a fraction of what it would have been like for the people living in the city and what it might have been like when the earthquake hit.

I was taken to Avonside Drive - one of the worst hit areas, and in the 'Red Zone'.  That is, people have to leave the area as its no longer safe to life there.  The houses are beyond repair, and although many properties have been abandoned (and understandably so), there are still many people living in their damaged homes, holding on to what is dear to them.  I can understand their feelings.

Out of the cracks of the earthquake though, nature is slowly taking over the abandoned properties.  I've been told that if anything ever happened to the human race, it would only take 90 years or so and then nature would take over and very little trace would be found of us.  Certainly, after only 12 months in Christchurch, you can see it happening already.  The earth has chasms, the houses are ruined, but the flowers are in bloom...

This house is bent in so many ways, I couldn't even begin to align it in photoshop.  Nothing around the house was in a straight line either, so the only way I could tell was the alignment of the weeds coming out of the cracks in the pathway!

 The house next door - overgrown...

This house broke my heart.  Its obviously newly built, and like my new house, made from brick.  And this is what happened to it.  I'm on the Alpine fault, so when that goes, my house will most likely end up looking like this. Seems that wooden houses fare a bit better than the brick ones.  (Makes notes for my next house).  Notice all the liquefaction around the house as well.  It was everywhere.

The house sank.  Or the ground came up...

Whatever happened, the garage entrance is now very small.  This is Kellye - she's five foot nothing and a half.  As you can see she can touch the top of the garage, something that is usually impossible for her.  She tells me that further along, there was a house with a garage that went underground.  It filled with water.  It now has a brand new Mini sitting in the garage full of water and the car can not be retrieved.

A lovely curled deck, courtesy of the ground shaking event.

This house also sank.

Once a perfectly flat concrete driveway.  Now uneven sand.

 I took a photo through the glass with the lens up onto the window.  This is an image looking inside at the damage to the floors.  Liquefaction went right through the houses as well.

The cat door, now buried.

And everywhere the flowers bloomed beautifully, oblivious of the ruins around them.

Blooming in every conceivable crevice and crack wreaked by the huge earthquake... 

Gates can no longer be opened or shut.  My curiosity got the better of me so I wandered through...

The kitchen door was open so I took a photo of inside.  The liquefaction was all over the floor.

Bedrooms ruined, and mould now on the walls..

Carpets and underlay ruined as well.  It would be absolutely heartbreaking for any owner.

Another near new house with huge cracks in the plasterboard.  Didn't really stand a chance.

Everywhere there were port-a-loos still on the side of the roads as the sewerage system around this area is gone.  At least they were bright and colourful!

Many houses had bricks missing, some had props up on the outside holding complete sides up.

A bridge that once was almost flat, now squashed together so it rose in the middle..

Roof tiles gone...

Huge chasms in driveways...

I hope they were able to get their car out of the garage.

Bright red poppies growing in the huge chasms...

The Christchurch residents decorating road cones in preparation for Christmas..

This bridge just twisted.  Almost as if someone grabbed each end and yanked it in different directions.

I was told no one was on the bridge at the time of the quake.  Thank goodness for that...

Can you imagine the noise it would have made?  Not only the earthquake giving out a noise like a freight train, but the grinding of metal and concrete when the bridge twisted?

A city rubbish bin also got munted..

And the last word came from the locals...  They didn't like my photojournalism and mum wanted to protect her ducklings from nosy photographers.  I took the hint and left...

I have vertigo pretty much 24/7 anyway, but being in Christchurch it was 10x worse than normal.  Being in buildings that were on a slant because of uneven foundations, made me feel dizzy and sick.  Driving around on the roads full of potholes made me feel like one of those toy dogs that used to be in the back windows of cars, which used to nod their heads as they go over bumps.

I take my hats off to all those hardy people in Christchurch, and I am looking forward to visiting again to take photos of the rebuild.  You have my utmost respect.

Ron Mueck Art Exhibition

I haven't updated my blog for a while. A whole six weeks. My excuse is that I've been busy, my laptop died, and I've had lots of visitors!

Anyway - while I was down in Christchurch for my last mapping session for the Cochlear Implant, I called into the Christchurch Art Gallery to see the Ron Mueck Exhibition. I've seen photographs of his work before, and every time I've been overseas, I've checked the galleries hoping I'd get to see him to no avail. So I was thrilled to see his work being shown in Christchurch.

If you get a chance to go, he's on until January, and he's a must see. The Christchurch Art Gallery building is new, and a wonderful photo opportunity as it's architecture is great. It has not suffered any damage in the quake, but the artists must be concerned for their work with all the aftershocks going on.

Ron Mueck specialises in larger than life hyperrealist sculptures. In incredible detail.

Mask II (2001-2), mixed media. Huge head (the face appears to be Mueck's own), lying on its side as if asleep - private collection.

Mueck's sculptures reproduce the minute detail of the human body, but play with scale to produce disconcertingly jarring visual images. When you study the Mask a bit closer, you find you get drawn into the details..

Through a video stream playing at the gallery, you learn that each hair is implanted individually, and real human hair is used. So when you see the individual sculptures and see how much hair is on some of them, you can only imagine how long it would take.

The next sculpture we saw was incredible. Pregnant Woman (2002), fibreglass, resin, silicone - 2.5-metres tall sculpture of a naked pregnant woman clasping her hands above her head.

What really amazed me was the detail in the foot. He has even put the white pressure points in the toes, as it would be there if you were standing in the same position...

Even the toenails aren't cut evenly, as you would expect.

Other attention to details that I noticed were the veins, which apparently are painted on, the moles and the breast. He obviously studied his model well!

Ron Mueck's latest work was on display - A Girl...

A Girl is constructed from a variety of media including fibreglass, polyester resin, silicone and natural hair.

To give an idea of size, that's Liz, looking down at the baby with a look of relief on her face, that her daughter wasn't this big when she was born!

Youth (2009), mixed media. Diminutive figure (65 cm high) of African or African-American youth, holding up his T-shirt to examine a wound in his belly...

I was quite fascinated in this one because of what the youth was wearing. Not only had Ron Mueck had the details of the body to the nth degree, but even the way he had dressed the youth, with the jeans, and the underwear showing, just as the youth like to wear them today.


Man in a Boat (2002), mixed media - 1/3 scale naked man seated toward the prow of a 4-metre-long rowing boat..

The degree of detail in the collar bones around the neck is wonderful. You didn't expect me to comment on anything else did you? !!

In Bed (2005). Huge (3 x scale?) woman lying in bed, hand raised to her face in a contemplative pose.

Liz and I decided that this woman must sick due to the yellow hue and red eyes. A massive sculpture though, and I desperately wanted to peek under the blankets to see what it looked like!

Woman with Sticks (2008), mixed media. 180 cm-high model of naked woman, bent backwards, carrying huge bundle of sticks.

I had difficulty with this one. My question was, why would you even attempt to carry sticks if you were naked. Liz pointed out to me that the artist had done his job, by evoking the feeling of sticks against a naked body. True. But I still can't understand why anyone would in the first place!

Two Women (2005), mixed media. Two diminutive, clothed, elderly women, standing as though gossiping.

This one was quite something. Again the attention to detail was amazing, right down to the creases in the pantihose (saggy stockings). The expression in the faces were downright suspicious...

Still Life (2009), mixed media. Slaughtered and plucked chicken, same size as a human being, hung from hook by its feet.

While I took this photo of Liz standing next to this one, someone mentioned that I should title it 'Two Old Chooks!'. Excellent title!

Old Woman in Bed (2000), mixed media - 1/2 scale - very elderly or dying woman lying in bed, draped in blankets, asleep.

Again, this one had me curious, wanting to lift the blankets to see if the sculpture was whole under the blankets, or ended at the face. I restrained myself, but was so glad I went.

If you are in Christchurch before the 23rd January 2011, don't miss it! It was one of the most interesting art exhibitions I have been to.