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.

Cochlear Implant - 18 Months Review

Just had my 18 months mapping with this new implant. For those that have forgotten, this is my third implant, after the first one failed. Reimplanted in same ear. Electrodes migrated, so reimplanted again in the same ear.. I feel I'm not doing tooooooo badly...


HINT (open set) Sentences at 3 months: 100%
HINT (open set) Sentences at 6 months: 98%
HINT (open set) Sentences at 9 months: 100%
HINT (open set) Sentences at 18 months: 98% (Grrr)!

In background noise +10db SNR at 3 months: 92%
In Background noise +10db SNR at 6 months: 96%
In Background noise +10db SNR at 9 months: 83% (gone down!)
In Background noise +10db SNR at 18 months: 90% (back up a bit)

In background noise +5db SNR at 3 months: 24%
In background noise +5db SNR at 6 months: 47%
In background noise +5db SNR at 9 months: not tested
IN background noise +5db SNR at 18 months: 38%

CNC Words Alone at 3 months: 63%
CNC Words Alone at 6 months: 65%
CNC Words Alone at 9 months: 68% (Slowly improving)
CNC Words Alone at 18 months 60% (gone down)

CNC Words Alone Phonemes at 3 months: 82%
CNC Words Alone Phonemes at 6 months: 83%
CNC Words Alone Phonemes at 9 months: 87%
CNC Words Alone Phonemes at 18 months: 75% (Gone down)

So no real improvement still in my opinion! I still struggle enormously in background noise, and still did much better with my original implant the N22 before it failed. I also feel that the sound quality of the Freedom has never been as good as the N22. It's much harsher.

But this is still miles better than being totally deaf, so in those terms, I'm happy to be implanted and hearing!

Views from my Window

I think I've told you already, but just in case I haven't, did you know I'm blessed with some beautiful views out my lounge window?

Every morning during winter, I would open my curtains, and this is what I would see.. Mt Fishtail....

Apparently the shape of it's peak is like an inverted fishtail. The image was taken out of my lounge window as it was too cold to go out onto the deck that morning. Minus 3, and you stay inside! But note the blue sky. By 11am, the inside temperature of my house would be 22C simply because the sun warms it up!

Looking slightly to the left of Fishtail, and you go right down the Wairau Valley to St Arnaud. There's a skifield up there. This image makes it look like I could walk there, but believe me, it's about an hours drive to get there. I was just using a long telephoto lens to bring it closer to you.

The view makes me catch my breath every morning!

This one shows you what it's really like without the telephoto lens. I enjoy these views, but only get them in the winter once the vineyard has been pruned. During spring and summer, the leaves of the vineyard block it out. I still see Mt Fishtail though.

Back when I first moved in, I showed you one of my amazing sunsets that I'm spoilt with. Just in case you forgot, here it is again...

The sunsets continue to amaze me, each one is so different. From reds, oranges, to golden sunbursts. I often look forward to that time of the day, just to see what mother nature is going to throw up at me!

Here's one of the many golden sunbursts..

This one is on a slightly wider angle, but if you look closely to the left of it, you can see the St Arnaud range in the background.

The last two images I took tonight. I couldn't decide which one was the better image, so I put them both up. You can decide for me!

I don't think I'll move out of this house for a while. I'm enjoying the views from my window too much!

Telecom - Bad Business

If you are thinking of going with Telecom for anything. My advice to you is ... Don't! I've had nothing but trouble for the last 7 months.

It started when I moved to the South Island 7 months ago. Moved into my brand new home. At the time I had only had a cellphone with them on a $30 a month plan for the last 6 months, as I had been housesitting since my home and telephone account had been closed when my house was sold.

When I moved into my new house, I contacted them about telephone and broadband. I took out a 20gb plan which enabled me free toll calls. I also cancelled my cellphone plan, and asked to go back to $10 for 500 free texts charged to my phone bill each month. So this should be approximately $140 to $150 each month.

My first phone bill I got was closer to $200. I looked only to find that they were charging me for toll calls around the country. A phone call and they credited me with the toll calls and told me they had adjusted my phone bill.

Never believe anything they say.

The following month the phone bill I got was again $200. Yes - they had put the credit through, but had forgotten to adjust the bill to the correct plan AGAIN. Another phone call, and another credit. They actually fixed that part.

Still my bill came up expensive. More phone calls but nothing was resolved. Finally I sat down with it and realised that I was still paying $30 for my cellphone plan, and they were charging me for all my texts when they should have been part of the $10.

Another phone call - they agreed to credit me $160, and adjusted my payment for that month to $18. My $18 payment duly went through. I got my next phone bill to find my $18 payment had gone through, but the $160 credit hadn't. Adding on yet another $191 bill meant my new amount to pay was $351.00.

Yes - you guessed it, not only thad they NOT put the $160 credit through, but they had ALSO NOT adjusted the cellphone plan back to $10, and I was still paying for all the texts.

I rang themn AGAIN. They ASSURED me that the $160 was going to go through, that they will change the bill, and I would be credited another $30, and I would pay on $170 when the money goes out of my account.

WRONG. The full $351.84 went out of my account which made me go overdrawn this time, which incurred a further $6 of bank charges.

WTF? I gather that this bill probably hasn't been adjusted either. I've sent an onine complaint and I have no idea when it will be seen to. I am absolutely sick of the inconvenience and the run around. I'm seriously thinking of changing providers.

So - DON'T USE TELECOM - they're are nothing but inconvenience and trouble, and are continually overcharging me. They need to get it right, and get it right the first time.

Any suggestions would be gratefully received as to how I can make them stand up and fix my problems!! It's bad enough having to ring them, but when your hearing isn't that good anyway - it's even worse.

Wrights Water Garden - Lotus Festival

If you are ever bored in February, then you should head out to Wrights Water Gardens at Patumahoe in South Auckland. Every year in the first week of February, all their Lotus Flowers are out, and the display is breathtaking. I've been twice now, and the only way I can describe it, is that you feel like you've just stepped into a Monet Painting, with all the pinks, blues and greens around you.

I think Lotus flowers are stunning. They are by far, my favourite flower...



I had to keep changing lenses, from my 18-55mm lens if I wanted to get the whole flower in, to my 100mm macro lens to enable me to capture the detail...

Then I had to decide which part I wanted to detail, as every part of the flower seems interesting...

And when the flower petals drop, then the lotus seed pod becomes the most interesting thing to photograph as well. I took lots of images of the pods, and they all turned out well. I'm not sure what I'm going to do with them all!

The flower in all the stages of life, is beautiful, from a bud, just opening...

To the complete open flower. Even underneath, from the side, no matter where I put the camera, all I found was beauty...

See....

Even the details in the petals are gorgeous...

I took heaps of images, and I have only just got around to processing them last week. From February!

Oh - and I have yet to finish the images I took in February 2009 as well. Again - I took hundreds of images! Maybe next time I go I should just drink in the view and leave my camera at home?

Incoming Storm

Back in May when it was still Autumn, I went over to Mary's in the late afternoon. She popped me onto the back of the 4 wheel motorbike (now they are fun!) and she took me up to feed the chooks at the top of the hill. I came prepared with my camera and was so pleased I did.

A storm was coming in from the southwest, but to the north and east it was still blue and sunny. This gave me some quite spectacular lighting and it looked liked we were riding into something dangerous...

We turned right up here and headed up the hill. The scenery was spectacular! There is something about lines that attract me...

This was a bit higher up the hill. I loved the way the vines made a patchwork of colour, in their various shades of autumns...

I tried to be clever and take the photograph at the same time as moving my lens. I was trying for the impressionist/action look.. How did I do?..

This is Mary, the modern day farmer complete with cellphone! And this is the chookhouse. Rather large! They weren't getting much luck with the eggs as the falcon was swooping into the barn and stealing them. The chooks have now been moved down onto the flat!

Looking one way - bright yellow under a blue sky...

Then turn around and you see the storm is definitely incoming...

Let's go a bit closer..

I think that's far enough. It looks like it might get 'wet'! Soon! I prefer looking at the fair weather!

This is at the top looking over the valley toward Blenheim and Picton..

And again, with the chookhouse in view... Do you get the feeling I like the view? Are you bored yet?

Thought I could do another one with the blue sky that is so normal in Marlborough. It never rains down here. Much. Except for this year. They tell me it's really unusual. Then they tell me I brought it all down from Auckland when I moved. Yeah Right!

So time to head back down before it really does rain..

And rain it did!

Blenheim in Autumn is just stunning. Make sure you come and visit me at that time of the year!