Max Bellamy
Carte Blanche
1:05 – HD video
Edition of 3
30 Upstairs, I read about this gallery on TheBigIdea (I think), and I finally went to a show on Thursday night. After talking to, hold on, listening to other people talk about Law at WYP networking cheap o’ wines (where’s my Man O’ War?) it was a great pleasure to sneak up the staircase beside El Horno and discover 30 Upstairs. I thought that I was going to see some of Max’s photos (because I can’t/don’t bother to read descriptions good and they work so well as stills) but it is actually five video works and two photographs, Borrowed Time is the name of the show, get there!
Can I say that I conducted an interview?
Broughton: Did you dress as a pilot while filming this?
Bellamy: No…
Listening to Max describe how exactly he achieved each shot which involved everything from zip lines to helium balloons and animation was a perfect accompaniment to orange slices and fetal spooning Campari. On edge of Fiordland National Park, the edge of civilisation, bounding through the beech forests and moss after a flying DSLR make believe passenger carrier preventing any dead camera body casualties and planes from smooching trees. Some of the shots in this remind me a lot of Home with the rattling little plane sailing along on its journey, and if you like this take a look at Microcosms.
Max Bellamy
Meme
0:24 loop – HD video
Edition of 3
The rat race that is Invercargill, McDonalds is frequented far more than the art gallery (that pyramid with Henry the Tuatara in it, who has his own blog?). This loop sits beside a film made at Monkey Island which took olympic feats of swimming, flying and gumboot wearing to make. In contrast, Meme is filmed from a stationary spot inside the William Hodges accommodation. Max is pretty flash just by the way, He was the William Hodges Resident in 2011 and stayed in the old white building overlooking the above, just off Gala Street.
I took my friend (also from Southland) to see both exhibitions today because I wanted to listen to the audio again without the excited chatter of an exhibition opening in the background. Interesting to note that neither of us saw Maroon; Blue as being an island because we were very familiar with the land formations in that area. It was wonderful to see someone appreciating the remoteness and inaccessibility (and Monkey-less-ness) of Monkey Island, and now we are both home sick.
I highly recommend braving 140km winds and torrents of water blowing out of the Dixon Street fountain to go and see this show. Follow up with a peanut butter (add chocolate) milkshake from Sweet Mothers Kitchen and some vege tortillas and you’ve just won Saturday.
amandalikesart 