Making Things Right: New Zealand industrial design pioneer Peter Haythornthwaite, the quest for beauty and putting the user first

In 2018, interviewing Peter Haythornthwaite for a small contribution to the book, ‘Design Generation’1 (by Michael Smythe; published in support of an Objectspace exhibition of the industrial designer’s work), the designer ventured on to the subject of beauty and its importance to his design process. It seems fitting to start here with that idea, because while beauty’s role in design is little discussed today, Haythornthwaite saw how objects of beauty make everyday use a delight.

What Lies Beneath? The History of Underground Public Conveniences in Dunedin 1910-1929

Turn-of-the-century public conveniences are more than just reminders of a now common public service. The early twentieth century saw enormous transformation in the approach to public conveniences in New Zealand, evident in the changing architectural approaches in their design, construction and visibility. They brought challenges to Dunedin and its local authority, Dunedin City Council. Tasked with their supply, the Council was required to not only invest heavily but also commit to this public provision. This article looks at the establishment and the reasons for the decline of the popularity and use of the underground conveniences.

Stories of Victorian Paintings at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki – Navigating Intersections between Past and Present

Victorian painting featured strongly in Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki’s early collection and continued to be acquired well into the twentieth century. These artworks have tendedto be displayed through the lenses of theme and narrative. However, the need to invigorate this format is gaining momentum as curators are exploring ways to navigate intersections between past and present. Te Haerenga/The Passage, currently on display at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, is in keeping with the drive towards enabling historical, international artworks, such as Victorian painting, to be displayed in connection with contemporary New Zealand and Māori art, thus shifting boundaries between traditional perceptions of the art historical canon and contemporary notions of identities and ideas.

Commissioning a Visual Legacy: Louis John Steele and Sir John Logan Campbell

In 2017, Louis John Steele’s portrait of Sir John Logan Campbell at Kilbryde, c.1902, emerged on the auction market after over a century in private hands. It is a fascinating portrait of one Auckland’s earliest and most celebrated Pākehā citizens. The portrait is Steele’s most ambitious portrait and shows him creatively adapting the British aristocratic portrait tradition to the New Zealand context. No commissioning documents have been traced for the portrait, however a close reading of the painting alongside Campbell’s papers reveal it is filled with highly personal symbolism. The provenance of the painting is also uncovered through this research. Examination of the Kilbryde portrait with Steele’s five other portraits of Campbell demonstrates Campbell’s desire to leave a lasting visual legacy.

Seeing Red and Feeling Blue: Social Commentary and Protest in the Work of Michael Reed

Accounts of politically inspired art occupy the margins of New Zealand art history. The career of Michael Reed (born 1950, Christchurch) offers an opportunity to discuss how a New Zealand artist has responded to shifts in 20th and early 21st century global debates regarding social justice, economic exploitation, cultural domination and war. He works across a range of mainly print-based techniques but has also found international recognition for his technically innovative ‘medals of dishonor.’ Through his frequent involvement in collaborative projects, Reed has become part of national and international networks of artists who attempt to speak for the many victims of geo-political power struggles.

Self Help, Sunlight and a Modern Chair: Considering Auckland’s historic signage as a heritage object

Cities are an ever-changing space, filled with commerce and community. Signage plays a strong role in the visual narrative of the urban environment. It creates a constant visual hum, a street level monologue of promotion, identification and direction. Commercial signs are designed to serve and improve business. So, what role could an old, fading or non-functioning piece of signage possibly play in our neoliberal capitalist society? From a designer’s perspective, there’s a lot to like—the craftsmanship, the idiosyncrasies of a hand-generated pieceof typography, the sense of nostalgia for a time before globalisation and brand guidelines took over. Looking at historic signs from a broader context they also represent an “intricate urban history.”1 They speak of the changing face of commercial enterprise, social values and cultural expression. Even when they no longer serve their original semantic role of commercial promotion, they “accumulate rich layers of meaning. They no longer merely advertise, they are valued in and of themselves. They become icons.”2 The semiotic function of an historic sign shifts to a new role—signifying notions of survival, continuity and loss. They also feed into our complex personal narratives of place, identity and community.3 These multiple and interwoven values can form the cultural significance of historic signs. Despite this recognisable value, historic signage tends to fall through the gaps of heritage practice and legislation in New Zealand. This paper offers a set of case studies that represent a range of possible outcomes for historic signs, when they exist outside a system of heritage management. I propose six categories for framing the case studies: remain, repair, regenerate, relocate, replace and remove. These examples are combined with a broader reflection on the value of historic signage and an overview of relevant heritage practice in New Zealand. The intention is to encourage reflection on the possible heritage significance of historic signage and our current approach to assessment, scheduling and conservation.

A Raised Bonnet on the Lost Highway: Whither Les Cleveland?

Six years have passed since Les Cleveland’s death in 2014 and next year will be the centenary of his birth. Recently, there have been two warm personal accounts of Cleveland the man and the respective writers’ personal relationships with him.1 However, amongst the obituaries published shortly after his passing, there was a tribute by Peter Ireland in which he claimed, “the reception of his work in the present day remains stalled”, and he concluded that although his “adventuring has ended . . . his work’s has just begun.”2 I would concur with the first of these claims and agree to some extent with the second. In what follows, I want to address possible reasons for this stalling by returning to the question of Cleveland’s place in photographic history and reexamining the significance of his framing within public exhibitions and related critical publications. I will argue that his position within local photographic history and intellectual culture in general needs to be clarified; and that the nature of his photography needs to analysed in more than purely local terms.

Mainmast Speaks: The paintings of Pauline Thompson

This paper explores the work of Pauline Thompson (1942-2012), an Auckland based artist who painted throughout her adult life. Although she received local critical acclaim for her work in a ‘Pop Art Idiom’ in the 1960s, as Pauline’s work shifted to a more ‘metaphysical’ style she arguably became less fashionable. This paper considers the reception of her work by art critics, the context in which she was creating her work, and the general discourse of art critics in Aotearoa over the period of her career. Pauline’s own writings and discourse on her practice are interpolated into the discussion. This paper was first presented at the conference of PHANZA (Professional Historians Aotearoa New Zealand Association) in 2019, and following feedback, has been developed into this article. The author knew Pauline Thompson personally, and interweaves informal discussions she had with the painter into this narrative.