Aug 1, 2022 City Life
Read on below for Metro’s favourites or jump across to:
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Places
CINEMA (CHAIN)
EVENT CINEMAS NEWMARKET
277 Broadway, Newmarket
Bright, new and shiny in the brightest, newest and shiniest mall in Tāmaki, Event Cinemas Newmarket makes it less painful to part with your hard-earned $23 ($27 in a recliner). The screens and sound are quality, the seats roomy, and the boutique cinemas are a somewhat- affordable luxury. If you can swing it, we enjoy a quiet mid-week movie and a sneaky seat transfer to the recliners.
CINEMA (INDEPENDENT)
ACADEMY CINEMAS
44 Lorne St, Central city
With a comfy worn-in community feel, Academy puts on great programmes with both nostalgic throwbacks and thoughtful curation, plus offers a on-demand service for bad pandemic times.
COMEDIAN
CHRIS PARKER
@chrisparker11
The winner of Celebrity Treasure Island 2021, the winner of lockdown (see: his Instagram reels), and the winner of our hearts (yuck, but true), 2021 was Chris Parker’s year. He’s started popping up everywhere, but editor Henry Oliver’s profile of Parker dived deep into the year he’s had and all the years leading up to it, from Christchurch Boys High School to Toi Whakaari and beyond.
We asked Chris Parker who he thought was the best comedian:
“Guy Montgomery is by no means a new kid on the block, however in 2021 I saw something click in Guy. Every gig I saw him perform in, from his monthly sell out at Friedas to his iconic gala set about News to his lockdown Spelling Bees online, Guy has always left his audience in stitches. There’s something to be said for a new exciting voice in comedy, of course they are always going to stand out and be someone to talk about, but I think there’s also something to be said for an established comedian, who every year sets a higher standard for themselves, grows and somehow creates a new standard for funny. Guy is the epitome of a class act and a true inspiration to the entire comedy scene here in Tāmaki Makaurau.”
RAPPER
DIGGY DUPÉ
@diggydupe
Diggy Dupé (and his dog Kazu) tirelessly runs it straight for Central Auckland, Balenciaga shades and all. Building on the success of his 2020 album That’s Me, That’s Team, Diggy Dupé teamed up with Troy Kingi and Choice Vaughn to deliver the triumphant album for The Panthers television show last year.
DJ
HALF QUEEN
@half.queen
*chef’s kiss emoji*
THEATRE
BASEMENT THEATRE
Lower Greys Avenue, Central city
Mainly through the mahi of its director, Cat Ruka, Basement has been a clear industry leader through the last couple of years as the arts navigated the various lockdowns, alert levels and restrictions that would choke its livelihood.
THEATRE COMPANY
SILO THEATRE
silotheatre.co.nz
‘Pivot’ — an obscenity amongst many live arts organisations in this city — is something that many organisations have done over the past two years to varied levels of success. Silo Theatre, rather than taking the easy route of the bad quality live stream, actually considered us audiences by giving us Mauri Tau and Break Bread, two of the only internet-enabled shows that should be paid for.
BEST DRESSED
We asked Best Stylist Sammy Salsa who he thinks should win this category, and here’s who he put up:
JEREMY HANSEN
@jeroski
“Jeremy makes effortlessly-cool look, well, cool! Whether he’s paired a pair of sneakers with a tailored coat or you catch him on his more dapper days, nonetheless he always looks immaculate and refined.
AND ALSO
SARAH STUART
@styledbysarahstuart
Okay, I know it’s part of her job to look stylish, because her career is literally to make others look incredible, but dressing yourself every- day and looking swagged out isn’t easy. Sarah always looks so chic and well put together. She brings ‘joy’ to fashion.”
PUBLIC GALLERY
TE URU
420 Titirangi Rd, Titirangi
Best public gallery has been a hard one to land on this year. Given disrupted exhibition schedules, halted international invitations and the intellectual impacts of a pandemic it has not been a great time for exhibition making all round. But over the past 12 months Te Uru, nestled in the hills and lush greenery of Titirangi, has boasted a great programme. In some ways it’s a bit unfair as the Te Uru programme is supported with exhibitions by the McCahon House residents who tend to be our best mid-career artists of any given year, but what can you do? Special mention also to Objectspace and Te Tuhi!
DEALER GALLERY
MOANA FRESH
64 Rosebank Rd, Avondale
Home of the very-hard-to-get Sione Monu clouds. Just off the main drag in Avondale, Moana Fresh sits with its spam-pink gallery window and blue and silver wall of tinsel. Co-founded by artists Vaimaila Urale and Ahilapalapa Rands, Moana Fresh supports Māori and Pacific artists, growing a whole new body of art collectors in the process.
PUBLIC ARTWORK
GUIDE KAIĀRAHI BY REUBEN PATERSON
Wellesley St East, Central city
A 10-metre-high waka made of 595 iridescent crystals shooting high into the sky. What more do we need to say?
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Q+A with Reuben Paterson
What inspired Guide Kaiārahi?
I whakapapa to Ngāti Rangitihi, and my father was born in Matatā. We are of the Te Arawa waka, synonymous with the maunga Tarawera, and of course the great eruption and destruction of the Pink and White Terraces in Lake Rotomahana of 1886.
My inspiration began here, in the great story that relates to a forewarning of the Tarawera eruption in the sighting of a phantom war canoe on 31 May 1886. This apparition was described by Guide Sophia as a war canoe filled with 13 men, and a mystery that can either be explained as a vision, or the optical illusion called the spectre of the Brocken, or maybe a combination of the two?
Named after a peak in the Harz Mountains in Germany where these are frequently seen, the Brocken illusion occurs when the sun is low in the sky and projects the image of an object
onto nearby water vapour — cloud or mist — usually at a slightly lower angle from the object or person. Details are not visible on the image, and its shadowy outline can be distorted by the movement of the water droplets. A rainbow is nearly always seen around the spectre. When the reflected object moves, the spectre moves with it.
The title Guide Kaiārahi points to this notion of guidance and being escorted. What are we being guided by? Where are we being escorted to?
This crystal waka stands vertical and tall like a needle in a compass guiding us upwards and navigating out of the water. Waka were vessels for paddling groups, so we are all traversing this art work together. Standing vertical those pae manu (seats) become the railings of a ladder to help us access what is above us, or what may seem beyond us. These are the questions when you are with the waka; where are you being guided to, who will escort you, and who will help get you there? We can only arrive somewhere by traversing to it, and waka are our navigational journeys that are guided by stars. At night, the waka crystals throw light orbs and rainbows within the gallery forecourt, to also help us navigate to our place.
Part of what makes Guide Kaiārahi (and much of your other work!) so spectacular is both scale and sparkle. How practically did you go about making a work of such magnitude?
Translating an idea into an art practice takes so many talented and caring craftsmen, curators, and even guides — and the list reads long like credits to a film. I worked very closely with Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki, the Edmiston Trust and with UAP [Urban Art Projects] in Brisbane to bring this work to life, but the artist still has the very important role of directing and deciding every detail.
What are you thinking about at the moment? What can audiences look forward to next?
Guide Kaiārahi is now my escort into creating more sculptures which I’m working on with UAP at the moment. I also have The Golden Bearing, a four-and-half-metre golden glitter tree opening at Dunedin Public Art Gallery on 14 May, curated by Lucy Hammonds, and a solo exhibition at Page Galleries Wellington in October.
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TIKTOKKER
HARRISON WAUGH
@verboten.intern
Basically the only Auckland TikToker that ever comes up on our FYP (For You page), Waugh is a hospo worker who riffs on the general ennui of millennial life in the city, a topic that, despite our description, undoubtedly spans generations. We think we’ve seen this man cry (or fake cry, TikTok is performance art after all) more often than anyone we know in real life.
PODCAST
GONE BY LUNCHTIME
thespinoff.co.nz/podcasts/gone-by-lunchtime
Why listen to a political podcast and a comedy podcast where you could better use your commute (whether that’s still into work or from your bedroom to the kitchen) to listen to both at the same time? And this isn’t one of those comedian- buddies-talk-about-things-they-know-nothing- about shows (some of which, admittedly, can be good), rather it’s three Auckland-based political-types who know heaps, have their ears to the ground, have actual non-ubiquitous views on things while not letting those views get in the way when they shouldn’t. And all three of them happen to be funny and entertaining in their own way, without getting too buddy-buddy about it.
BEST ZOO ANIMAL
RED PANDAS
Motions Rd, Western Springs
Ramesh, Khela, Tashi and Dalha — we don’t know which is which, but we love these guys! Like the otters close by, they always seem to be having a good time. And it doesn’t hurt that they’re cute as all hell.
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