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Showing posts from October, 2008

BARBIE BUDDHAS

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I found these two headless Buddha statues during the inorganic trash collection a few weeks ago. Decapitating the two Barbie dolls was a bizarre experience!! ........if only Barbie could find the Buddah within herself....... See more of my altered Barbies and recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

GARDEN ART

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My tomato plant on Labour Day 2008 - almost 6 foot tall & still growing!! Over 60 flowers with five tomatoes so far. Planted in a plastic bucket I got from the trash. See more of my food adventures at www.pavlovasdog.weebly.com

LOTS OF KNOTS

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Last May I spent a couple of weeks at Coromandel town touring the annual arts trail. I stayed at a beach-side campground in my van, & spent several pleasant hours beachcombing. On one walk I filled my carry-bag with these knots of plastic rope. They wash ashore from the many mussel & oyster farms out in the bay. Here I have arranged them on a picnic table in the quintessential polynesian form of a lei. SOLD  See more of my recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

ECO GAME #2

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\ The lady who bought my “Flip Flop Fish” assemblage commissioned an Eco-Game from me. This one is entitled “I can’t hear you” or “Communication Breakdown” - fans of ‘Get Smart’ may well recognise the episode depicted here! SOLD See more of my culture jamming and adbusting art at www.culture-jams.blogspot.com

FOUND OBJECT - SIGNAGE

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Another readymade - I found this fantastic piece of signage by the local creek (Taiaotea = “ocean of clouds”). It has the most beautiful aged surface - the white paint has crazed revealing blue & pink beneath.

FISH HOOK REVISITED

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I decided that my copper fish hook was a bit boring in plain black, so I sanded off the high points then applied some verdigris chemicals. SOLD See more of my recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

WILLOW-PATTERN PENDANT

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I found this piece of a willow-pattern plate on the beach the other day, & have made it into a pendant with some solder & a jump-ring. What a fantastic find! See more of my trashion pieces and recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

RANNOCH VISIT

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Yesterday, in the company of several other artists I visited “Rannoch” - the home of the James Wallace Arts Trust & some of its collection in Mt Eden. The house & garden are crammed with all sorts of works by NZ artists. Of particular interest to me was the “crashed” aeroplane - it reminded me of the derelict Sunderland I used to play in as a child at Hobsonville Aerodrome, & of the haunting sights I saw in the Solomons of WWII aircraft wreckage in the jungle.

SELF-PORTRAIT

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EXHALATIONS

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These fascinating objects have been collected on the beach here in Browns Bay. I am reading an 18th Century book on archaeology & found this description of “thunderbolts” which I feel suits my finds very well: “After close scientific examination I have concluded that they are formed by an admixture of a certain exhalation of thunder and lightning with metallic matter in dark clouds, which is coagulated by the circumfused moisture and coagulated in a mass (like flour with water) and subsequently indurated like a brick”. See more of my recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

RECYCLED ART BBQ

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This is one cool BBQ - am taking orders!!

ANOTHER RECYCLED ART CLASS

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Yesterday I facilitated another school holiday class at the Lakehouse (www.lakehousearts.org.nz). This time the children built marble runs from recycled cardboard & plastic. They all concentrated hard for the whole day & hopefully learned some skills. My next class will be an adult workshop on making art from recycled, found, & reclaimed materials, entitled “Let’s Talk Rubbish” in mid-November.

MORE FLIP FLOP FISH

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Every year there is a competition for artwork for the cover of the telephone book in each city in NZ. Here is my entry for Auckland. Entitled “Flip Flop Fish Family” I have tried to sum up the “feel” of Auckland - family life, beach fun, recreational fishing, our casual lifestyle (many people go barefoot or simply wear jandals), the tapa design border references the large Polynesian population, & the Chinese text (“Give Thanks for the Abundance of Heaven”) refers to the growing Asian influence here. The backing is a piece of a real-estate sign - as elsewhere there has been a greedy property scramble - which has thankfully collapsed for a while. SOLD See more of my recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

RECYCLED ART - LANDSCAPE

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I entered this work into a major art competition here in Auckland last week - the North Shore City Art Awards 2008 -so far I have been accepted to submit the piece for the second selection round. The theme of the exhibition is “Earth, Wind & Sky”. My work is entitled “Headland” & is 36inx20in. It’s a section of a blue drum I found, cut to shape & flattened out. The blue is sky, the scratches are suggestive of land forms, & the white stripe which I have painted represents a yacht mast. SOLD See more of my recycled and upcycled works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

Recycled Art Class

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Yesterday I facilitated a school-holiday workshop for a group of children at the Lakehouse Community Arts Centre in Takapuna. We made several objects from recycled materials: a clock, a fridge-magnet, a key-ring, a brooch, & a robot.