In Christchurch at the end of last week for the opening of 'Reboot: the Jim Barr and Mary Barr Collection' at the Christchurch Art Gallery, I was lucky enough to wander in the Gallery's foyer on Friday afternoon when Michael Parekowhai's Jim McMurtry was being inflated.
It's always fun watching a work go up, and even better when it's as interactive as this. It went from being a limp beige plastic pile on the tiles to a buoyant, joyous rounded object amazingly fast. As the sculpture inflated Parekowhai walked around, tugging and kneading and fluffing the work like a baker making bread.
The next morning I watched as two small children lolled on the sculpture to have their photo taken by their dad, and then saw them skidding across 'Reboot' as they chased down Cosmo, the other Parekowhai bunny featured in the show.
You can read more about the work and its contentious Christchurchian history on Overthenet, where the above photo is from.
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