Bouncy Marae

"Bouncy Marae" by Inez Crawford, Christchurch Art Gallery, 2008. Ajr

I love it when contemporary art moves away from the traditional confines of an art gallery and ‘merges’ with everyday life. It goes a long way to breaking down barriers, to making serious art much more accessible to people who would not otherwise bother. This work – “Bouncy Marae,” by Inez Crawford – shown at the Christchurch Art Gallery in 2008 - is a classic example. I sat on the stairs there when it was showing and watched a whole bunch of kids tearing off their shoes so they could leap about inside the ‘sculpture.’ That was the aim of things – to let kids get inside and have fun. It’ was made of PVC and is filled with air, creating an inflatible trampoline like ‘environment.’ Crawford was inspired by her childhood impression that her local marae was a fairytale castle. This ‘bouncy wharenui is chocolate brown on the outside and hot pink on the inside. And didn’t I time it well….just in time to catch a young girl in a hot pink outfit playing inside. www.christchurchartgallery.org.nz