I
first blogged about Alan Gibbs' farm in December, 2009. I said then my
preferred route to Auckland was not via State Highway One but rather
the less popular SH16 which twists and turns, following the Kaipara
Harbour most of the way. I still prefer to have a second rate road to
myself than to share a first rate road with others. Still prefer the
road less travelled.
One of the big attractions for me about SH16 is the 1,000 acre property, modestly named Gibbs Farm,
owned by millionaire Alan Gibbs. He bought the windswept site in 1991.
Since then, he has commissioned sculptures featuring original works by
local and internationally renowned artists.
My fascination with the place has been growing since 2001 when a huge
wall appeared on the landscape. I now know it's dimensions - 252 metres
longs x 6m x 50mm, made from 56 Corten steel plates. It has always
looked huge to me and now that I've stood beside it, I am even more
impressed by it. And it leans out by 11 degrees from the vertical.
And, contrary to how it looks from the road, it has beautiful sensual
curves.
I
had been so thrilled when my friend Chris announced
she had gained access for us to an Open Day at the farm. That was late 2012. I can still clearly remember how excited I was, I even tried to prepare myself for a little
disappointment - surely
nothing could live up to my expectations.
Hah! It was even better than I expected!
I
was so impressed by everything I saw at the farm. Although it's so
much more than a farm. The farm it used to be didn't warrant a second
look. Believe me, I know, I've driven past that place regularly over many years. Since falling into Mr Gibbs' hands it has become a place of
beauty. It's a sculpture park like no other. The scale of the
sculptures are deceptively disguised by the scale of the landscape but
approaching them on foot, they grow and become more and more impressive
as you draw near. The size of some of them just took my breath away. I
felt dizzy looking to the top of the one I've known as the steel struts
for the past year or so. Eash of the 8 pieces of Corten steel are 27 metres
long, 0.75m square.
Thanks to Rebecca's photos of the quarry - they reminded me of this sculpture:
To
say thank you to Alan Gibbs falls way short. He allows the public to
visit, for free, by prior appointment, about once a month. It blows me
away that I've visited one of the world's leading sculpture parks - and
it cost me nothing. I've been up close to monumental art works by some
of the world's most famous artists - and I only had to travel an hour or
so.
Hope you enjoyed the visit. You will notice a few other people in some of the shots. We figured, from the number of cars in the carpark, that there were well over a
thousand people there. But at no stage did we feel crowded, the
landscape seemed to swallow many or they looked like dots in the
distance.
I look forward to some virtual travel this week visiting lots of new places. They will be here.
