'My' Dunedin

Dunedin is one of my favorite places. The views are stunning. This is Dunedin from the Otago Penninsula.

Dunedin's building have integrity. Most have been little changed since they were built, whenever that may have been. This one is in the city center.

The Robbie Burns statue opposite the town hall is a perfect viewing platform for seagulls.

The teeth sculpture at the mouth of the Otago Penninsula is a new addition since I was here a year ago.

When the cloud lifts, this is the view. The teeth stand to the right.

The only blot on the landscape is the new stadium a building that divided the city when it was approved in a clock and dagger manner. Lets hope it succeeds now it is being built because the citizens have become so indebted that they are having to close library services and such like in order to support the stadium. It is being built on reclaimed land, so it might just disappear under the waves as the seas rise.

Goodbye Dunedin. I look forward to seeing you again before too long.

Stop the Stadium (in Stained Glass)

The stained glass window in the Dunedin Railway Station is one of the heritage objects in the city I like best. Dunedin is full of heritage gems but I doubt that the people who designed the proposed new rugby stadium were interested in integrating it into the character of the city as it looks like an overgrown oyster. A lot of people, even supporters of the stadium, are against council plans to provide tens of millions of dollars of rate-payer' money for a new stadium. That includes me as I think the reputation of ‘ the House of Pain’ should be built on, not squandered and I would prefer to see Carisbrook Stadium spruced up.

For my latest art school e-Art project I started with the beautiful Railway Station window and inserted anti-stadium images: the charter from the ‘Stop the Stadium’ group and photos from the protest rally on 2 August 2008. I see the new image as a reminder to the Dunedin Council that heritage matters.