Reposted with kind permission from Soon Lee's Livejournal.
Went to Waiheke Island to check out the headland Sculpture on the Gulf 2015 today. The forecast was 40% rain but we chanced it anyway. We got there early and apart from the odd bit of drizzle (which wasn't enough to dampen our enthusiasm) it worked out well; minutes after we finished, the heavy showers arrived.
"First step to existentialism" Christian Nicolson.
This is actually the second sculpture. The first was an augmented reality thing called "WindSong" by Nigel Jamieson and Imersia Ltd. which required an app that you run & listen to: it'll show you sights & sounds at certain locations on the trail. None of us bothered to download it because you then have to run the app; it felt contrary to the vibe of enjoying the sights & sounds of the outdoor environment. I guess it was an idea before its time, or we're old fogeys. So "First step to existentialism" was basically several solar-powered traffic lights scattered along the sculpture trail, the first of which was at the beginning. While the people in front stopped to look at the installation, a man behind us got a bit annoyed.
He thought that:
1. The traffic light was really there to control crowd flow.
2. That the people in front had actually stopped for the red light.
3. Given that we had come up with the first busload of visitors of the day, there was absolutely no reason for us to obey the traffic signal and could we please move along. Stereotypical Aucklander...
"Medley Part I-XIII" Shannon Novak 
This is the first of twelve poles (each one's different). You're supposed to take a selfie at each & send the pictures to a central repository to be woven into a digital structure. In the end we only found eleven; we think the twelfth was stolen; there's been some unfortunate vandalism & theft. "Target" James Wright 
A closer look at an arrow. 
The target. 
The other side. 
"The Archive Wine Bar" Dennis O'Connor, a walk-in diorama. 
It's supposed to feature two bottles of wine from each Waiheke Island winery. 
"Flying Haptics" John Hurrell was a bunch of "critters" hanging off trees at different parts of the sculpture trail. 
The Haptics were made from a range of plastics & other materials. 
"Half A Pallett Of Building Blocks" Matt Ellwood. 
"Princess XL (fountain #1)" Scott Eady. There is a tap that turns on water spouting out of the marrow but when we got there the water reservoir had run dry. You can see the wet ground under the stool. 
"Tawhirowhiro" Robert Jahnke & Joshua Campbell. Maori word for spinning/rotation I think. 
"Artificial Astronomy" Elin & Keino. Pails on poles, each pail labelled with the name of a constellation. 
When you stand under a pail and look up, you see that holes have been made to let in light mimicking constellations. You can tell from the photo that it was drizzly during this part of the walk. 
"Garden of Shadows" Virginia King. 
The sphere, reflection. 
"Tree Hut" Richard Maloy. 
"Kitset sculpture number fourteen ("our beautiful ocean")" Stuart Bridson. Use of recycled materials e.g. empty wine bottles as flotation aids. 
"Landform" Veronica Herber. We walked past it earlier but it was hard to see it properly until we had moved far enough away to look back at it & see the whole thing. 
"the knot
not and the not now" Audrey Boyle. A fence where you are invited to play around with the wires, tangle & untangle them, tie knots etc. Cute. 
"making do(-ing) | on enjoying our gardens and other wild places" Xin Cheng & Chris Berthelsen. This one takes interactivity to extremes: you're supposed to use the materials there (a range of what looks like stuff that's been scavenged) to create something in this space, you can bring items to add to the space or take items away with you. 
"Ikebana Bins" Brydee Rood. Looks to be New Zealand native plants in recycling bins, the bins decorated with gold leaf. 
"Cr - bovunculae 2014" Tony Bond. Some of the shapes look suggestive... 
"My Pic Is My Bond" by Anah Dunsheath. Wonder what Sean Connery thinks of this shelfie (h/t )? 
"Flowers of the sky" Tania Patterson 
From inside. 
"The Precariats" Cushla Donaldson. This was the piece that won the prize of show, but had been vandalised. It's interactive, with mallets so you can "play" the sculpture as a percussive instrument, but it was roped-off with no public access. I took this from the cordon. 
"Crossed Wires" Sharonagh Montrose and Helen Bowater. Giant wires raised off the ground with hidden speakers providing a humming background sound. 
Attachment ring. 
A bridge. 
Strings. 
"Garden" Suji Park. More pictures from artist's website. Oh hey look: it's James Bond casting his photographic eye over the sculpture! 
Collection of flasks. 
Black flask. 
Figurine. 
Close-up of figurine. 
"Field Apart" Angus Muir & Alexandra Heaney was my favourite. It's 36 columns of mirrors & you get a different view with each step you take, not to mention when people walk around you or it. 
IMO fellow members of public add to the experience. 
Really pleased with this image. 
I like the flash of red in
the middle. 
More reflective of the overcast sky. 
From farther away. 
"Parang Param" Seung Yul Oh. It's another of the damaged sculptures. 
It's meant to be strips of wide silvered ribbons reflecting the sky. 
Damage. 
"Sculpture Walk" Paul Radford. You know the way the sculptures merge with the people walking uphill in the background? Totally unintended when I took the photo. 
Platonic ideals. 
"Stop the Clock" (Jane & Mario Downes). Giant metal dandelions. 
Trail of people snaking along the path. Because we started early, we had missed the crowds but it had begun to get more busy as we neared the end of the trail. Visible beside the path is the remaining strip of "Parang Param". 
"Colonial Fence - a modern day tinker" Jeff Thomson. It's meant to be a collection of items made out of number 8 fencing wire, meant to epitomise the innovative invention of Kiwis. I think it would have benefited from being in a more open spot; being right on the narrow hillside path made it harder to enjoy. 
Chair. 
Spinning wheel. 
"The Return of Manuruhi" Ioane Ioane. Manuruhi is linked to the origin story of Maori carving. 
Manuruhi. 
Manuruhi (close-up). 
These fans/turbines made from empty plastic bottles weren't listed in the official programme but in the windy conditions were a nice contrast of motion & stillness.
Plastic turbine. 
"Massive Vessel" David McCracken 
Close-up. 
"Star Mound" Lonnie Hutchinson 
This geometric sculpture wasn't listed in the programme either. 
Through the hole. 
"Shadow" Ben Foster. Of a shark, looks like. 