Fireworks show opens with bang
Christchurch artist Steve Carr went to a country paddock one chilly night about a month ago, sent six video drones into the sky and then set off a bunch of fireworks.
The six resulting videos, shot from different angles from within the fireworks display, will be shown on six large screens simultaneously as part of a new show at the Christchurch Art Gallery.
Carr’s latest and most ambitious artwork, Chasing the Light, surrounds and immerses the viewer in a spectacular 18-minute fireworks display seen from the sky. The footage is synchronised across the six screens, giving the viewer different views of the same moment.
Carr is well known for his playful and arresting fine art video installations, which showcase everything from exploding melons to balloons full of paint bursting in slow motion and cars doing burnouts to fluffy, white poodles being groomed.
He wanted to give viewers a different perspective on something familiar like a fireworks display.
‘‘The camera eye flying among the fireworks allows a different perspective from our usual position of looking up,’’ he said.
‘‘This work comes from the idea of seeing the impossible. It is taking something we know really well but putting us directly inside it.
‘‘This captures the essence of fireworks but without simulating them. It is offering a completely new experience to the viewer.’’
It was difficult to get six drones flying at the same time as a fireworks display, he said. The fireworks were set off in a paddock near Amberley one chilly and clear night.
‘‘I have never had a shoot that was so difficult to pull together,’’ he said.
‘‘They were the best drone pilots in the country and among the best in the world, and we were asking them to do the impossible.
‘‘It was a one-take. All the stress and anxiety and excitement comes through in the shoot.
‘‘These fireworks were massive and would take up the whole sky.’’
The new work was commissioned by the Christchurch Art Gallery. Senior curator Lara Strongman said she was keen to work with Carr.
‘‘He is one of the finest contemporary artists. His work is challenging and beautiful and troubling and amazing.’’
Carr has held solo shows at major galleries across New Zealand and Australia and his work is in the collection of most major galleries in the country.