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Scoop
20-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
If This Building Could Sing: Len Lye Centre Celebrates 10th Anniversary In Sound
Marking ten extraordinary years of one of Aotearoa New Zealand's most iconic cultural landmarks, NPDC's Len Lye Centre in Ngāmotu New Plymouth will premiere a groundbreaking new commission on Saturday 30 August. The 'sonification' of its shimmering steel and concrete structure into a new musical work will be performed by players from the NZ Symphony Orchestra—Te Tira Pūoro o Aotearoa. A Score for the Len Lye Centre, by Swedish Albanian Australian artist and composer Mia Salsjö will be performed in the gallery, free to the public, by musicians from the NZSO with principal conductor Hamish McKeich. The striking new work is both a response to the materiality of the building, and a tribute to leading twentieth-century artist Len Lye, whose legacy the centre was built to honour. Salsjö translated architectural plans from Pattersons Associates into one thousand graphic scores through a personalised and intricate codified system. Her research also drew on material from the Len Lye Foundation Archive, transforming Lye's experimental sketches and kinetic sculptures into sonic figures. Orchestrated for a 13-piece string ensemble, the work includes a synthesizer to perform recordings Lye made of his sculptures in the 1960s—realising his intention for these samples to be used by the composers of the future. Three free performances on August 30 headline the centre's 10th anniversary programme, which includes a full day of free public events for whānau. The commission belongs to an evolving performance programme as part Direct Bodily Empathy —Sensing Sound a major two-part exhibition curated by Anna Briers to celebrate the occasion. ' A Score for the Len Lye Centre encapsulates the past, present and future of the Len Lye Centre—showcasing bold creativity and artistic innovation,' says Dr Zara Stanhope, Ringatohu Director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre. 'Mia's work is a dynamic way to celebrate this extraordinary building and mark its anniversary.' Salsjö's process has drawn global acclaim, and she is known for transposing significant international landmarks such as the Sydney Harbour Bridge into an orchestral composition as part of 'The National, Australian Art Now' at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA), in 2023. New Zealand Symphony Orchestra Chief Executive Marc Feldman adds: 'We're excited to join with the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre for this significant project. By bringing together two nationally beloved institutions in music and art for a daring new commission we are creating a new future for both our organisations. Our performance within the Len Lye Centre itself will add a powerful resonance to the project —it's more than a concert; it's a conversation with the artwork and the building, a dialogue that I hope will be on-going.' Free public performances of A Score for the Len Lye Centre occur on Saturday 30 August at 11am, 1pm and 2.30pm. The score will be recorded at the internationally renowned studio Park Road Post Production with the NZSO, before being installed as a sound installation for listeners to experience in the gallery from 6 September 2025 to 16 March 2026. All anniversary events are free to the public. For full programme details, visit FAST FACTS The Len Lye centre was opened in June 2015. Designed by Patterson Architects, its $13.5 million construction cost was raised from corporate, private philanthropy, and central government donors. The Govett-Brewster Art Gallery opened in 1970, funded by a bequest from local woman Monica Brewster (nee Govett). Around 85,000 people visit the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre each year. The gallery presents a regularly changing programme of contemporary art exhibitions, events and conversations. Regular education and learning programmes are offered to visitors of all ages. It also runs an art and design store, independent cinema, and publishes a range of art books
Scoop
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Scoop
Lye Centre Explores Sound As A Medium In New Exhibition
Exploring sound as a medium is at the centre of NPDC's Govett-Brewster Art Gallery | Len Lye Centre's new exhibition Direct Bodily Empathy – Sensing Sound, which opens this Saturday 17 May. The exhibition spans sonic structures, graphic scores, visual music, choreography, composition and kinetic installations, asking: can architecture be a musical score? Can the body be an instrument? Can colour be heard? Curated by Anna Briers, Direct Bodily Empathy takes a polyphonic approach, placing Len Lye alongside his 20th-Century peers such as Roy de Maistre and Oskar Fischinger, and into dialogue with contemporary artists including Mel O'Callaghan, Yona Lee, Ross Manning, Mia Salsjö, and David Sequeira. " Direct Bodily Empathy progresses our gallery's 55-year legacy of connecting people, communities and cultures through contemporary art, particularly setting a new focus on Len Lye that will indicate the resonance of his ideas alongside those of other contemporary artists," says Dr. Zara Stanhope, Director of the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery. "Since 1970, the Govett-Brewster has presented contemporary art in Aotearoa and the Pacific Rim while reflecting international perspectives. As we celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Len Lye Centre in 2025, this exhibition invites our visitors to see and feel the architecture anew in experiencing the works in Direct Bodily Empathy.' At the heart of the exhibition is A Score for the Len Lye Centre, commemorating 10 years since the construction of the Len Lye Centre. Artist-composer Mia Salsjö has transposed the architectural contours of the museum into a musical score, sonifying the iconic Ngāmotu / New Plymouth landmark. The resulting orchestration will be performed by musicians from the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra led by conductor Hamish McKeich through multiple performances on August 30, 2025, and realised as a sound installation in the gallery from September 6. Salsjö meticulously traced over architectural plans from Pattersons Architects, applying a color-coded system to transform the building's spatial relationships into musical notation. The composition incorporates recordings of Lye's kinetic sculptures, creating a connection between the building, Lye's vision, and Saljö's contemporary interpretation. Several hundred of the 1000 pages of notation she drew in the development of the work make up the 2025 Ramp Commission, supported by the Govett-Brewster Foundation. Other highlights include: Mel O'Callaghan's First sound, last sound, a performance and collective listening experience involving three-metre-tall steel tuning forks and series of diverse performers adorned in white. Ross Manning's Spectra V, a kinetic light sculpture which imbues the gallery walls in shifting washes of colour. Yona Lee's Smart sculpture, a choreography of everyday objects and smart devices including a dancing robotic vacuum cleaner, commissioned in partnership with the Melbourne Art Fair 2025. Lovers of Len Lye's tangible motion sculptures can see Wand Dance, Universe and Blade, from September and December in the second part of the exhibition's evolving performance series. Direct Bodily Empathy – Sensing Sound opens to the public on 17 May and will unfold in two epic parts through to 16 March next year. For more information, including opening day performance schedules and programming, visit FAST FACTS Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth Govett-Brewster Art Gallery opened in 1970, funded by a bequest from local woman Monica Brewster (nee Govett). Around 85,000 people visit the Gallery each year. The Len Lye Centre opened as part of the Govett-Brewster in July 2015, creating a global home for the life and work of acclaimed New Zealand-born artist Len Lye (1901-1980) The Gallery presents a regularly changing programme of contemporary art exhibitions, events and conversations. Regular education and learning programmes are offered to visitors of all ages. It also runs an art and design store, independent cinema, and art publications.
