The Adlington Post

This fish-hook is about 2 ft high & is cut out a piece of copper sheet from a hot-water cylinder I found in the kerbside collection. I have painted it black & am thinking of bronzing or gilding it??? In Maori mythology the super-human trickster Maui fished up the North Island from the sea. The traditional names for this island group commemmorate this feat: The North Island is Te Ikaroa-a-Maui (“The Long Fish of Maui”). The South Island is Te Waka-a-Maui (“The Canoe of Maui”). Stewart Island in the far south is the legendary anchor of our hero’s canoe: Te Punga-a-Maui, while the Mahia Peninsula in the east is identified as Maui’s fish-hook: Te Matau-a-Maui. SOLD See more of my recycled, upcycled and environmental works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

When I was in Napier last summer I spent time out at Haumoana beach, just south of Napier. (“hau” = wind/breath, “moana” = sea/ocean...so “breath/breathing of the ocean” I guess) There is no sand here on this rugged west coast shore - but zillions of small black pebbles instead. The waves roll them up & down the steep beach......& the sound is amazing, just like the sea breathing in & out. I took a short video too, & love to listen to it with the sound up LOUD! One day I drove the van onto the beach & when I jumped out - this incredible piece of art was right at my feet. People had lit a bonfire & thrown pieces of thin alloy metal from a car into the flames - which melted & later solidified into this fabulous amorphous shape. On the back of the piece are stuck hundreds of stones from the beach....a great memento of my happy beach combing days at Haumoana.

I I made this motorcycle from beer bottle pull-tabs found in the trash a short while ago. Yesterday, Blake, the 9 year-old boy from next door, came to visit - he loves to help me unload the van & see what I have found in my wanderings....after we unloaded my haul, he asked if he could make something from my pull-tab collection; & in 5 minutes he had sellotaped this figure together! - I think it’s fantastic..he really has a gift for assemblage - another budding bricoleur!! See more of my recycled, upcycled and environmental works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

Last week I found a video on Alexander Calder in the library. What most intrigued me was the graceful way his gigantic mobiles danced in space - the static images in books give no hint of this beauty. Another aspect I found interesting was the fact that the connecting wires are not all straight, as one sees in most commercial versions of this art form, in contrast Calder’s wires curve aerodynamically. Yesterday I bought some suitable wire & got to work.....& it’s not that easy!! As a jeweller, small constructions appeal to me, so I tried my hand on a miniature scale using discs cut from plastic bottle tops, & then some plastic tiki from the souvenir shop.....I was quite pleased with the results, & am at present working on a larger version for submission to an art competition. A slight breath sets the pieces into action - spinning & bobbing. and under a directed light they cast the most fantastic shadows on the wall. I look forward to making videos of this poet

I found these bicycle parts in a dumpster recently. The wires are the brake cables - I am not sure whether to leave them on or cut them off? I kind of like them. A possible title for this piece is “No Bull” - references to Picasso’s original sculpture & Magritte’s “This is not a pipe” being intentional. Otherwise it could be a “Recyclabull”? See more of my recycled, upcycled and environmental works at www.martinadlington.webs.com

Another of my entries in the Mairangi Arts show was a board game with a “save the planet from yourself” theme. I tore images from magazines & glued them onto a piece of foam-core I found. The work sold - tho now I almost wish it hadn’t....I would have liked to look at it for a while longer! SOLD See more of my recycled, upcycled and environmental works at www.martinadlington.webs.com See more culture jamming and adbusting at www.culture-jam.blogspot.com

I have been continuing to make jewellery - & my latest range is made from kitsch items of Kiwi (NZ) tourist culture. The tiki earrings here are made from plastic tiki from the tourist shops..I have painted them gold & given them red eyes. My artist friend Mere Keating in Wanganui (www.flaxweaving.co.nz) bought some jewellery from me when I visited in March to sell in her gallery at the Mungamahu Hotel. Recently some of Mere’s flax weaving featured in a fashion show at the Sargent Gallery in Wanganui, & she chose my tiki as accessories: thanks to Elle for modelling them. See more of my trashion as well as recycled, upcycled and environmental works at www.martinadlington.webs.com