The Todd Foundation Creative Learning Centre is a space designed for families and children and dedicated to the exploration of artistic practice and creativity. Since 2011 Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki has worked collaboratively with artists to create exciting hands-on experiences in the Creative Learning Centre. In this time the Gallery has presented four different interactive installations receiving over a quarter of a million visits.
Wavelength, 2014–2015
Developed as a collaborative project by Auckland Art Gallery and Auckland University of Technology’s Colab, this interactive installation takes its inspiration from the visiting exhibition Light Show. Visitors experiment with and explore light, technology and sound using fun multi-media inventions created especially for children and families.
Sean Kerr, What’s It Doing?, 2013–2014
Sean Kerr’s installation What’s It Doing? explored where ideas come from, what an artist does with those ideas, and how we as an audience participate and respond. The artist’s sculptural installation invited visitors to physically step into Kerr’s art and experience the slapstick humour that is part of his practice. Interacting with Kerr’s ‘misbehaving machines’ visitors activated an ‘idea machine’, watched as the giant eyes followed their movements, and played with placards that explored Kerr’s practice.
Tiffany Singh, May the Rainbow Always Touch Your Shoulder, 2012–2013
May the Rainbow Always Touch Your Shoulder explored and celebrated colour and its various cultural, spiritual and environmental associations. In this installation, the Creative Learning Centre featured two works by the artists: Dusted with Spices of a Million Flowers and The Direction of Sunbeams. Visitors were encouraged to experiment with and participate in the creative process through a series of hands-on activities inspired by the artworks.
Reuben Paterson, Gazillion Swirl, 2011–2012
Gazillion Swirl explored artist Reuben Paterson’s world of looking, discovering, understanding and making. Visitors encountered Paterson’s large-scale work Whakapapa Get down Upon Your Knees and explored kaleidoscopes of colour and shape through activities inspired by the artist’s practice.
