Label writing on steroids: it's 'Stranger Than Fiction'!

(photo credit: Virginia Winder)

Label writing has officially gone to a whole new level with Puke Ariki's new temporary exhibition, Stranger Than Fiction!  Some staff were caught in the throes of storytelling at the opening on 12 May - either that or the flash blinded Gerard, hence his 'deer caught in headlights' impression!!!

If we do say so ourselves, the show is looking amazing - very theatrical with red walls, velvet pillows, gold lettering and spotlights abounding.  All of the objects in the exhibition are displayed without explanatory labels ... so what are they?  YOU TELL US!

And so people have!  The label boards have been overflowing with amazingly inventive stories, astute observations or pun-tastic plays on words.  Here are a few of our favourites:

Is that a threat??



 The Royal Wedding has certainly been a theme ...

Who doesn't love a pun from a 10 year old??

If you haven't already, get yourselves over there to check it out.  It's not every day you get to write a completely fictitious label about a collection object and display it in an exhibition ... make the most of it!

And if you can't make it to the actual exhibition, you can check out our Stranger Than Fiction set on Puke Ariki's Flickr page: 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/pukeariki/sets/72157626629933899/ 

Thanks to everyone who helped get Stranger Than Fiction on the floor (with special thanks to Kate Boocock!), and to the staff who helped 'seed' the exhibition on the opening night.  You're AWESOME!

Ruru strikes again

Turns out it's an arduous job being involved in the installation of Ruru personalised labels!  This fact is evidenced by Geoff Parker's rather compromising position as he cleans the inside of the glass case Mikaere Gardiner's label features in.

Despite my tardiness in blogging about the new round of labels, they are up and ready to enjoy!  On the launch night (12 May ... yes, I know, ages ago now!), we had photographs of label writers projected in the temporary exhibition gallery.  Just to give you a taste, here are a few of the faces responsible for the writing of these fabulous musings.

Andrew poses with his wooden rulers

Don't just wait for the lift ... read Dale's label!

So, to give you a rundown, here is the list of new labels and their whereabouts:

In Taranaki Life

Clare O'Connell wrote about the Janet & John books

Cameron Curd wrote about the dentist display

Pam Murdoch wrote about the leather strap

Gerard Beckingsale wrote about a transistor radio

David Harrop wrote about Carrington's chain

Lucy MacFarlane wrote about the cheese display

Jill McKillop wrote about Frank Mace's New Zealand Cross

Mike Nightingale wrote about the survey pegs

In Taranaki Naturally

Te Maari Barham wrote about the clay doorstop dog

Sarah Ede wrote about the 'Wreaking Havoc' display

Karen Moratti-Longstaff wrote about a monarch butterfly

In Takapou Whariki

Mikaere Gardiner drew a graphic representation of a hei tiki

Lisa Tamati wrote about the Kahu toi

In the Taranaki Research Centre

Bill Howard wrote about the camera display

Virginia Winder wrote about the Wells enlarger

Christine Nana wrote about the money in the TSB Bank display

In Discover It!

TeAo Katene wrote about the small Maori kite

Lakshmi Iyer wrote about Maori musical instruments

In the South Wing

Andrew Moffat wrote about the wooden rulers in a drawer below the 398's, level 1

Dale Cousens wrote about the sculpture under the stairs by the lift, ground floor

(disclaimer: sorry about the lack of macrons, I can't figure out how to put them into the blog template!)

What an amazing array of labels.  Check 'em out!!!