Gibbs Farm is an unusual setting for a sculpture collection. The North Auckland property is dominated by the Kaipara Harbour, the largest harbour in the Southern hemisphere. The harbour is so vast it occupies the whole western horizon; and it is very shallow, so when the tide goes out, the shallows are exposed for several kilometres and the light shimmies and bounces off it across the land. Equally, it is the forecourt to the prevailing westerly weather that sweeps, sometimes vehemently, across the land. Everything in the property flows towards and eventually into the sea; and every work contends in some way with the slide seaward.
The flow of the land, the immense body of water, the wide harbour flats and the assertive variety of the elements have all imposed themselves on the artists. Gibbs acknowledges that “the challenge for the artists is the scale of the landscape; it scares them initially” and demands something more from them. Walking the land visitors can appreciate how each artist has come to terms in their own way with the gravitational pull that is exerted on everything as the mountains roll into hills and slide into gullies and slope down towards the wide flat expanse of the Kaipara harbour.
After nearly twenty years Gibbs Farm includes major works by Graham Bennett, Chris Booth, Daniel Buren, Bill Culbert, Neil Dawson, Marijke de Goey, Andy Goldsworthy, Ralph Hotere, Anish Kapoor, Sol LeWitt, Len Lye, Russell Moses, Peter Nicholls, Eric Orr, Tony Oursler, George Rickey, Peter Roche, Richard Serra, Kenneth Snelson, Richard Thompson, Leon van den Eijkel and Zhan Wang. Most works in the collection are commissioned; and commissioning new works rather than buying from an exhibition involves the satisfaction of dealing with the artists, as Gibbs comments “they’re interesting because they’re winners, tough, ambitious”.
—Rob Garrett
Mincher - a Six-Star garden of International Significance.
Approached by a chestnut-lined drive which winds past old orchards and streams, Mincher, a large rural garden just north of Auckland’s CBD, is home to many varieties of waterfowl and birdlife including Grey Teal, Aylesburys, Kingfishers, Shining Cuckoos, Tui and Kaka.
The structure and formality of the Georgian styled home is reflected in the immediate surrounding planting with long perennial borders and a parterre before gradually loosening to a more cottage style area under the ancient apple trees.
Passing through the “kissing gate” under the mature willows reveals a different vista of expansive grassed areas, encompassing “The Ride” edged with pin oaks, winding gravel paths weaving through a mix of native and exotic planting and the Rhododendron Walk, a blaze of glorious colour in spring.
The neighbouring traditional walled kitchen garden with its Victorian inspired glasshouses and adjoining gardener’s cottage nestled in its own pretty garden provides a quiet spot for contemplation.
Set against a backdrop of typically Northland podocarp forest, the Bush Walk features lookouts over the Mahonui Stream. Explore the 60m long bog garden and Drogo, the croquet lawn encircled with trimmed Totara and stroll under the pergola, espaliered with Manchurian pears.
