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Gibbs Farm is an outdoor sculpture park in Kaipara Harbour, 47 kilometres (29 mi) north of Auckland, New Zealand. It contains the largest collection of large-scale outdoor sculptures in New Zealand. It is the private art collection of New Zealand businessman Alan Gibbs, but is open to the public on certain days of the year, usually once a month, by appointment.
Background
After purchasing the 400 hectares (990 acres) of land for The Farm in 1991, Gibbs has collected significant artworks by many world-renowned artists from New Zealand and overseas. Many of the artworks are commissioned and therefore incorporate elements of the landscape into the artworks. The farm also includes several exotic animals such as emus and giraffes, a garage through whose windows visitors can glimpse the Gibbs Aquada, and a full-scale Wild West town with a saloon (in the installation called Grief). Grief was built through the inspiration of Gibbs' son-in-law, architect Noel Lane, who now looks after the property with Gibbs' daughter Amanda. The town is located on a private area of the farm and is not open to the public. Eric Orr's sculpture Electrum (for Len Lye) is the world's largest Tesla coil (11.6 metres or 38 feet high) and numerous artworks are large enough to be seen on satellite images at high magnification. Gibbs is a major sponsor of ACT New Zealand and the party holds its annual conference at Gibbs Farm most years.
May 1, 2024
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