Double fantasy

With a full moon on both Dec 2 and Dec 31, the first decade of this millennium will end with a blue moon. But before this year is out, weather permitting, we'd like to spend some time at our favourite swimming spot - Bethells Beach on Auckland's iconic West Coast. Heading north, it follows Campion and Caro's Karekare, popular Piha and McCahon's Muriwai.

Of course, Te Henga (Bethells Beach) is a landscape with its own lovers. Most notably, Don Binney frequently returned to this location, often drawing in situ to capture it both vacant and as a backdrop for his bird studies. Interesting to note that Google Maps has it as Te Henga at THIS altitude, but zoom CLOSER and it becomes Bethells. Curious.

Reuben Paterson now joins the list of artists inspired by this coastal treasure, with a work commissioned for the New Artland TV series. Titled There Goes The Moon, Paterson's ephemeral earth work pays tribute to his ancestral home of MATATA, which was devastated by flooding and landslides in 2005. It also recalls his 2004 outdoor installation for Scape, which similarly paid homage to the sacred energies of a local landscape - PUTARINGAMOTU (Riccarton).

Built and destroyed in a day, Paterson's Te Henga piece, like Riccarton before it, is another Narcissus reflection. This time it is an image of the moon, utilising the shimmering sand and surf to reflect the moon above while the installation is washed away. You can watch the entire process here.

Image: Reuben Paterson, There Goes The Moon, 2009, photo: FAT Productions/TVNZ 7.