MEET A LOCAL: Paul Brobbel

Paul Brobbel, Len Lyn Centre

Meet Paul Brobbel, the Len Lye Curator at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery/Len Lye Centre in New Plymouth, where he works with the art of modernist artist and filmmaker Len Lye (1901-1980).

Paul develops the Govett-Brewster’s Len Lye exhibition programme alongside the conservation and research of the Len Lye Foundation’s collection of sculptures, paintings, films and archives.

My favourite way to spend a day off is to get up early to make the day longer, start with a coffee and make sure I have plenty of things to read through the day, preferably unrelated to art or my job! For brunch it’s eggs benedict, either at Monica’s next to the gallery, or at home in the garden. Then I’d be getting some records out and listening to a few from beginning to end or – even better – go to the Vinyl Countdown to buy something new.

I’ll never forget the weekend I went to Whitehorse in Canada’s Yukon to see the Northern Lights. I think it’s unusual to go somewhere so remote and to do something so specific but two nights watching the Aurora Borealis was maybe a oncein-a-lifetime opportunity. The lights were probably a 4/10 at best but it was still an amazing experience.

The activity that instantly calms me is playing my guitar. I’ve been playing since I was 12 and ought to be pretty good by now but haven’t made it all the way through a song since the mid-90s. I’m too quick to move onto the next idea. But I like the creativity that can leave the brain and come out in the fingers.

My favourite season is definitely winter. So long as it’s not raining, being out and about on a crisp, cool day feels invigorating. It’s a feeling that reminds me of “ childhood winters in the UK or those moments overseas walking in a snowfall.