Munted: Christchurch aide says locals avoid CBD after earthquake

This story is the second part of Munted, a seven-part video series that tells the story of the Christchurch earthquakes. Watch all seven episodes.

In the aftermath of the earthquake, Christchurch is a soulless city of steel and glass with its “holy cycle lanes” contributing to the monstrosity of the central city, says the Magician.

New Zealand Magician QSM, who has lived in Christchurch since 1974, agreed to be interviewed via email ahead of the 10th anniversary of the first devastating Christchurch earthquake on September 4.

Following the subsequent deadly earthquake in February 2011, the Magician became highly visible in the struggles to save the Christ Church Cathedral and other prominent buildings and heritage features in Munted

In episode one of Munted his quote – “If you control the media, you control the meaning of the word ‘real’” – helps set the tone for the show.

Where were you and what were you doing when the earthquakes struck?

In 2011, I was at my home in Avonside, about to go to Cathedral Square to speak about my usual topic of free speech in a public square. Alicia [his fiancee] I was at a teachers’ meeting at City Hall. She was very surprised. I tried to get to her mother’s retirement home, but got stuck. Dealing with the situation for the rest of the day, we met in the evening.

READ MORE: Quake Boss: “It was hard to keep your head all the time.”

You reportedly left for Oamaru after the 2011 earthquake, but returned shortly after and signed “the Pledge,” in which people pledged to the city. Was there a resolution to stay in Christchurch and make a difference?

I got Alice and her mother to our Oamaru vacation home asap and came back a few days later and signed the Pledge with my friends at the closed Carmelite convent when media commentators said I should be there to boost morale in the city. I immediately wrote letters to The press expressing my concern that what had happened abroad could happen here.

Panic, total demolition of buildings, even when not severely damaged, and an opportunity for disaster capitalists to manipulate private engineers to justify unnecessary demolitions, claim earthquake insurance, and get their hands on valuable land previously occupied by a heritage building or a heritage urban landscape.

I came to live in Christchurch because I have always been attracted to the neo-Gothic romantic movement and repelled by cheap and ugly brutalist architecture. My first PhD study was in aesthetics, I have been active in sponsoring the arts and have been recognized by art gallery directors as the only living work of art in the world.

You called for Christchurch to “go Gothic” after 2011. How well has the city’s Gothic heritage been preserved and the historical significance of that architecture well understood?

Gruesome losses, as I prophesied a few days after the 2011 earthquake; see my “Save Our Souls” document that I published and distributed during my daily rallies outside the Canterbury Museum.

Posted in March 2011, “Save Our Souls” read: Over the past 50 years, dozens of our limited number of old historic buildings that were to be demolished with the backing of Christchurch City Council planners were only saved through actions heroic. from voluntary associations of individuals, such as the Christchurch Civic Trust and the Save Our Arts Center.

Many other beautiful buildings were demolished despite the public clamor of those who love our once beautiful city. Look at the buildings that replaced them! Look what happened to my beloved Plaza de la Catedral during the last 30 years! Now a desolate wasteland where no one lingers! … Imagine the tourism potential of a truly new direction in 21st century architecture. Another Barcelona but 100 years later! Who would travel thousands of miles to see even more boxes of steel and concrete, and acres of plain glass!

Is it fair to say that it acquired a prophetic quality in those years?

Yes, as I did for the first few months after arriving in Christchurch and defying the daily attempts by the Christchurch City Council to arrest me for speaking in the square. I pointed out that I was a postmodern prophet who used fun to infuriate fundamentalist demons.

Were these times demanding for you, personally?

I loved.

What is your perspective now on the fight for the Anglican cathedral, including your own role as “a Gothic icon trying to save another”?

Very relieved that Bishop Victoria [Matthews] she left in a fury of frustration, like the wicked witch she looked so much like.

Now my fiancee Alice (in an alchemical marriage), who was a trustee of the Catholic Cathedral in the past, is at the center of the fight to stop the new Catholic Bishop who is rushing to demolish the Catholic Cathedral for unstable legal reasons and in a moment of great economic uncertainty. The pro-Cathedral is working very well.

There was a fear that Christchurch would become a soulless city of steel and glass after the earthquakes. Has that happened?

Yes, and the concrete curb of the sacred bike paths not only makes the central city an eyesore, but also makes riding there at night really dangerous. The city is being avoided by its residents.

We also have good pictures of you protesting to save the historic Majestic Theater. Unfortunately, the protests were unsuccessful. What was lost in that case?

A nearly intact concert hall and theater, many useful offices, and a beautiful art deco building at a major city intersection. CERA overruled the council, gave no information on its status and the reason they gave for the demolition was to widen Manchester St by one or two meters. Then they subsequently reduced it!

Do you make a lot of public appearances now or do you keep a lower profile?

The city council has done its best to hide the fact that I am in the city center most days and get mugged by tourists and locals in the summer. There is no reference to my existence in the promotional material of national tourism, nor in the tourism of Canterbury or Christchurch. I have been “canceled” but no one has said why. When asked, they say that I have left the city or have retired. Nothing to see here!

I’m still waiting behind the scenes to be called back to my old role as a popular promoter of the city and its heritage.

I just published an essay book The Funny Revolution: Jack’s Adventures in Ideologyland. It should be coming out as an ebook soon and I’ll be making my first social media appearance soon.

This story is the second part of Munted, a seven-part video series that tells the story of the Christchurch earthquakes. Watch all seven episodes.