The feature film Spontaneous Combustion is a love-song, a paean to those things that Barry Brickell held dear: to the bush, the railway, to the company of friends, and to conversation and song. It reflects the passionate and sensual attachment he felt to the land and human form, as expressed in the ceramic sculptures that defined his creativity. Set within a rich musical context played by Robert Oliver and the Palliser Viols, Barry Brickell’s holistic vision is brought together in Spontaneous Combustion.

Beyond the creative hub that is Driving Creek, this feature length film is a meditation on the natural environment, on the pre- and post-colonial realities which continue to shape who we are today, and on the legacy of one of Aotearoa New Zealand’s most singular and provocative artists and thinkers.

Viol player and early music specialist Robert Oliver has lived a life paralleling that of Barry Brickell, whose sister Andrea he married in 1966. For all three, Driving Creek embodied the power of the natural environment and the human imagination. It was at Driving Creek they experienced most acutely the energy, rhythm and texture of the physical world–and it was here that they were inspired to respond–in clay and words and music. 

The film’s soundtrack features performances by Robert Oliver and Palliser Viols with leading taonga pūoro specialist Mahina-Ina Kingi-Kaui. At Wellington’s Futuna Chapel they play pre-colonial music from England, and premieres of important new compositions by Gillian Whitehead (Ngāti Terangi) and Ross Harris of Aotearoa.

Alongside footage of current activities at Driving Creek, the film creates cinematic montage of imagery and sound recordings from many sources: individual artists, photographers, public archives, and DCR’s own rich collection.