Anthony Byrt
Writer, Editor, Curator

Last year I wore a pair of Campers almost every day, until they'd pretty much worn through. A friend of mine - an artist - decided that this was unacceptable.

She gave me a crash-course in sneaker selection (which, by the way, is a more subtle and complex art than one might think). Unfortunately what she didn't realise is that underpinning my monotony was a longtime fear - actually a paranoia - about picking the wrong shoes. As a result, her 'help' increased my anxiety levels exponentially, because no longer could an error be explained away through lack of information. No, now a bad choice would point to something far more horrifying: bad taste.

So on a humid Saturday afternoon, I went into Pat Menzies and in a nervous sweat, found them. Adidas Rekords. Narrow and elegant and made with soft black leather, they slipped on smoothly, and their triple white stripes shone with a glow near-neon in its newness. I bought them. Relief washed over me when the artist gave her approval.

Then I wore them up to Artspace one day and Tobias Berger told me he had a similar pair. And, apparently, so did Robert Leonard. It appeared that they were, in Berger's somewhat concerning words, 'curator's shoes'.[i]

But it didn't matter. Because the artist had taught me two important lessons: that there are risks worth taking that can make walking around more interesting; and that having a good collection of sneakers (or, more precisely, a collection of good sneakers) is a rewarding thing indeed.

Anthony Byrt is co-editor of A Ramp Magazine and coordinator of Ramp Gallery in Hamilton. He is currently looking for the perfect pair of Puma Sparcos.

1. Although I later discovered neither of them actually had Rekords. Another crucial distinction is that their shoes would have been purchased in a sand-brown box with black stripes, whereas mine were in the newer blue box with white stripes. This may seem a minor detail, but it's not.