Of the many ugly things around central Wellington. This has got to be one of the worst. A piece of supposedly modern sculpture, it is in fact an assorted pile of whitewashed crap that could easily have been made as a year 10 art project.
It is awful.
It is placed into a plinth that looks like it was “designed” and built by the Masterton borough council.
It is constantly stained yellow from all the nitrates seagulls leave in there, when it is overflowing with bubbles from teenagers putting detergent in there. Seriously teenagers… get over it. That joke was mildly funny inthe 1950s. Now it’s just plain stupid.
What’s worse is that this awful, horrible piece of crap is sitting in a locale that has some of the best views of Wellington features you can imagine. There is fantastic city-sea bridge (which is, apparently, rotting).
And of course the old boat shed, full to the brim with the same snooty brats who won’t let them build a Marae next store.
Naturally, to accompany this wonderful site we has a fountain that constantly looks like someone has taken a whizz on it.
In short, dear City Council, please get rid of this digraceful piece of pottery before the thing really does become a urinal.
6 April, 2009 at 9:41 pm
It’s called Albatross and was created by Tanya Ashken. Notably it was the first piece of sculpture that the Sculpture Trust installed, kicking off the awesome collection of sculpture around the streets of this fair town.
I like it, and I think it looks splendid in all the above photos. Yeah, it could do with a paint, but I like that the yellowing of it reminds us that we don’t live in a pristine lab-like environment. We have to share this city with shitty seagulls and dumb-arse teens, so if the sculpture can still end up looking good with a bit of bird poo on it, I reckon that’s a good thing.
Also: “won’t let them build a Marae next store.” Whoa! “Next store” is an eggcorn for “next door”. I’ve never seen one in the wild before!
6 April, 2009 at 10:40 pm
albatross.
appropriate.
6 April, 2009 at 10:41 pm
You really need to live in Auckland to know bad public sculpture.
7 April, 2009 at 10:01 am
Oi! Tibby! No! Leave our sculptures alone!
At least we have some sort of respect for most of our public sculptures, unlike Auckland, which seems to chuck out most of its good stuff. What happened to that great tangled metal one down the bottom of Queen St? I always used to like that, but last time I was in Auckland it had disappeared.
7 April, 2009 at 5:14 pm
Further to Mr Litterick’s comment, while Albatross represents the start of a serious focus on public art in Wellington, in Auckland, public art usually ends up getting shifted around, installed in new locations it wasn’t designed for. Or worse – after a while it gets taken for granted and after some world-classing of the footpaths it gets put into storage, never to see the light of day again.
7 April, 2009 at 5:22 pm
hmmm… sounds a bit like the really nice wellington public art, which is all located up the top of the hill in the botanic gardens…
7 April, 2009 at 5:36 pm
“in Auckland, public art usually ends up getting shifted around, installed in new locations it wasn’t designed for. Or worse – after a while it gets taken for granted and after some world-classing of the footpaths it gets put into storage, never to see the light of day again.”
That happened to Guy Ngan’s “Geometric Growth”, which disappeared into storage when they built Civic Square, and languished there for nearly 20 years before being reinstalled near the MFC carpark.
In further news, just quietly, “Solace in the Wind” has become permanent. I thought it terribly twee when I first saw plans for it, but it’s turned out to be truly interactive.
7 April, 2009 at 6:28 pm
solace is a really lovely piece.
will have to post here some pictures i took for welingtonista
8 April, 2009 at 10:42 pm
Do I detect a slight note of I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Like?
Solace is OK. No more meritorious than Albatross though, and Albatross does represent a particular stage of the development of art in NZ. Hone Tuwhare’s poem in honour of it is on the Sculpture Trust’s website http://www.sculpture.org.nz/engine/SID/10007/AID/1048.htm
I suppose I like the Albatross better of the two because its entire being challenged what we thought of as art at the time, and its principles became well accepted across the medium. Solace uses established methods and forms to convey its message and there’s nothing wrong with that but I don’t find it particularly interesting or exciting as a result. I do think a different material or perhaps less literalness might have made it a more powerful work. The seeds are certainly there.
9 April, 2009 at 5:42 pm
Needs a better plinth, that’s for sure, one that allows the eye to rest on it and explore its curves and lines. And a coating of a paint that better weathers the Wellington outdoors.
I like it though, and I think you’re being too hard… “year 10 art project”?
9 April, 2009 at 6:51 pm
“Do I detect a slight note of I Don’t Know Much About Art But I Know What I Like?”
I don’t think you do. I think people on this thread know quite a lot about art and know what they don’t like. I