New Mark Whyte sculpture unveiled
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Engineer Brian Moore, Bryan Darrell and Michael Stratton of Slade Engineering, Mayor Garry Moore and sculptor Mark Whyte at the official opening of Coil. Mr Darrell completed the section steel rolling and Mr Stratton is a heavy engineering fabricator. |
Mayor Garry Moore and a small group of local people and members of the Fendalton/ Waimairi Community Board recently celebrated the board’s latest communityartwork installation. Coil, by Mark Whyte, stands in Wairakei Reserve at the south-east end of Nunweek Park in Bishopdale.
It is the second Whyte work the board has funded (he created Presence of the Past on the Rossall-Leinster corner). Coil was built by Slade Engineering in Sydenham, with engineering advice by Brian Moore.
The Mayor said public art is important and should generate debate. “With any public artwork, not everybody should like it; it’s there to challenge people.”
Board chairman Mike Wall congratulated everyone who had a hand in selecting the design and creating the finished work. “To us on the board, art is very important and part of it is that different people will see it in different lights. To me, it says something about the old pinball machines that used to be in the fish and chip shops when I was a kid.”
Mark Whyte is a Lyttelton sculptor who said Coil took him well outside his comfort zone. “My expertise is in a more traditional way of working and this one’s nothing like that. I’ve had fantastic assistance from Brian Moore and his team at Slade Engineering.”
The design was chosen from several submitted for consideration by an advisory group made up of community board members, community representatives and council staff. Also assisting with the sculpture were Richard Lines of Metaform, who was involved in the early stages of developing the concept and transportation of the finished piece and Resene Paints, which donated the paint. |
