Spare ‘wands’ looked at for sculpture
A well-known piece of public art broken into pieces is being scrutinised by engineers.
The Len Lye Water Whirler’s pole or ‘‘wand’’ in Wellington, which was recently broken by a man swinging from it, will cost $35,000 to $50,000 to repair.
Len Lye Foundation director Evan Webb said they wanted to produce three new wands as the cost to manufacture them one-byone was so high. ‘‘The machinery to make it actually needs to be rebuilt as well.’’
The $300,000 sculpture likely won’t be fixed until next year.
Webb said the sculpture was a bespoke design, meaning the replica wands and their 20 nozzles, assembly, transport, installation, and testing would be complex.
‘‘Some of it needs to be redesigned, and some of it needs to be rebuilt.’’
The first wands for the Water Whirler were hand-made, he said.
That craftsman was no longer available; however, the foundation had found a Christchurch company that looked likely to be able to complete the project.
A Wellington City Council spokesman said it had quotes for the repair of the Water Whirler but these were commercially sensitive. ‘‘The pole and its attachments need to be re-made. No other part of the mechanism appears to be damaged.
‘‘It’ll probably take a couple of months to complete . . . so we’re probably looking at early next year before the Water Whirler will be back in action.’’
The council would decide on a repairer in the next few weeks.