Art attack: $300K sculpture snapped
A Wellington sculpture worth an estimated $300,000 has been broken in two by a would-be daredevil.
The Len Lye Water Whirler has been under restoration for more than a year but yesterday a man decided to climb it, breaking the ‘‘wand’’ at the artwork’s base.
Len Lye Foundation director Evan Webb said the sculpture was almost ready to be declared fixed, and it was meant to be reopened this month.
Photos of the man emerging from the water after the stunt went wrong show blood coming from his head.
Webb said almost $200,000 had been commissioned in 2009 to fix the sculpture. One of the things they were trying to repair was the extent to which the wand could bend.
It upset him greatly to hear that the wand had been broken, he said.
Wellington resident Will Palmer said about 70 people watched the man break it. ‘‘Then he came out of the water quite slowly, and
everyone saw him . . . with a big gash on his head.’’
Onlookers were shocked, he added. ‘‘They were saying it was very sad, and asking ‘why would he do that’.’’
A Wellington Free Ambulance spokeswoman said the man, who was in his 20s, was taken to Wellington Hospital with moderate injuries.
The Water Whirler was erected in 2006, with installation pushing the final bill for the artwork up to $1 million. In 2016, it was turned off for repairs.
When the sculpture is operating, the wand oscillates, revolves and gyrates, spraying water from jets.
Motors designed to work with a computer program choreograph the movement and water patterns of the wand, playing in 10-minute cycles on the hour – but only in winds of less than 20 knots.
Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the sculpture had been out of action for repairs after it was vandalised. ‘‘It would be safe to say that everyone associated with the sculpture will be appalled by [this latest] act. The bloke also appears to be lucky he narrowly avoided a Darwin Award.’’
The council would be speaking to police and other interested parties about their options, he said.
Mayor Justin Lester tweeted ‘‘you break it, you buy it’’ – but said the comment was tongue in cheek. ‘‘It will be covered by our insurance . . . we’re not going to ask them to pay for all those costs.’’
They didn’t yet know how much repairs would cost. ‘‘It’s a bespoke design, it’s not something you can fix easily.’’
Wellington Sculpture Trust chair Sue Elliott said the trust was a ‘‘hair’s breadth’’ away from getting the Water Whirler running again.
For more than a year, they had been working to solve complicated issues with the sculpture’s motor. ‘‘This has set us back for months. It will need a whole new pole by the look of it now.’’