Sculpture transforms fire site
New artwork nod to bilingual society, Kiwis as a people
Agigantic steel column made by local sculptor Steuart Welch has been erected on the central Whanganui site where the heritage Thain’s Building once stood.
The building, on the corner of Taupo¯ Quay and Victoria Ave, was gutted by fire in July last year and demolished four months later in the interests of public safety.
Property owner Bryce Smith said Welch’s artwork, Tahi, erected yesterday, would be the first of three installations to go on the site at 1 Victoria Ave.
“Steuart and I both agreed that it had to be reasonably substantial, because if it was too small it would just disappear,” Smith said.
“Apart from that, he had free rein.” Smith said the 7.5-metre sculpture would remain on the land for as long as he owned the property, or until someone bought it.
“Now that it’s in place, we’re negotiating with another sculptor to make a work to go on site.
“We had to wait until this was installed so he could come and have a look and see what he wanted to do.
“I’d imagine there’ll be another one or two sculptures here, and we’ve got a couple of big rimu trees to plant, then we’ll sit tight for a while.
“Until it’s clear what the section will be used for, it certainly adds some interest to the central city. I’ve just to keep mowing the lawns.”
Smith said Creative Communities provided funding for the installation, and the Supporting Artists with Residencies Trust (the entity that organised the sculpture and its installation) was “very grateful” for its support.
Welch said the sculpture had taken him six weeks to complete and
I’m not trying to explain the mysteries of the universe when I make something like this, I just get stuck in and do it.
Sculptor Steuart Welch
was called Tahi as “a nod to our bilingual society and who we are as people today”.
“I don’t draw it, it’s just in my head and I make it as I go,” he said. “The twists and turns just happen. “A lot of sculpture is made these days by designers with computers, and they send it off to the fabricator to make. For me, I’ve got to do everything myself.
“It’s hands-on. I’ve connected the steel, cut it, bent it, rolled it, ground
it. I don’t take personal responsibility for the rust though, somebody else helped with that.”
Welch said he had wanted to make columns for a long time, and ones that didn’t “follow any previous reason for an upright”.
“They’re usually memorials or marker pegs to show the centre or the boundary of a place, but this is allowed to exist in its own right.
“I’m not trying to explain the mysteries of the universe when I make something like this, I just get stuck in and do it.”
The installation would hopefully have an effect on people “from a distance”, Welch said.
“It gets to the stage where these sites can’t be rebuilt, but that’s not a bad thing if you can reuse them for public use,” Welch said.
“Hopefully something like this will make people go ‘Gee, I want to have a closer look at that’, and they’ll get out of their car and walk down to see it.”