SPINNING TOP AND SHELLS BOTH INSTALLED
Friday 29 November was one of the great days in Wellington's art history with the opening by the Mayor Kerry Prendergast of Jeff Thomson's Shells and Robert Jahnke's Spinning Top.
Spinning Top
Shining and elegant, Spinning Top, in the words of the Dominion Post, “graces central Wellington’s Woodward St.”
Others noted it has a near perfect relationship to its site. Spinning Top comprises a large three metre disc, pierced through the centre by a spindle also of about three metres. The whole piece is of stainless steel, manufactured under the artist’s supervision by Etech Industries of Palmerston North.
Robert Jahnke says his design started with work on Maori tops or potaka, but was modified to include pictorial references to Wellington’s history. On the side facing down Woodward St are 11 symbols representing the astrological calendar. At the opening Bob explained this number in terms of the Maori approach of “not revealing all of your information.”
On the side facing The Terrace, symbols relate to Wellington’s mythological and actual history. They have references to the taniwha in Wellington Harbour, waka, the beehive, the koru, and Treaty of Waitangi signatures.
Shells
Shells comprises five concrete shells, standing about three metres tall and three metres across on the ground. The lines of Jeff Thomson’s trademark corrugated iron, used in some of the molds, are clearly visible on the surfaces.
Shells also has a strong relationship to its site, on the northern corner of Waring Taylor St and Lambton Quay. The five shells in the work are all found locally, while the objects attached to the surface represent both older and recent examples of the sorts of things found on Wellington beaches.
Jeff said that Shells was his most complex and time-consuming work to date. He made the molds in his studio in Helensville, and poured the concrete in Upper Hutt.
Opening
Sculpture Trust Chairman Neil Plimmer said at the opening that both works are serious contributions to Wellington’s urban landscape. “They are serious by their design by such eminent and professional artists, and they are serious by the robust selection process that they have been through, after an initial 166 proposals were put forward in a national competition over 18 months ago.
“But they are not serious in the sense of being ponderous and earnest. To the contrary both have a lightness of touch and a sense of exploring the everyday that anyone can relate to.”
He thanked the Wellington City Council and ECC Lighting for their support, while both he and the Mayor particularly thanked the Jack and Emma Griffin Charitable Trust as the principal sponsor.
After the official opening, the event concluded with refreshments at the Beaujolais Wine Bar, with wine supplied for the Trust by Nga Waka Vineyards of Martinborough.
