SkyBlues by Bill Culbert
The Wellington Sculpture Trust today announced they have commissioned a work by internationally renowned sculptor, Bill Culbert, for Post Office Square.
Wellington Sculpture Trust Chair, Neil Plimmer said: “The placement of the work, entitled SkyBlues, by such a senior New Zealand artist working at the height of his powers is a very exciting prospect for Wellington City and New Zealand.
“Thanks to the very generous support of TOWERLtd and other supporters we are able to commission this work, so that construction has started by Bill Culbert's agent in New Zealand. All consents have been obtained.
“SkyBlues will redefine this corner of Wellington, with its reflections and transformations making a sculptural play of light on glass.
“This sculpture will be strong enough to hold its own against the tall buildings and busy urban site. It will appear stunning at night time, and the neon will still be beautiful viewed in daylight”, Mr Plimmer said.
Bill Culbert describes this work as: “Fifteen vertical blue neon lines rising from steel poles five meters high. The neon some 2-3 meters high are in three dimensional space and each neon is as a corkscrew. The density of the fifteen lines will give a form in depth to the work; with visual overlaps as the viewer moves - SkyBlues is light energy, the verticals are drawn lines that move, shimmer, swirl blue in the cityscape.”
Mr Plimmer said the estimated time of fabrication, due to the technical complexities of the seven tapered steel poles supporting the neon component of the sculpture, is up to eight months. “Bill will visit New Zealand during the fabrication stage and be here for its final installation which is most likely to be mid 2005. He has specified the poles be laid out in a spiral pattern.”
SkyBlues will be the seventeenth sculpture commissioned and placed by the Wellington Sculpture Trust, a charitable trust that relies on the vision and passion of a great many organisations and individual Wellingtonians to help make its projects happen. It is the second piece in a series supported by TOWER Ltd, the first being Kaiwhakatere: The Navigator by Brett Graham on Bowen Street.
SkyBlues has also received major funding from Wellington City Council, Creative New Zealand and a number of local organisations and individuals.
