Cones were placed on the ‘Wind-Grass’ sculpture this week. PHOTO/DANA JOHNSON
ARTHUR HAWKES
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An iconic Featherston sculpture called ‘Wind-Grass’, known to some residents as ‘spaghetti’, was vandalised with traffic cones, overnight on Tuesday.
Residents awoke on Wednesday to several traffic cones suspended on the long poles, which caused a social media storm as people posted images of the yellow grasses, lolling under the weight of their new adornments.
The ‘kinetic sculpture’, installed by artist Konstantin Dimopoulos, went up in 2012, commissioned by the Aratoi Foundation, the fundraising arm of the Aratoi Museum of Art and History.
It was designed to reflect the grasses of Wairarapa, which Dimopoulos remembered fondly from his childhood spent at Lake Ferry and the surrounding coast.
The sculpture was constructed to move and rattle with the changing wind, hence ‘kinetic’, and took the artist 10 days to erect.
Dimopoulos has exhibited his large sculptural installations all over the world. The Blue Trees was one project in North America, where trees were coated with blue, biologically-safe paint to provoke discussion about deforestation.
More recently, Dimopoulos completed The Purple Rain, where large purple droplets, each representing a homeless person, were placed around venues in Melbourne, Australia.
Euan Stitt, partnerships and operations group manager at South Wairarapa District Council, said that he was disappointed by the vandalism of the artwork.
“This is the second time in the last week that council has been made aware of items being placed on the sculpture and the matter will be referred to the police and the Featherston community patrol.
“While no lasting damage to the sculpture is apparent, it is extremely disappointing that this has happened, not once but twice.
“On this occasion, it appears the items may have been removed by a member of the public before council could attend to it.
“We ask that council is contacted in the first instance to resolve such issues.”
Thanks for publicising vandelism. Idiots.