25 August 2006
Mark Whyte sculpture to be unveiled in Christchurch on Wednesday
Christchurch Mayor Garry Moore will unveil a sculpture by Mark Whyte at 4pm on Wednesday (30 August). The work, Coil, is
to be installed in Wairakei Reserve at the south-east end of Nunweek Park in Bishopdale.
Coil is a project of the Fendalton/Waimairi Community Board and Whyte’s design was engineered and built by Slade
Engineering in Sydenham. Made from twisted and coiled steel I-beam, it is about 4m tall and painted phosphorescent
turquoise.
Whyte is a Lyttelton sculptor whose largest local public work is the statue of double Victoria Cross winner Charles
Upham at Amberley. Other creations are Caryatid in Victoria Square and Presence of the Past on the corner of Rossall and
Leinster streets. He has works on Waiheke Island and in Sydney and London. He also plays in a local band, Into the Void.
Whyte says the latest work has taken him well outside his comfort zone. “My expertise is in a more traditional way of
working and this one’s nothing like that. I’ve had fantastic assistance from Brian Moore and his team at Slade
Engineering.”
The surrounding area along Wairakei Road has a number of light industrial and engineering firms and Whyte says that
inspired him to do something that would appear to be an improbable use of the material. “It’s meant to be a piece of
impossibility,” he says.
Coil will sit about 20m off the road, sited to draw people’s attention into the reserve, which has a dogleg connection
to Nunweek Park.
Whyte’s concept was chosen from several submitted for consideration by an advisory group made up of community board
members, community representatives and council staff.
● Coil will be unveiled at 4pm on Wednesday, 30 August, at the reserve (490 Wairakei Road).
ENDS