Wind Wand | |
---|---|
Artist | Len Lye |
Year | 1997–98 (groundbreaking) 1998–99 (constructed) 1 January 2000 (opened) |
Type | Kinetic sculpture |
Dimensions | 48 m (157 ft) high 200 mm (7.9 in) diameter |
Location | New Plymouth, New Zealand |
39°03′22″S174°04′18″E / 39.056056°S 174.071736°E |
The Wind Wand is a 48-metre kinetic sculpture located in New Plymouth, New Zealand. [1] The sculpture includes a 45-metre tube of red fibreglass, and was made to designs by artist Len Lye. [2] To residents, it is one of the main icons of New Plymouth. During the night, the Wind Wand lights up.
Costing over $300,000 it was originally installed in December 1999 along with the Coastal Walkway, it had to be taken down within weeks. After repairs it was reinstalled in June 2001. [3] The red fibreglass tube stands vertical in still air, but bends in the wind. [4]
On 17 September 2017, the Wind Wand was struck by lightning.
The Wind Wand is constructed out of fibreglass and carbon fibre. It weighs around 900 kg and has a diameter of 200 mm. The Wind Wand can bend at least 20 m. The red sphere on the top contains 1,296 light-emitting diodes. [5]
Plymouth is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately 36 miles (58 km) south-west of Exeter and 193 miles (311 km) south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
New Plymouth is the major city of the Taranaki region on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is named after the English city of Plymouth, Devon from where the first English settlers to New Plymouth migrated. The New Plymouth District, which includes New Plymouth City and several smaller towns, is the 10th largest district in New Zealand, and has a population of 87,700 – about two-thirds of the total population of the Taranaki Region and 1.7% of New Zealand's population. This includes New Plymouth City (58,500), Waitara (7,310), Inglewood (3,830), Ōakura (1,720), Ōkato (561) and Urenui (429).
Leonard Charles Huia Lye was a New Zealand artist known primarily for his experimental films and kinetic sculpture. His films are held in archives including the New Zealand Film Archive, British Film Institute, Museum of Modern Art in New York City, and the Pacific Film Archive at University of California, Berkeley. Lye's sculptures are found in the collections of the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery and the Berkeley Art Museum. Although he became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1950, much of his work went to New Zealand after his death, where it is housed at the Govett-Brewster Art Gallery in New Plymouth.
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