The issue was not so much the aesthetics or the cost of "Cabbege Trees", or even the merit of the artist Jeff Thomson, but the fact the commission was given to a Waitakere (North Island) man. Nelson sees itself as an arty city; many artists cannot support themselves on art alone; therefore, it was morally reprehensible for the City Council to not select a Nelson artist for this tax-paid commission at the side of thier office block. I think that was the controversy.
Notice the pink and blue rugby ball stuck in the gutter above the entrance.
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That is pure coincidence : we share the same subject today on Nelson and Châteauroux DP, namely controversial sculpture.
Sounds like very small town parochialism to me!
Matthieu, I saw that...
Sally, you could say that, but having grown up in bigger places, I am definitely enjoying it, and fun to read in the newspaper; sure beats war, famine and plague. I hope you're having a time of your life in Istanbul.
thanks for dropping by at my blog! i took me a while to see the rugby ball, hehe.
That is strange--about the outside commission. Maybe they should have just planted real cabbage trees.
Twistedzero, when I was there, the pink of the baby rugby ball was so bright I kept looking at THAT, though I went specifically to shoot these 'trees'. I had to zoom in to see what it was.
Cristina, the city council went a litlle scupture-mad last year, I think I can think of four, and possibly five, sculptures that went up.
I like this sculpture. This is a change from Jeff's previous corrugated iron. Jeff has done a lot for small towns around NZ, I think it is a fair enough decision.
Louise, I love them. I didn't realise it was corrugated iron until I got up close, and this one is so colourful, too. (I won't tell anyone you called us a 'small town', though; Nelson being the first 'city' in NZ and all...)
Whoops, sorry, I meant the thriving metropolis of Nelson. I do tend to think of places where you can get a park and a smile as being a town.
No need to apologize to me. The cab company's dispatcher is always correcting me: I say I'm going into town, she says, "OK, Tahuna to CITY."
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