Man scales Wellington's $300k Len Lye waterfront sculpture, breaking it

Wellington City Council refused requests for its waterfront Water Whirler sculpture be blocked off to prevent further damage before a man snapped it when he dangled off it.

The Len Lye sculpture had been undergoing maintenance following damage caused during the Kaikoura earthquake when the sea water got into it and fried the electrics and was due to be back in action this month.

But a man has today climbed up the thin structure, bending it and eventually breaking it.

Roger Horrocks, a trustee of The Len Lye Foundation and author of Len Lye's biography, said it was not the first time the iconic sculpture had been damaged.

The foundation had no uptake when it previously recommended Wellington City Council block access to the sculpture. He hoped it would now reconsider.

"A sculpture like that has to be proofed against idiots - total idiots who want to destroy it.

"People don't seem to understand that if you lean on it or tug it... it hasn't been damaged to the same extent previously. I mean this guy has actually broken it off, but it has been interfered with and damaged."

Wellington City Council spokesman Richard MacLean said the council had problems with people accessing the Water Whirler and it would be speaking with the Len Lye Foundation and other interested parties about what could be done to stop it being damaged again without making it look really ugly.

"The problem with the design is you can basically walk right out to the Water Whirler from the wharf so in other words we want to avoid ugly barbed wire fences that would obviously ruin the aesthetic of the sculpture."

The spike hit the man in the head and he was lucky to miss the rocks beneath him when he fell.

The man has been taken to hospital and the scene of the incident has been cordoned off.

Thanks to all contacted us regarding the Len Lye Water Whirler sculpture being damaged. It was having maintenance done so wasn’t operational. The person in question was injured during the incident and has been taken to hospital & we will be working closely with Police. pic.twitter.com/3XPZUn2MhO

— Wellington City Council (@WgtnCC) October 8, 2018

Wellington City Council waterfront specialist Fraser Ebbett said the man was being egged on by onlookers.

"He's climbed to the top and it's bent right over. It's obviously got to a point where it couldn't hold his weight and has snapped at the base.

"He has proceeded to fall in the water and at the same time the pole has made contact with his head quite heavily and caused a bit of blood."

A Wellington Free Ambulance spokeswoman said the man was aged in his 20s and has moderate injuries.

The incident happened at about 3pm. Police have been notified and the area has been cordoned off.

Ebbett said salvage crews had been called in to retrieve the pole, made of metal and fibre glass, which was now lying on the sea bed.

"We are hoping to get the sculpture up and running again but it really depends on us retrieving the pole from the ocean and seeing its state."

He said it wasn't the first time someone had climbed the structure, but not like this.

"I've never seen anyone get as high as he has."

Ebbett said obviously they never liked seeing anyone get hurt, but the situation was still frustrating.

The Len Lye Foundation director Evan Webb, who also built the sculpture, was upset the artwork had been damaged by a man swinging from it.

The Water Whirler was one of the drawings left to the foundation by Lye and was commissioned by the Wellington Sculpture Trust in 2006.

"Lye's work is renown throughout the world - his sculptures and his films are wonderful.

"He also made these works for the delight of people so he would have been I think particularly upset to find that one had been broken in this manner."

Webb said from what he understood of the damage the fibre glass pole had been completely broken and would need to be replaced.

"This is one of several wonderfully works that Wellington has certainly in he world of kinetic sculpture. It's greatly disappointing that works get damaged in this way."

Horrocks said the Water Whirler was an iconic sculpture on the Wellington waterfront and an amazing piece of work. "Len Lye is a great kinetic sculptor and New Zealand certainly has the best collection of his work.

"It has a marvellous mechanical dance which produced by the screens of water that dance when it moves. It's a beautiful piece when it's functioning and it is well known in Wellington."

The Len Lye Foundation was unsure of its market value as the majority of Lye's work was housed in museums in the US and did not get resold.