\nBottom: The Voyager sculpture, pictured in 2011 shortly after its unveiling. Photo \/ Gisborne Herald<\/p>\n
The strip of land falls under section 62 of the Conservation Act 1987, as land held for conservation purposes and \u201cmanaged as if it is [a] stewardship area\u201d, according to Land Information NZ data.<\/p>\n
Top: The Voyager sculpture, pictured in 2026.
\nBottom: The Voyager sculpture, pictured in 2011 shortly after its unveiling. Photo \/ Gisborne Herald<\/p>\n
In the legislation, stewardship areas are managed to ensure their natural and historic resources are protected.<\/p>\n
Responding to Gisborne Herald queries about who was responsible for the upkeep of the land, a Department of Conservation spokesman said the council was responsible.<\/p>\n
The Gisborne Herald asked the council about the sculpture\u2019s state of disrepair, who was responsible for maintenance and who owned the land on February 24.<\/p>\n
The council has indicated it was making inquiries. The Gisborne Herald has received no answers to the questions to date.<\/p>\n
After Gisborne Herald queries, Pultron Composites chairwoman Dame Bronwen Holdsworth reached out to the artist.<\/p>\n
She learned that Dimopoulos had advised the council that the sculpture would need to be maintained as any outdoor sculpture or building. <\/p>\n
Dimopoulos said, in a letter, that the commissioner of the sculpture was responsible for maintaining it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn this case, it was the Gisborne City Council. I can\u2019t remember the name of the person we were dealing with, but I believe he has retired,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy understanding is also that Pultron (Composites) donated the rods or at least provided the rods at a discounted rate.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dimopoulos initially said he had contacted the council but hadn\u2019t received a response.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had also advised that I would be happy to look at the cost of doing this work, but there has been no response in the last 10 years,\u201d Dimopoulos said.<\/p>\n
Dimopoulos more recently told The Gisborne Herald he was now speaking to someone at the council.<\/p>\n
The Voyager sculpture has deteriorated over time and is now almost hidden in its overgrown location off Grey St, adjacent to Waikanae Stream. Photo \/ Gisborne Herald<\/p>\n
The artist said he had been maintaining sculptures in Melbourne and overseas with great success.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sculpture was created in 2011, so I think it would be time to refresh the work.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to do this myself as I have created my own way of recoating the rods in situ. This way I know the work will be done properly and will last another 15-20 years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain, like all public sculptures, once the work is completed, it is the responsibility of the commissioner – the city – to maintain them.\u201d<\/p>\n
A plaque next to the Voyager sculpture in Gisborne. Photo \/ Gisborne Herald<\/p>\n
The Voyager\u2019s distinctive red colour, line, form and repetition are fundamental elements of Dimopoulos\u2019 work. <\/p>\n
\u201cIf it wasn\u2019t for the wind, we wouldn\u2019t even be here,\u201d he told The Gisborne Herald in an interview in 2011. <\/p>\n
Part of the Dimopoulos work is abstract; the movement and noise made by the dozens of reed-like polyurethane resin rods create a \u201cconversation\u201d about the gusts that give the work its kinetic energy.<\/p>\n
Dimopoulos\u2019 Greek parents took him to Wellington in the 1960s to escape post-revolution changes in Egypt.<\/p>\n
Originally a painter, he turned to sculpture in the late 1990s as a way of exploring movement, going on to create many award-winning installations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The strip of land falls under section 62 of the Conservation Act 1987, as land held for conservation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":340134,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[6242,155796,155794,1484,307,304,305,306,155800,155797,53218,308,93,9452,24944,61,5493,77485,60,31075,24956,85621,24785,155799,431,43194,155795,30222,124914,3023,330,155798,5906,1962],"class_list":{"0":"post-340133","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-arts-and-design","8":"tag-street","9":"tag-155796","10":"tag-70k","11":"tag-artist","12":"tag-arts","13":"tag-arts-and-design","14":"tag-artsanddesign","15":"tag-artsdesign","16":"tag-come","17":"tag-councilcommissioned","18":"tag-creator","19":"tag-design","20":"tag-entertainment","21":"tag-from","22":"tag-gisborne","23":"tag-ie","24":"tag-in","25":"tag-invisible","26":"tag-ireland","27":"tag-keen","28":"tag-land","29":"tag-left","30":"tag-melbourne","31":"tag-nearby","32":"tag-of","33":"tag-offered","34":"tag-overgrown","35":"tag-plot","36":"tag-refresh","37":"tag-sculpture","38":"tag-to","39":"tag-weeds","40":"tag-with","41":"tag-work"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340133","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=340133"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/340133\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/340134"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=340133"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=340133"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=340133"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}