Gusts Stole Thunder From Art

Sun Herald

Sunday February 17, 2008

By Frank Sullivan

IT'S Mother Nature 2, exhibit 0 for a winning installation in Newcastle's Back To The City public art show.

Breath Of Life escaped the fate of other vandalised artworks but fell foul of ill winds that shook the city days after it had been installed.

The competition-winning collection of whirligigs and windmills had been erected at the Obelisk, in Newcastle's East End, on Australia Day.

Within a week, gale force winds had destroyed some of the children's windmills.

"They were starting to tear themselves apart in the wind, so they had to come down," a member of the creative team, architect Gionni di Gravio, said.

But crunch time came a week later, when Mother Nature struck again.

After putting some of the windmills back up for a children's workshop that was to take place last weekend, the creators had to succumb to a force greater than themselves when torrential rain made the event impossible and it was cancelled.

"[Breath Of Life] was a beautiful installation and will be the centrepiece of a 300-page book we're producing on this exhibition in May," artistic director Professor Steffen Lehmann said.

This morning is your last chance to take a detailed look at all the exhibits.

A guided walking tour through the exhibition, hosted by the Newcastle branch of the Architects Association, will begin at the lock-up in Hunter Street.

© 2008 Sun Herald

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