Overview
If you're heading home via Wynyard Station this evening, you might notice something new. In fact, it's pretty hard to miss. Today, sculptor Chris Fox unveiled Interloop, a striking, 50-metre-long installation that's now hovering above Wynyard's escalators, between York Street and the main concourse.
Directly referencing its surroundings, the sculpture is made up of 244 wooden treads and four combs, all of which were once part of Wynyard's original escalators, built in 1931. However, they've been rearranged to appear like massive spectacular-looking concertinas — or maybe staircases out of a Salvador Dali painting.
"Connecting yesterday and tomorrow, Interloop interrogates the conceptual and material boundaries between art and architecture," said Fox. "It is a physical re-interpretation...that re-purposes the hardwood from the heritage treads of now-retired escalators, into a sculpture weighing over five tonnes."
Fox spent six months designing and engineering the installation, then twelve weeks fabricating it. The process involved a kilometre's worth of welding, via which Fox attached the treads to high-strength, marine-grade aluminium, before suspending the whole behemoth from the station ceiling with steel beams.
Interloop is now on display at Wynyard Station above the escalators between York Street and the main concourse.
Images: Josh Raymond.