Messages Flow Into Wailing Wall

13 June 2011

Messages Flow Into Wailing Wall

Whanganui UCOL Fine Arts graduate Tom Turner is recycling plastic water bottles into a unique and ever growing work of art.

Wailing Wall is an interactive sculpture, made from plastic water bottles, that enlists help from the public.

Tom invites anyone who wants to participate to write a message about anything, put it into an empty plastic drink bottle that has had pure New Zealand water in it, and glue it to the wall.

Tom says the work has no specific theme but has generated discussion with the people who have added to the wall on issues as diverse as consumerism and the purity of water in New Zealand lakes and rivers.

“The wall has achieved my goal of ‘sculpting thoughts, speech and action’ by triggering a reaction from the participants,” he says.

In its two months of existence the artwork has been transported to several locations in Whanganui and as far as Dannevirke. His goal is to continue building the wall in sections throughout New Zealand, each section representing a region.

There's no finish date for the project but Tom will eventually join all the sections together to form the final artwork.

Tom hopes to enter the Wailing Wall in this year's Whanganui Arts Review, and is also thinking about making a book out of the messages in the bottles.

Tom graduated from Whanganui UCOL with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in 2009 and the Wailing Wall is a part of a project for his Masters of Art and Design.

The Wailing Wall will make appearances in Palmerston North’s Square on Wednesday 15 June at iSite, The Square from 9.00am – 4.00pm and at the UCOL Atrium on Thursday 16 June from 9.00am – 1.30pm.

Follow the Wailing Wall’s progress on Facebook - NZ's Wailing Wall

ENDS