A sculptor whose guerilla sculpture fell into Sydney Harbour when the disused wharf it was sitting on collapsed says he is pleased with the "poetry" of his art.
Key points:
- The mystery statue appeared on a disused wharf in Berrys Bay overnight during November
- Witnesses heard a loud cracking noise before seeing the wharf in pieces
- The sculpture says he accepts that the statue has moved on to a new stage in its life
North Sydney locals said a white statue of a man looking into the water appeared overnight in Berrys Bay during November.
Gary Deirmendjian told ABC Radio Sydney he was responsible for the artwork he named "Lone Man" and put it up after rowing it out to the wharf.
Mr Deirmendjian said the lonely figure falling into the water on Monday afternoon was poignant.
"That's where he wanted to go, then that's where he should stay. I'm very comfortable with that proposition," he said.
"[It] says something metaphorical about the status of civilisation."
Former North Sydney Council mayor Genia McCaffery said she was out walking with friends in the area when they heard an "enormous" noise as the wharf suddenly collapsed.
"[It was] like a big cracking timber … an amazing noise," Ms McCaffery said.
"Then [we] looked around and saw this structure falling apart.
"The sad part was this statue that had been there … went with the structure."
Video supplied by northern Sydney resident Samuel Clapp showed the statue briefly floating among the wreckage of the wharf before it reportedly sank to the bottom of Berrys Bay.
Loading...Witnesses reported the incident to NSW Maritime and boats from the authority were later seen at the site cleaning up the debris.
"Timbers were removed from the waters of the old wharf structure. This clean-up work took place alongside storm recovery work resulting from recent weather events," a spokesperson for NSW Maritime said.
"Maritime will conduct an initial navigational assessment in the coming days to see if navigational markers are necessary to indicate any risk to navigation in the identified area."
A 'sturdy' sculpture for barnacles
Mr Deirmendjian said the sculpture had been installed deliberately with its back to the city across the harbour.
"Being alone, not necessarily lonely, was the mood that I was trying to convey," he said.
Some locals had affectionately named the statue "Gunny" after it was named by the grandson of one of Ms McCaffery's friends.
Mr Deirmendjian said the sculpture was made with a cardboard backbone, aluminium foil and plaster and hessian as a hard shell coated with resin.
He described it as "sturdy but light" and did not expect it to break up while under the water.
Loading..."There'll be a lot of bio-growth on it very quickly," Mr Deirmendjian said.
The artist said he and students from the National Art School had taken a boat to the wharf to install the sculpture during November.
He was expecting authorities to remove the statue in a few days and was surprised it lasted much longer.
"A few days was a win as far as I was concerned," Mr Deirmendjian said.
"For it to have lasted three months is huge."