CLIENT: NEW ZEALAND FIRE SERVICE

Project: Recognition of Service 

New Zealand Fire Service wanted to recognise the considerable help they had received from the thirteen teams of international rescue workers during the February 2011 earthquake.

Our approach —

Rather than a ‘traditional’ award which we felt would not be appropriate given the situation, we created a sculptural art piece.

The idea sprung from being able to tell stories, so when the sculptures travel overseas (where they mostly did), when they come to rest in board rooms, or reception areas, they can be something to spark a conversation, and for the people to tell their stories of Christchurch and the quake and what they experienced.

We collected actual material from Christchurch Cathedral’s collapsed spire. Stone masonry, metal, bolts, leadlight from windows, and set it in resin which was then highly polished. We hope that people will pick it up and feel the edges, as we have polished away some of the resin on some edges to enable people to feel the rough of concrete, and the shiny steel.

This has been designed to be tactile. For people to run their hands over the item and to reflect.

The sculpture is an object to be treasured, to remind the rescue teams of their time in Christchurch, and the magnitude of what they did, and also to remind them that their efforts will never be forgotten.

The award was housed in a box, that opened from all sides to provide a base for it to sit on, which was papered in a map of the Christchurch region providing context for where the materials and memories came from. A small booklet accompanied each sculpture.