Trubridge sculpture wins $100,000 competition

Invercargill construction and manufacturing expertise will be used to produce the imposing painted metal work of art that has won the $100,000 South Invercargill sculpture competition.

Tale of Southland - Murihiku, by Hawkes Bay designer David Trubridge, depicts a whale's tail. Standing 7m tall with a span of 10m, it will be erected on South Invercargill's main street beside the Russell Square playground.

Trubridge wins an artist's fee - the amount is confidential - and the remainder of the $100,000 will be used to build the sculpture.

The design was selected from 38 entries in the South Alive rejuvenation group competition, including one from Europe.

After selecting the design, all parties agreed the most practical and cost-effective option was to manage the construction and installation locally using Invercargill-based expertise, South Alive chairwoman Robyn Hickman said. The sculpture is expected to be completed and installed in four months.

Trubridge, who trained as a naval architect in the United Kingdom, came to international prominence in 2001 when his wooden bench called Body Raft was exhibited in Milan. His 2003 Coral Light kitset lampshade, based on the structure of a geometric polyhedron, has become a design classic and his work has been purchased by many galleries and museums around the world including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London and the Pompidou Centre in Paris.

Trubridge described his Invercargill design as ''the geometric patterning of nature [providing] the blueprint for strength and growth and the tail flick of a great whale [propelling] a forward momentum''.

Mrs Hickman said the previously anonymous competition sponsor could now be revealed as retired Invercargill chartered accountant and businessman Cliff Broad, of Queenstown.

In a statement, Mr Broad said he offered the money because of his family links with South Invercargill and because he was impressed with the work South Alive was doing.

His mother's family, the Listers, were early residents of the Earn St area.

He also donated the money for another piece of public art, the weka sculpture in Esk St, central Invercargill.