KEY POINTS:
My column on the ongoing imprisonment of Michio Ihara's spectacular work Wind Tree in an Auckland City Council storehouse has hardly galvanised the bureaucrats into action.
I fear getting the giant tapestry of stainless-steel tubes that once graced downtown Queen Elizabeth Square out of its packing cases and into the open air again will take more committee meetings than trying to get a wind farm built in Otago.
A quick recap. More than six years ago, Auckland City's 1971 centennial birthday present to itself was uprooted from the bottom of Queen St to make way for the Britomart station makeover.
We were assured it would reappear as a "high priority" in two to five years in a new park within the waterfront Tank Farm redevelopment.
A year ago, with that deadline well passed, I checked the state of play and was told a report into siting it at Western Springs was nigh. Then nothing.
When I rang again last month, 10 months later, no one could find the report. Finally, late last Thursday, after much nagging on my part, officials finally admitted no report had been submitted in April 2008 "as the feasibility study had not been completed by that time".
It was finally submitted in August last year but by then the public arts subcommittee that had commissioned it had been disbanded, so it just sat on a shelf.
Now, newly appointed public arts manager Pontus Kyander, who left a guest professorship at the Ewha Women's University in Seoul to take up his present position, is to prepare a report on the study.
His report will then go to the equally new Advisory Panel for Public Art (APPA). They in turn will prepare a report on Mr Kyander's report on the secret report and submit it to the councillors on the arts, culture and recreation committee for their decision. A result could be made "in the next few months".
Mr Kyander's previous career as critic, curator and exhibition manager in Sweden, Denmark, Spain, Korea and Vietnam may bring a new perspective on public art, which can't be bad.
As for APPA, it's made up of volunteers from the art world - currently art consultant Trish Clark, artist Judy Darragh and curator and writer Gwynneth Porter as well as the usual suspects - appointed representatives from various organisations, including Chris Saines, director of Auckland Art Gallery, Mei Hill, art adviser to Ngati Whatua, David Irwin, representing landscape architects, and Mr Kyander (ex officio).
Still to be appointed are representatives of the New Zealand Institute of Architects and the Urban Design Advisory Panel. Oddly there's no one to represent the consumer, but let's not get distracted down that cul de sac for the present.
What I don't understand is why this particular work has to be dragged through another round of committee grilling. There have been various reports already, including one in October 2005 by the then senior arts planner Warren Pringle, who listed the pros and cons of 11 possible sites, including the Domain/Museum - "rejected by Ngati Whatua" (wahi tapu), Albert Park - "full", the zoo - "high risk of vandalism", One Tree Hill - "iwi issues ... high risk of vandalism", the Tank Farm - "possible issue with timing of redevelopment" and Western Springs - "not explored further once iwi objections noted".
How many more options are there?
Back in 2002 at the time of its removal, prominent sculptor Greer Twiss was chosen by Ihara to act as trustee representing his wishes. Working with council officers, Twiss said at the time that "we all identified an ideal place for it within the Western Springs parkland over water ..."
Isn't that good enough? Do we really need a new panel of experts to second-guess Twiss, whose 1969 Karangahape Rocks fountain at the corner of Karangahape Rd and Symonds St pioneered the modern wave of public art in Auckland and elsewhere in the country? If anyone has a feel for the subject, it is he.
Unfortunately, there seems to be a mood within council officialdom to go back to square one and keep the Wind Tree locked away until it can be displayed as a showpiece on the public spaces proposed for the redeveloped Tank Farm.
Given the world financial crisis, it could be decades before that is under way. At the risk of sounding selfish, I'd like to see it back in all its glory before I die.
