Karangahape Rocks - Greer Twiss

'Karangahape Rocks'
Sculpture by Greer Twiss
Symonds Street Park, corner Symonds Street and Karangahape Road, Auckland

By The Auckland Psychogeographer

Commissioned and installed in 1968, this bronze setting by Auckland sculptor Greer Twiss is often thought of as one of the country’s great pieces of public art. The installation was a brave move by Auckland Council given the prominence of the site and the ruggedly 20th century tone of the work. Time has in some ways treated the work kindly - it is fetching today as a soulful, deep verdigris - but the subtle water feature (the work is actually a fountain) goes in and out of repair and the absence of lighting or planting leaves our Waiting for Godot-esque pair of figures well and truly marooned. It can look a little unloved, a curio on a crossroad where few linger long.

But funnily enough, that washed-up effect is utterly appropriate for K Road. Rain or shine, the park benches of Symonds Street Park are reliably a spot for street drinkers and street walkers. In 2020, perhaps a little less, certainly; Karangahape Road is, we’re told, resolutely gentrifying. But three sozzled ladies could be seen on one recent lunchtime - one passed out in the sun on a bench, another dancing with a bottle aloft in the cemetery, another in a red dress, glazed eyes, tottering towards passersby. And there’s no doubt that K Road more generally is a theatre of the seated - bar crawlers, cafe chatterers, men in blankets or under cardboard, ladies on roadside benches, all with a watchful eye.

The place is a cliff edge, a mountain pathway, and some people end up here for no reason other than the view. That view of course is long gone - the marooned of K’Rd are keeping an eye out for something approximating community, something approaching connection, or just a dollar. The characters in “Karangahape Rocks” have wistful, bemused expressions. Clutching their limbs, feet splayed for support, these watchmen have calcified into milestones.

Image Credits: The Auckland Psychogeographer