New Zealand Dinosaur Sculpture Boom Boom Fuels Debate

Some have called it a “eyesaur”. Much more have described it as “fantastic”.

But one word tree, a seven meter long stainless steel dinosaur sculpture in New Zealand, could never be associated with “boring”.

Only a few days after the Sauropod statue was installed in Taupō Sculpture Park, in the picturesque center of the Noord island of New Zealand, Boom Boom already has a heated debate among the local population.

The artist – and the team that ordered it – say that that is exactly the point.

The Spiegel-Finish sculpture was commissioned by the Taupō Sculpture Trust and made by artist Gregar Kregar, born in Slovenian.

Kregar said he was not “particularly surprised” by the furore who quickly surrounded his work.

“Sculpture sometimes stops people from their daily interactions with the world,” he told the BBC from his house in Auckland. “It is really difficult to hate a sculpture of a dinosaur.”

Nevertheless, public opinion on Boom Boom is divided.

“Fantastic! Let people talk about art. Broaden the conversation,” said a commentator on a post on social media that announced the arrival of Boom Boom.

But another wrote: “Public investments of $ 100,000 from the local Ratepayers, many of whom the money would rather have seen elsewhere in the community.”

Financing for Boom Boom was completed in 2018, before recent increases in the rate of Taupō District Council are comparable to a municipal tax.

After a few years of negotiations, the work was completed and installed in the park last week.

Others still criticized the work as no connection with Taupō, called the most beautiful city of New Zealand in the 2023 Keep New Zealand great prizes.

But Kregar said that the rock on which the dinosaur stands is inspired by the volcanic history of the area.

Lake Taupō, from which the city takes its name, is a large Caldera, a volcano that has collapsed in itself. It was the last time from around 1,800 years ago.

Sauropoden, the inspiration for Boom Boom, are one of the few types of dinosaurs that, according to paleontologists, have lived in Zeeland.

They were extinct 66 million years ago, together with most other non-Avian dinosaurs.

Kregar says that the lively debate around the image means that Boom Boom could eventually win for “the haters”.

“You put the image out of it, there is a reaction, people start to fall in love with it, and then it becomes something they start to embrace, part of the local identity,” he said.

Kim Gillies, secretary of the Taupō Sculpture Trust, told the BBC that the decision to do not “light” Boom Boom, but that it was chosen because “it would help put Taupō on the map”.

Gillies added that when it comes to art: “Safe is a bit boring, right?”

No bones about it.