Man Snaps £150,000 Sculpture Because He Is 'Bored' And Takes Heavy Blow To The Head

Modern art isn't for everyone. Ok, there's the argument that if you don't like it, then 'you don't understand it' - and perhaps to a certain degree that's true.

Perhaps that's what provided the motivation for Kiwi man Hunter Macdonald, who damaged a sculpture worth £150,000 after he climbed up it when he was 'bored'.

The cheeky chappy was enjoying a day off by the waterfront in Wellington, New Zealand, when he came across what - unbeknownst to to him - was a piece of art, a metal structure entitled 'Water Whirler'.

So obviously his next logical step was to jump on and clamber up it.

As a crowd gathered he went higher and higher, eventually swinging out over the water.

Then it all went tits up for old Hunter, as the piece of art snapped and sent him plunging into the sea, before he eventually resurfaced with a bloody head.

But it seemed to be such a fool-proof idea.

Speaking to tvnz, he said: "I started to perform some of my newfound gymnastics skills and one thing led to another.

"I seemed to attract a bit of an audience - Hunter Macdonald loves a good audience, he's a bit of a showman - and I started to test the limits of the metal sculpture."

He added: "It my day off, I was bored. It was a nice day.

"The pole itself has rungs and to an idiot like me it looks like a ladder... There wasn't a sign that says 'don't climb'.

The metal sculpture snapped and hit him on the head - LOL - and Hunter told the interviewer that he came out 'coughing and spluttering', but fortunately was able to 'doggy-paddle' to the side.

He added: "At that point, I realised I had made a serious mistake."

No shit, Sherlock.

The would-be gymnast said he didn't mean to break the sculpture, which cost NZ $300,000 (£150,000 / US $200,000) to make, however when it was installed in 2006, its value rose to NZ $1,000,000 (£500,000 / US $650,000).

Speaking to stuff.co.nz, he added he didn't think it would snap under his weight and even appeared to blame the crowd for his ill-judged stunt.

He said: "With the people there watching, I felt the need to give the people what they want."

Hunter has two gashes into his head and has also damaged his left leg.

The sculpture was created by the late artist Len Lye.

In a report in stuff.co.nz, Roger Horrocks, who was Lye's personal assistant before he died, said the artist would have been 'deeply hurt by the sheer idiocy' of Hunter.

According to the site, Wellington City Council has filed a claim with its insurer but the cost is 'commercially sensitive'.

Featured Image Credit: Storyful/Sarik Eng

Topics: World News, News

Dominic Smithers

Dominic graduated from the University of Leeds with a degree in French and History. Like you, Dom has often questioned how much use a second language has been. Well, after stints working at the Manchester Evening News, the Accrington Observer and the Macclesfield Express, along with never setting foot in France, he realised the answer is surprisingly little. But I guess, c'est la vie. Contact us at [email protected]

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