Rundle Mall giant pigeon unveiled: Is it a bird scarer, makeup checker or public art?
A giant pigeon in Rundle Mall may be the best bird scarer Adelaide City Council has come up with.
SA News
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Pigeons are always being shooed out of Rundle Mall but the much-maligned animals may have their revenge – or may be frightened even more – as a giant two-metre stainless steel bird is revealed to shoppers today.
Guaranteed to fascinate or frighten, the beast is titled “Pigeon”, but is already being called “big bird” by locals and will stand where Gawler Place meets the Mall.
By SA artist Paul Sloan, the work is a tribute to our feathered friends, at a cost to ratepayers of $174,000, far less than many public artworks around the city.
In art parlance the bird is geometric abstraction, and looks like a very angular version of the Mall’s Balls.
Lord Mayor Sandy Verschoor said the purpose of the artwork was aesthetic, but also to draw shoppers to the Mall. The Mall’s retail outlets have been hammered by city workers working from home during COVID-19.
Rundle Mall Management Authority General Manager Johanna Williams said Pigeon would be a destination in itself.
“The retail sector is ever-changing and providing enjoyable experiences both in and out of store is key to attracting visitors and encouraging them to stay, especially given the recent impacts of the COVID- 19 pandemic on traders,” she said.
Mr Sloan said he saw pigeons not as pests but proud animals.
“I see pigeons as proud flaneurs, promenading through our leisure and retail precincts. They are the quiet witnesses of our day-to-day activities in the city, our observers from day through to night,” he said.
