By Cara Waters
When two white marble monuments were installed next to the Yarra in the 1990s, Crown casino operators were so concerned about getting an Asian audience to its venue that feng shui experts were called in to help place them.
Having since become a feature on Southbank Promenade, the two 6.5-metre sculptures – named The Guardians and covered in ceramic images of fish, birds, vines, buildings and suns – are now to be removed and sent to a farm on the Mornington Peninsula.
The Guardians sculptures are to be removed from Southbank and sent to Sages Cottage Farm.Credit: Wayne Taylor
Crown is removing the sculptures as part of a revamp of the promenade area in front of the casino, and will donate them to Sages Cottage Farm, an enterprise run by not-for-profit disability service Wallara.
Sculptor Simon Rigg, who now lives in New York, said Melburnians needed to know the sculptures would be removed.
“I am sorry to see them go – they have been a prominent landmark in the city,” he said. “I think the two sculptures have added a lot of colour and energy to the city.”
In 1996, Rigg received a $250,000 commission to create the sculptures to mark Crown’s opening. The original brief was for “two big white marble sculptures”.
“They gave me free rein to do anything, but it couldn’t be related to religion, politics or gender,” he said. “They were so wound up in getting a Chinese or Asian audience to the casino that they had a feng shui person come and face them the right way.”
Rigg went to the marble quarries in Carrara, Italy, to work on the marble there and decided to cover the sculptures in handmade ceramic tiles to depict Victoria’s landscape.
“I wanted the base of the sculptures to be interactive, and I used the tiles to do that for a younger audience, especially kids – you always see them touching them,” he said.
The sculptures were the subject of a legal dispute after Crown failed to install them for its 1997 opening. Rigg brought a case in the County Court claiming $50,000 in outstanding fees, storage costs of $100 a month, damages for loss to his artistic reputation and an order that the sculptures be installed.
“The casino changed hands to [Kerry] Packer, and during that time, the sculptures were in storage for six months, and they didn’t pay the bills,” Rigg said. “When Packer found out, they [casino management] moved very quickly.”
Rigg’s concern now is how the sculptures can be moved without destroying them, as they were so complex to install.
“I have no idea how they are going to remove them,” he said. “The big one weighs 4.5 tonnes, and they are joined with stainless-steel rods.”
The pending removal of The Guardians will leave Rigg without a sculpture in Melbourne. His three sculptures, Babylon, were in the foyer of 101 Collins Street, but were removed last year when a wellness centre was installed.
Simon Rigg working on The Guardians in his studio. The two sculptures were carved from white marble.
“The Guardians are the last calling card in Melbourne for me,” he said. “In saying that, nothing is forever and it would be nice if Crown takes the care to remove and reinstall them where others can enjoy them.”
A spokesman for Crown Melbourne said removing the sculptures was necessary due to the construction of a new restaurant that would take over the space previously occupied by Neil Perry’s Rosetta. The new restaurant would open directly onto the promenade area.
“As we look to reinvigorate the Crown river walk area for our guests, we have made the decision to donate The Guardians,” the spokesman said. “These changes include the arrival of Crown Melbourne’s newest venue, The Henley at Crown Melbourne. We are very pleased that The Guardians will have a new home at Sages Cottage Farm, where they will continue to be celebrated and enjoyed.”
Phil Hayes‑Brown, the chief executive of Wallara, which operates Sages Cottage Farm, expected The Guardians would be installed at the farm’s Baxter site within the next two months.
“The 38-acre property has heritage-listed buildings from the 1850s, beautiful gardens, a lake and farm animals, and now we are excited about adding sculpture pieces like The Guardians as reasons for the public to visit,” Hayes-Brown said. “We hope to add more sculpture pieces and even hold exhibitions for local artists, especially those with disabilities, in coming months.”
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