Perth’s newly re-elected lord mayor Basil Zempilas has kicked off his second term by revealing he wants to get rid of the city’s divisive sculpture Grow Your Own, better known as “The Cactus”.
Speaking to Gary Adshead on Radio 6PR’s Mornings, Zempilas said The Cactus could be moved as part of the demolition and rebuilding of Carillon Arcade.
James Angus’ Grow Your Own aka The Cactus in Forrest Place. Credit: iStock
“Maybe it’s time for The Cactus to move on, because we get a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to remodel Forrest Place,” said Zempilas.
“One of the options is to give [Carillon owners Tattarang] access through the Forrest Place area to make it happen a lot quicker. Otherwise, it’s going to be slow and painstaking.
Zempilas said the shopping centre that would replace Carillon Arcade would transform the heart of the CBD, “but there’s going to be a little bit of pain while we get there.”
Zempilas also believed The Cactus, at the Wellington Street end of Forrest Place in front of the train station, also causes difficulties for those who mount events in Perth’s traditional meeting place because it restricts access to the area.
The Cactus is the work of Perth-born, New York-based artist James Angus, who won an international design competition to create a work that symbolises the city being the beating heart of the state.
The piece, which cost taxpayers a million dollars, was installed in 2011 and has been causing arguments ever since.
Zempilas admits the initial shock of seeing the bright-green pop art construction against heritage buildings such as the General Post Office area has worn off, and it now has many fans.
However, there are more appropriate places for an artwork that represents not an actual cactus, Zempilas explained to Adshead, but an electrocardiogram or ECG.
“We have two significant hospital precincts within the City of Perth. One of them is Royal Perth, the other is Charles Gairdner,” he said.
City of Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas is keen to move The Cactus to put more trees into Forrest Place.Credit: Mark Naglazas
“Maybe it belongs as a prominent feature at one of those precincts because it is actually what happens in those health campuses. People being given life, and [Angus’ sculpture] is the symbol of life.”
Zempilas believes that relocating The Cactus will allow the city to create a more attractive space.
“If Forest Chase could be greener, with more trees, better access and more inviting space more of the time and that meant The Cactus being relocated to a hospital precinct, what would people think?” said Zempilas.
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