- The Hemo Project
or Te Ahi Tupua
was next level
when our CEO pitched it to my brother and I,
to build this masterpiece,
I didn't even know what he was talking about.
And now it's up, it's just, it's amazing.
And again, super proud that we've been behind that
and we've built that,
it's pretty special.
- I was called to a hui
with the heads of the various departments.
Our cultural advisor at the time, Taparoto Nicholson,
laid the kopapa down,
which is the concept down on the table.
NZTA were going to upgrade the roundabout
because it was the third most dangerous in the country,
and as part of that,
there was going to be a significant public artwork.
The main theme,
which is carried right through the whole work itself
was the Te Arawa narrative
around the origins of the geothermal,
how that arrived in Aotearoa
and significantly in this area itself.
He hoped that it would touch on things like education,
which would represent us
at New Zealand Māori Arts and Crafts Institute
Toi Ohomai institute,
It should talk about the various industries of the region.
I tried to make the work as inclusive as possible,
so not only Te Arawa, Ngā Pūmanawa e Waru
the sub-tribes,
but also there's the elements of Ngā Hau e Whā
which is The People of the Four Winds,
so I tried to incorporate all of the cultures
who have come to this place and made it home.
One of the guides had told me at one point in time,
a film crew came
and put a camera down Pōhutu Geyser
and then filmed the geothermal steam
as it was erupting out of the ground
and it comes up in a vortex shape.
So that's why I took that as a main sort of theme
of that organic flowing helix.
It was originally designed
to be made out of stainless steel.
We looked to Europe,
we looked to Asia,
we looked to the Americas
for a company that could roll these complex curves
and we just had no luck,
nobody could do it.
And then Kilwell,
out of the blue,
approached council and said,
"We want to have a go at creating
and building this sculpture."
- The artist, Stacey, he had no limits,
he could draw whatever he wanted to draw.
We had to make everything to his drawings,
we had to interpret his free spirit
and turn it into numbers and science
and strength and calculations.
- We needed to develop a manufacturing method,
manufacture it and install it.
I looked at the 3D model
and started to brainstorm production methods.
It was completely out of our comfort zone,
we had never attempted anything like this before.
I'd seen 3D printers before
but I'd never got really involved in them
until the Hemo Project.
I basically had to teach myself how to use them,
how to repair them,
how to prepare the computer files for the prints.
So, 3D printed molds were fitted together
in three meter sections,
we then laminated the molds with a carbon fiber sock,
then we infused the laminate.
The biggest standout from Hemo was,
in my opinion, would be the installation.
I don't think Rotorua's ever seen
anything like this being installed,
the way that we installed it,
with a helicopter.
- I really take my hat off to them,
they stepped up and wanted to take on this project.
You know, I really appreciate the fact that they,
had the courage to do that.
To create something significant
you have to go on quite an epic journey.
And that's what we, all of us did.