A Precious Installation at Wellington Airport

As the home of the phenomenal The Lord of the Rings franchise and in anticipation of the upcoming The Hobbit release this December, a 42 foot long Gollum now has found a home at the Wellington Airport in New Zealand. The sculpture, which is suspended from the roof, shows the emaciated physique and momentary expression of glee on the face of Gollum, submerged and reaching for his favourite meal of ‘juicy sweet fishes’. The Gollum creation was designed and facilitated by Richard Taylor and Weta’s workshop supervisor Rob Gillies to create an unforgettable experience into Wellington Airport, the gateway of the Wellington region. Richard said, “We have had a long and wonderful relationship with the Wellington Airport team, who continually focus on presenting an exciting gateway into our city. We are thrilled to once again be creating something with Wellington Airport that will bring delight to the many visitors coming to our fabulous city.” Click ahead to read more about this creative piece of work and check out the time-lapse video of it’s installation…

In celebration of this installation, the Wellington Airport has also renamed their terminal, welcoming arriving passengers with a sign saying ‘The Middle of Middle-earth’. “As the first and last impression to our region, the Airport is proud to work with Weta and have this magnificent sculpture on display for all to see. Everyone will be amazed as they enter the terminal and be able to walk under and around Gollum; it really does feel like you’re in the stream with him,” said Steve Sanderson, Wellington Airport Chief Executive. Art Directed by Rob Gillies, Gollum was 3D modelled into the airport display space. It was then created as a partly digital, partly physical sculpture by a team of 18 sculptors, model makers, painters and other specialists here at Weta. Milled and sculpted from huge blocks of polystyrene and coated in epoxy resin, Gollum weighs in at 1.2 tons and stretches more than 42 feet into the airport terminal. The three fish were hand sculpted using a fish sculpture from Richard Taylor’s bathroom as reference. The piece had to be created as 9 separate components to fit through the doors of Wellington Airport. Its structural armature is scaffolding pipe designed to bolt together and it was installed over three nights 23-25 October.

Key facts for the installation:

• Made up of 9 separate components that were brought in through the main terminal doors and then clamped together and painted onsite.

• It is connected to the Main Terminal trusses by 10 suspension wires

• There are 3 fish, each 13 feet long

• 15 bubbles are coming out of Gollum’s mouth

• The sculpture weighs 1.2 tons

• 42 feet long and 10 feet high

• The size of a small jet aircraft

• Made of polystyrene and covered in epoxy resin

• Window decals have been designed to represent the stream

A Weta designer puts the finishing touches on Gollums eye

A Weta designer sculpts Gollums hand

Weta designers inspect the finish of one of the fish before sending it off to be painted

The finished installation of Gollum at the Wellington Airport