[MSN] New Zealand. 'Meathead' call solves artwork mystery

[Museum Security Network Mailing list]

Saturday, 2 June 2007  

'Meathead' call solves artwork mystery 

The words "it is the meathead here" were music to artist Barry Bailey's ears
when a deeply embarrassed friend confessed to removing a driftwood ship
artwork originally feared stolen from Paekakariki Beach. 

Mr Bailey was delighted to get the call from the local businessman, who did
not want to be identified. 

The man said he "freaked out" when he saw a report in The Dominion Post this
week quoting Mr Bailey's fear that his gift to the community had been stolen
by "a meathead". 

Mr Bailey believed his 2.4-metre Cutty Sark replica, made of driftwood and
with calico sails, had suffered the bad luck that the real ship had just
encountered. 

The Cutty Sark, the world's last remaining tea clipper, was badly damaged in
a fire in London last month. 

Mr Bailey had feared his driftwood ship had been stolen within an hour of
him screwing it to a log on the beach last weekend. It was designed as a
gift to the community. 

It has now been revealed that a friend of his removed it to protect it from
ferocious weather conditions, putting it in his garage. 

The friend, who often spoke to Mr Bailey on the beach, planned to tell him
he had rescued the artwork the next time they met, and to also discuss
putting it in a more protected spot. 

To remove the work, the friend had to unscrew it from a large log at the
southern end of the beach. "I wanted to save it from big tides - the sea
would have destroyed it," the friend said. 

Mr Bailey said he was rapt. "I feared it had met the same fate as the Cutty
Sark and gone up in flames." 

He planned to meet residents to decide on a safer location. It could be in
the town centre, but he would still prefer the sculpture to be on the beach
in the sea air where the waves could lap around it - in a more protected
spot. 



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