Lower Light protest statues

The Lower Light protest statues are a series of large steel sculptures created from recycled materials located in Lower Light, South Australia, near the town of Dublin on the Port Wakefield Road. The works consist of a large rat, a blowfly, a dunny, two people in an environmental lookout, a UFO, a caricature of Ned Kelly, and a tin man.[1]

The statues were made by local resident and farmer, Stephen Jones, as a protest against the establishment of a dump in the late 1990s by the Olsen government, as part of a plan to replace the Wingfield Waste & Recycling Centre.[1] Although the protest was unsuccessful, the statues remained, and are now regarded as part of South Australia's political and cultural history,[2] to the extent that they were nominated for heritage status by David Winderlich in 2009.[3]

In 2013 the cockroach was removed from the set when the owner of the land relocated and decided to sell the property. The cockroach was relocated to a scrapyard in nearby Two Wells.[4] This led to a Facebook campaign by Andrew Costello.[4] The campaign led to Costello learning about the current location of the cockroach, and he purchased it from the owners for "two slabs of beer".[5] After being restored and temporarily relocated to Rundle Mall, it is expected that the cockroach will be returned to the original site in 2014.[5]

References

  1. 1 2 Crouch, Brad. (31 May 2009). "Frequent flyer". The Sunday Mail. pT03.
  2. ↑ Statham, Larine. (26 July 2009). "SA: Trash and treasure on the road heading north". AAP News.
  3. ↑ Lloyd, Tim. (30 May 2009). "Bid to keep protest art Heritage plea for 'cockroach'". The Advertiser. p33.
  4. 1 2 Watson, Callie. (14 November 2013). "Northern protests stay put for now". The Sunday Mail. p3.
  5. 1 2 Dornin, Tim. (20 December 2013). "The big cockroach calls Adelaide home". AAP News.

External links


34°30′08″S 138°24′16″E / 34.502307°S 138.404503°E / -34.502307; 138.404503Coordinates: 34°30′08″S 138°24′16″E / 34.502307°S 138.404503°E / -34.502307; 138.404503

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