Lake George Zebras to be moved - REPRIEVED

When I were a lad, the whole idea of having a Department was that the different people in the department get their act together and reach a single agreed view. To do otherwise provides demonstrable evidence of Ministerial ineptitude/cluelessness/incompetence/lack of control over department. None of these are desirable characteristics, particularly when the media chooses to highlight them in the run-up to an election.

That said, it was probably not very wise for the artist to not get the landowner/leaseholder’s ok before installing the zebras. Is it a case of a dreamy otherworldly artistic temperament, a guerilla artistic ideology, or just a lack of common sense?

Inappropriate said :

BundahBoy said :

Inappropriate said :

JessP said :

How much damage can 4 fake Zebras cause??

It would be from people trapsing out onto the lake, and people taking their eyes off the road as they drive past.

Yeh derr read the comments dont just react to them! You sound like the sort of person the NSW Govt is trying to protect from fibreglass zebras haha

Would you be happy if the public was trespassing onto your leasehold land?

Its a friggin empty lake…

“..and provide public liability insurance”

For what ?? In case some doofus jumping the fence with his camera trips on the top wire and has a spectacular face plant ?

Ronnie said :

Hey dtc #22 I’m with you – animals sculptures throughout Canberra

Have a look at the bear in Denver!!
http://guide.denverpost.com/media/photos/full/big_blue_600x600.jpg

Now that’s art! 🙂

OMG, sarcasmgate

Hey dtc #22 I’m with you – animals sculptures throughout Canberra

Have a look at the bear in Denver!!
http://guide.denverpost.com/media/photos/full/big_blue_600x600.jpg

BundahBoy said :

Inappropriate said :

JessP said :

How much damage can 4 fake Zebras cause??

It would be from people trapsing out onto the lake, and people taking their eyes off the road as they drive past.

Yeh derr read the comments dont just react to them! You sound like the sort of person the NSW Govt is trying to protect from fibreglass zebras haha

Would you be happy if the public was trespassing onto your leasehold land?

gate suffix is awesome and should be frequently used in the most fancy of all sarcastic tones possible!

Hope they move to a location where we can all still see them.
Although I guess it’s not unreasonable to order their removal if they’re causing a problem for the grazier who leases the land, and who was never asked in the first place if he minded them being placed there. Perhaps they were spooking his livestock or he didn’t want to be in trouble if they were accidentally damaged in the course of his agricultural activity.

Skidbladnir said :

Erg0 said :

More on Zebragate…

Not every story that may or may not turn out to be a scandal or conspiracy needs ‘-gate’ tacked onto the end of a noun.
The original Watergate had nothing to do with water, it was the name of the hotel.

The -gate suffix is a fucking stupid concept, revived through ‘scandal syndrome’ in modern media.
Also, it is overused.

</rant>

Bad Friday Skidbladnir?

Skid – you gotta admit that Utegate had a certain ring to it. Like, gee, it’s a useful part of a ute after all.

No, I’m with you. It’s a silly add-on for a sometimes silly media.

Don’t pop a ventricle, it was merely an attempt at dry wit. I probably should have used sarcasm quotes, I guess.

Skidbladnir said :

Erg0 said :

More on Zebragate…

Not every story that may or may not turn out to be a scandal or conspiracy needs ‘-gate’ tacked onto the end of a noun.
The original Watergate had nothing to do with water, it was the name of the hotel.

The -gate suffix is a fucking stupid concept, revived through ‘scandal syndrome’ in modern media.
Also, it is overused.

</rant>

It’s ok, I was co-opting the mass media’s misuse of the suffix as a commentary on the sensationalist nature of modern reportage.

I should try expressing that in sculpture form and sticking it next to a road.

Inappropriate said :

JessP said :

How much damage can 4 fake Zebras cause??

It would be from people trapsing out onto the lake, and people taking their eyes off the road as they drive past.

Yeh derr read the comments dont just react to them! You sound like the sort of person the NSW Govt is trying to protect from fibreglass zebras haha

Its interesting how ‘modern’ sculpture simply does not resonate with most people, but a few fake zebras are widely praised (and I am on the praise side). So my suggestion is that we have sculptures of animals all over canberra – a tiger in a tree in O’Connor, maybe some camels near the lake, some monkey climbing that red building i woden, Penguins would be good as well.

don’t tell me people wouldnt enjoy that. Sure the ‘artists’ would raise words like tacky and lower common denominator and so forth, but look what they came up with.

Erg0 said :

More on Zebragate…

Not every story that may or may not turn out to be a scandal or conspiracy needs ‘-gate’ tacked onto the end of a noun.
The original Watergate had nothing to do with water, it was the name of the hotel.

The -gate suffix is a fucking stupid concept, revived through ‘scandal syndrome’ in modern media.
Also, it is overused.

</rant>

Of course the grazier who leases the land is quite within his rights to object to the sculptures, particularly if they were erected without his consent. (But you would have hoped that he would have seen the humour and whimsy in them and allowed them to stay).

But environmental concerns? Is not the paddock regularly grazed by sheep? How much damage could a few humans do? Safety concerns? Maybe, but only if other ‘public art’ is also taken away lest it distract travelers from the monotony -starting with that weird pile of steel (‘Green Mountain Blue II’) on the Monaro Highway.

Jivrashia said :

Sammy said :

makes one think of the various roadside artworks

Artworks?? What ‘artworks’?

I’ve rang ACTPLA to complain about the skewed metal rubbish of an eyesore at the interchange of Barton Hwy and GDE and they still haven’t done anything about it.

Or should I just hire a skip and do it myself?

For sure, they should’ve been fined for littering long ago.

Reading behind the sensationalism it would appear that perhaps the sculptor should have approached the leaseholder for permission before installing the zebras. Common courtesy and all that outdated stuff…

Sammy said :

makes one think of the various roadside artworks

Artworks?? What ‘artworks’?

I’ve rang ACTPLA to complain about the skewed metal rubbish of an eyesore at the interchange of Barton Hwy and GDE and they still haven’t done anything about it.

Or should I just hire a skip and do it myself?

use em to replace all the roos we culled. at least they shouldn’t cause overpopulation.

More on Zebragate:

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/16/2955421.htm

Typical Government control freaks. “We didn’t have a say in it so even though they are not doing any harm we are going to make up some phony excuse so we can get rid of them”

I just hope they move them somewhere that people can still enjoy them.

How long have these Zebras been in place? I’ve never seen them before, and have quite possibly driven past them at least three times in the past few weeks!

That makes no sense.
However, I thoink they woul dlook good somewhere down Majura Rd

Yes, those safety and environmental concerns need to explicitly and publicly stated.

Whichever unthinking bureaucrat signed off on the decision to handle this by demanding removal rather than working it through with the owner has demonstrated an acute lack of judgement. This sounds like the kind of silly knee-jerk bureaucratic reaction that will rapidly be turned into a Ministerial issue. Will the relevant NSW Labor Minister decide to make an example of this person, as a pre-election gesture?

JessP said :

How much damage can 4 fake Zebras cause??

It would be from people trapsing out onto the lake, and people taking their eyes off the road as they drive past.

I guess one of the safety concerns is drivers rubber-necking at 110kph?

Which then makes one think of the various roadside artworks that adorn our good nation of Stanhopistan.

NSW Government…FAIL!!! You’d think they’d have enough internal issue to worry about that they wouldn’t care about artwork in woop woop

johnboy said :

….NSW Department of Lands has ordered their removal, citing safety and environmental concerns.

Over grazing?

PS. They would look good on some of the paddocks out near Dairy Flat – the ones across the river from the bike path between Claire Holland House and Duntroon…

Lands Dept are party poopers!! Boo hiss!!

What environmental and saftey concerns do 4 fiberglass zebras pose?

Are they going to suddenly spring to life and start devouring people?

Please dont say they are required to be removed in case someone crashes their car trying to get a peek at them?

This country has become so freaking PC and we all suffer because a small handfull of people cant obey laws or use their thick heads.

JessP said :

‘safety and environmental concerns’

So we are to assume they have been attacking tourists and eating the native grasses?

How much damage can 4 fake Zebras cause??

Win.

Safety and environmental concerns? It’s art! Are they made out of lead and asbestos???

NSW gov are officially killjoys! Bring them to the ACT, we will show them the love and respect they deserve!

‘safety and environmental concerns’

So we are to assume they have been attacking tourists and eating the native grasses?

How much damage can 4 fake Zebras cause??