Wind Wand

The Wind Wand is the most visible of Len Lye's kinetic sculptures in New Plymouth — a 48-metre carbon fibre rod on the waterfront that bends and sways in the coastal wind, topped with a glowing red ball. It is deceptively simple and genuinely impressive in a strong breeze, when the whole structure oscillates in slow, graceful arcs.

It stands on the coastal walkway near the port, and walking past it at different times of day and in different wind conditions gives quite different impressions. Lit from within at night, it is especially striking. Free to visit; it is always there, always moving, always slightly different.

things to do sight
A story
Len Lye designed the Wind Wand in the 1960s but never saw it built in its intended scale. The New Plymouth version, erected in 2000 on the waterfront, fulfils his vision: 48 metres of carbon fibre rod with a red ball at the tip, swaying and flexing in the coastal breeze with a low hum that you feel as much as hear. Lye described it as a sculpture that dances with the wind.