- The Bucket Fountain
The Bucket Fountain can be found in Cuba Mall, which is part of Cuba Street in Wellington, New Zealand. [http://www.wellington.govt.nz/picturegallery/display-image.php?g=6&i=8 Wellington City Council Art and Architecture - Bucket Fountain] It consists of a series of "buckets" that fill with water until they tip, spilling their load into the buckets below. The fountain was designed by Burren and Keen in 1969. [http://www.bucketfountain.co.nz/history.html Official Bucket Fountain website]
The Bucket Fountain appears not to work as designed, and much of the water does not reach the buckets below but instead splashes outside the fountain onto pedestrians and onlookers. On windy days (common in Wellington) water from buckets and the hose are carried several metres from the fountain. [http://www.bucketfountain.co.nz/before.html Official Bucket Fountain Website - How it works, before and after]
People often add dishwashing detergent to the water, which spreads bubbles all over the mall. This is common to see on Friday and Saturday nights.Fact|date=May 2008
Wellington City Council upgraded the fountain in 2003, and some buckets were turned around so they intentionally tip their water onto the pavement. [http://www.wellington.govt.nz/plans/annualreport/0304/pdfs/0304kaabuilt.pdf Wellington City Council Annual Report 2003/04: Key Achievement Areas - Built Environment]
Incidents
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Elijah Wood , who played Frodo inPeter Jackson 's Lord of the Rings movies, climbed on and urinated in the fountain while in New Zealand filming the movies. This was confirmed by the actor during an interview with Jay Leno [http://tbhl.theonering.net/tbhlnews/news-archive-12-2003.html The Bastards have Landed: The Peter Jackson Fanclub] .In March 2006, The bucket fountain was coated in a mud-like substance by New Zealand artist
John Radford . [http://www.docnz.org.nz/2007/ak/film/in-the-night-kitchen In the Night Kitchen' Bucket Fountain documentary] [http://www.wellington.govt.nz/services/arts/publicart/temporary.html Wellington City Council Public Art - Temporary Art Projects]References
Links
* Tribute website http://www.bucketfountain.co.nz
* Bucket fountain group on flickr http://flickr.com/groups/bucketfountain
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