No Respect

While in Christchurch, New Zealand, I was able to hear a gallery talk given by Jim Barr about the exhibition of some of his art collection at the Christchurch Art Gallery. One of the pictures he showed that evening was of a wall sculpture that hangs in the Christchurch Airport, between the Men's and Women's Restrooms. Cleaning supplies are stored in front of this "50's modern" piece of art, and it seems to be very forgotten. Mr. Barr said that he loved this work. I had a couple of chances to view this piece myself, and I became fond of it too. I guess that it has probably been moved a time or two as the airport has grown and remodeled....it has been damaged a bit and shows its age. (Which is almost exactly the same as my age.)
Here is some of the information from the plaque under it:
To commemorate the London to Christchurch air race which ended at the Christchurch International Airport on Oct. 10, 1953
Winning pilot was R. E. E. Burton time was 23 hrs 51 min 7.2 sec
The seven planes which took part in the race are represented by the dart shapes attached to the steel arcs which indicate the path of the planes; the silver portions of the arcs represent the distances covered or vapor trails; the blue portions represent the remainder of the flight.   The figure symbolizes mans ability to conquer space. The orange sun on the left represents the time of departure, the moon represents the night through which they flew; and the yellow sun represents the dawn in which the leading planes landed.