One of the things about living in a great city like Wellington is that there are a hell of a lot of things to take for granted.

I mention this because while listening to Don McGlashan in Civic Square the other day he mentioned that Auckland doesn’t really have any civic art. I’m not sure that’s entirely true… But, in the spirit of parochial one-upmanship I thought I’d bring you some of Wellington’s oft-overlooked art and sculpture.

Why oft-overlooked? Well, we have the Wellington Sculpture Trust and its glamourpuss art all over the blimmin place, but there’s also a lot of smaller, less noticed stuff that we here at the Wellingtonista want to celebrate.

DSC00197 So with no further ado, here is a sculpture. And ain’t it a little cutie?

The real question is of course whether you recognise it. And you probably don’t. This of course being the problem with a place like Wellington, sometimes there’s so much bloody public art you can’t walk three feet without tripping over the latest “abstract something”…

But I digress. So what is it?!

The photo in question, if don’t recognise it, is of The Pig and it currently resides in Civic Square. Its most common feature (and usage) is as a seat if you’re a bit pooped. It’s very comfy, and this should be encouraged.

A bit of interweb investigation reveals that The Pig was sculpted by Alan Hobbs (of Oamaru) in 1995.

And that’s all I got.

If you have more information, we’d love to hear it!