Pass the Salt

Moore Wilson Ice Installation

The ice installation at Moore Wilson in Wellington is now nothing but a puddle of water, but it was great while it lasted.

Ian Hornblow and Paul Hoather, business partners at the White House restaurant, have been chipping away at it since Tuesday. It was their contribution to the Wellington on a Plate festival, supported by Moore Wilson who donated the produce that was part of the sculpture.

Ian Hornblow sculpts Wellington on a Plate

The blocks were made at an ice factory that does this sort of thing, although usually without the fish, flowers and vegetables that had to be suspended in the water as it was frozen. Apparently the oversized ice cubes are quite tricky  to make because the water has to be de-ionised (or is it de-oxygenated?) so the ice will set crystal clear.

Ice sculpting isn’t something I know much about so, on Ian’s suggestion, I googled it and turned up some amazing images. Wikipedia says the largest ever snow sculpture was made for the annual Harbin Ice Festival in China in 2007. It measured 250m long and 8.5m high and included a sculpture of the Niagara Falls.

Ian and Paul’s installation included a Wellington on a Plate logo complete with knife and fork, a rugby ball, a tropical fish (which was in melt-down by the time I made my second visit) and a muscly torso, which Ian assured me was Sonny Bill Williams. In the absence of the trademark tattoo I find this hard to believe, but maybe that was asking too much of Ian and his set of heavy duty Japanese ice chisels.

Sonny Bill Williams?

According to Wiki, ice sculptors these days often use lasers, which you’d imagine would be a lot easier for intricate work. Ian and Paul do it the traditional way with chisels that Paul brought back from Japan 20-years-ago when he was part of a team that won a gold in the novice section of an international competition.

Ian usually sculpts with wood. He says ice is easier, “softer and more forgiving”. You do have to work faster – it’s a race against time – but he says he likes the transient nature of the medium. “It’s here today gone tomorrow – like the ice cube in your gin and tonic.”