Moai Removed from Mold
by Liesl Clark
April 27, 1998
"Gentlemen, I want it cut, " said Jo Anne Van Tilburg. There was silence
for a brief moment, then Van Tilburg's team began preparations for cutting
the fiberglass mold from the face of the concrete moai. Just an hour
earlier, the replica statue was lifted upright by a crane from its
horizontal position to stand a full 14 feet in height. As it stood
upright, Van Tilburg's team gave a relieved cheer; the first major step
in the long process of transporting and raising a modern-day moai had been
accomplished.
The lower part of the mold came right off, but the face proved more
difficult, as the beautifully-shaped features seemed to offer a surface for
the mold to cling to. Van Tilburg's solution was to cut the mold from the
face. A chainsaw was fired up and minutes later fiberglass was separated
from concrete and a moai was born.
Tomorrow the stone giant's face will be finished by artist/sculptors Santi
Hito and Cristian Arevalo Pakarati. The maoi will be placed
face-down on a wooden sledge and transported by flat-bed truck to
Tongariki, the location where the experiments will begin.