Artist turns pallets into outdoor sculptures

There's something about pallets that just seems to fire the artistic imagination. As we've reported before, they've been used to create furniture, have inspired Lego toys, and have appeared on a football-themed cover photo for ESPN The Magazine.

The pallets-as-art trend has now spread to New Zealand, where sculptor Aaron McConchie has used them to create an outdoor installation he calls "The Continuous Work of (a) Giant(s)." The exhibit, located alongside a highway near several industrial parks, consists of nine pyramid-like structures. Each is made of 15 wooden pallets painted with water-based biodegradable paints and decorated with stenciled designs.

Construction was no walk in the park: McConchie and his father used a bucket truck to lift and position the heavy pallets, working in rain and wind. Heavy-duty steel pins keep the pyramids safely in place.

To see photos of the pyramids and read the artist's blog about how they were constructed ("A mountain of CHEP pallets has arrived!"), go to www.aaronmcconchie.com/catalog/am1009.