Constructing 21 beach cells

Peter Gilder, a mechanic by trade and a self-taught carpenter, worked with John Kaldor for over 25 years in his fabric business, and later, his art projects. Peter recalls his work on the 16th Kaldor Public Art Project, Gregor Schneider’s 21 beach cells on Bondi Beach in 2007. Working as the project construction manager, Peter remembers two challenges with the site and construction:

I was going with John to see Waverley Council… [Gregor Schneider] thought he could plonk this thing on Bondi anywhere. He didn’t realise sometimes Bondi gets these massive waves and so forth.

The other thing was with the beach runners, they were very difficult to deal with. We had to make this distance for them between the wall and the artwork so that they weren’t interrupted. They wouldn’t run around it… That was a fascinating job, it really was.