The mermaid
is a symbol of man’s great love affair with ocean
waters, of human reaching for the unattainable, for she slips
with ease from all the nets save those of legend, to cast her own
snares and capture the imaginations of men.
On April 9, 1960, two mermaids appeared
on the massive boulder that sits on the shores of Ben Buckler at Bondi
Beach. Aptly titled, ‘The Mermaids,’ they came in the form
of two life-size fibreglass sculptures filled with concrete, injected
with resin, painted bronze and were bolted to the rock. Artist, Lyall
Randolph, called them his ‘Easter gift’ to Australia after
the Waverly council declined his offer to buy them. The bare-breasted
duo caused quite a stir in a time when topless sunbathing had not yet
hit the shores of Bondi. They were modelled on Sydney swimming champions,
Jan Carmody and Lynette Whillier. Representing a mortal merge with nature,
a mythological manifestation from the sea and a reflection of cultural
and internal landscapes, the mermaids embody the primal self, the unknown,
a personal space to be discovered.
Hughes’
impression of ‘The Mermaids’ in the Daily
Mirror, four days after their arrival, speaks of a public reaction
that was both confronted and divided in opinion. The conservative moral
high ground collided with a mythical beauty and a cultural as well as
artistic context that could hardly be refuted. ‘Mermaids seem
to [be] part of the fabric of the soul with [their] beauty, and eroticism…’
writes Walter McCabe in Mermaids
in Mythology. While the Mermaids made global headlines, ‘largely
due to being controversially 'topless' during a time when nudity was
totally unacceptable and bikinis were regularly measured to ensure 'politically
correct' attire…’ one can’t help but wonder what lies
beneath such cultural dissent. The social snub that Hughes draws on
raises issues beyond public nudity. What lies at the core of the mermaid
controversy of 1960?
The Daily
Telegraph published a letter to the Editor on 15 April, 1960, titled
‘Mermaids Not Wanted’ from Mrs Lois Linklater of Bondi Beach:
The rock
at Ben Buckler Point is a symbol of the wildness of our rocky foreshores
and should not be confused with fairy tales of other countries. Let
us keep such important landmarks natural and clean.
The moral
scorn of Mrs Linklater’s letter is laced with a definitive idea
of what a ‘natural’ landscape meant to her and portrayed
a cultural identity that was limited to national borders. Her vision
was both literal and exclusive. There was no room for mythology by the
sea lest it became 'unnatural' and morally polluted.
Randolph
writes in his own defence:
Ten minutes only is required to write a letter of destructive criticism…
On the other hand, a toil of many years has gone to the construction
of ‘The Mermaids’… I wonder if Mrs Linklater is a
so-called “modern artist” who prefers obscene weird wire
constructions to a rational person’s love of the beauty of pure
form and line.
Known to have introduced himself as ‘the bloke that built the
mermaids at Bondi and seems to have been in strife ever since,’
Randolph injected much passion into a project that took two years to
complete and cost him four thousand dollars, entirely self-funded. Born
into a family that rejected his artistic talent as a suitable career,
Lyall Randolph Williams (later naming himself Lyall Randolph) became
an electrical engineer as well as an inventor, and pursued interests
of sailing and art, most notably sculpture. Inspired by Edvard Eriksen’s
Copenhagen Harbour ‘Little Mermaid’ (inspired by Hans Christian
Andersen’s fairy tale) Randolph’s mermaids had more than
the wild seas to brave.
Having admitted
he had not seen the sculptures, Roman Catholic Church’s spokesman,
Dr Rumble remarked:
With
too much of this sort of thing, we can hardly complain if young men,
their passions inflamed, commit sexual offences….
It never
ceases to amaze how learned the clergy seem to be regarding sexual matters.
Even further, a Bondi Beach inspector said the statues could ‘lure
people to their deaths.’ It is interesting to note that supporters
of the sculpture viewed it as an aesthetic asset for Bondi and a beneficial
drawcard for tourists whereas, those against it seemed to see nothing
but smut and danger. Yet another Christian backlash? The notion of the
erotic self is surely implicit in the dilemma – to approve or
disapprove. The idea of a world filled with fantasy – too risqué
for 1960?
Unfortunately, it was the mermaids who were at risk. Twenty-four hours
after they were erected, Sydney University students blasted one of the
mermaids from the rock as a Commemoration Day prank. The intention was
to have the mermaid lead their parade and be returned safely. Sadly,
the mermaid was severely damaged losing both tail and arm. Randolph
was distraught, ‘society more shocked and amidst scandalous scrutiny
the community banded together and paid for Lyall to lovingly repair
the damage and a year later, the 'Bondi Mermaids' were officially reunited.’
The ‘educated louts’ (as described by the police) were labelled
as ‘moronic no-hopers’ by the press and sent letters of
apology to Randolph. It seemed the gap between Culture and courtesy
was narrowing.
Despite the
reported controversy surrounding The Mermaids, the majority experience
was one of great welcome. TW Meagher wrote in the Bondi Surfer, 1960:
During the Easter and Anzac weekends, many thousands visited
Ben Buckler for the sole purpose of seeing the mermaids and all to whom
I spoke, without exception, have nothing but praise for the artist,
and expressed the view that the statues were an outstanding acquisition.
At the unveiling ceremony of the kidnapped mermaid in 1961, the Mayor
of Waverly, Alderman Ray O’Keefe congratulated Randolph saying,
‘The mermaids will be a wonderful attraction to Bondi, already
a world famous beach.’ Perhaps at a time when society was being
liberated by critical theory and social movements that opposed oppression,
The Mermaids represented a freedom of expression, both social and political.
But nature had a say in the mermaid debate too. In 1974, the seas swept
away the undamaged sculpture, sending it back to the place where mythological
mermaids are believed to live – at the bottom of the sea. Her
companion was removed from the rock by the Waverly Council in 1976,
in fear that she too would be claimed by the elements, only to be stored
in a dusty shed for the next ten years and, eventually, was restored.
She is now located in the Waverly Library for public view.
Ironically, at the end of The Mermaids’ era, Lyall Randolph died
in 1975 aged 74. He was found in his caravan in Woy Woy, having suffered
from an infection after being bitten by his dog. But like the Little
Mermaid, his spirit has remained eternal and the legend of the Ben Buckler
mermaids continues to live.
A number of attempts to resurrect the artwork have been undertaken by
local artists with partial success. A mystery still remains, however,
as to the delay in their arrival. Since topless sunbathing is now more
dominant fashion than forbidden practice, the moral dilemma has been
removed. Artists such as Matthew Dillon, in 1990, and Lizmania
of the ‘Mermania 2000’ project, rallied for their reinstatement.
But with a price tag of approximately $250,000 and the Waverly Council
offering little more than their approval it seems a financial tide is
required to wash the new wave of Mermaids back onto Bondi Beach.
References
Baglin
D. New South Wales in Colour Adelaide: Rigby; 1976
Bondi Surfer April 1960
Daily Mirror 12 April 1960
Daily Mirror 13 April, 1960
Lotocki, Suzanne (Annie) Lyall
Randolph Williams -The Mermaids 31 March 2003
McCabe, Walter Mermaids
in Mythology March 31, 2003
The Daily Telegraph, 15 April 1960
Waverly Library, Items
of Historical Interest March 31, 2003
bunny
star 2004©