New Zealand artist Phil Price, who was selected by Darwin Council to create the Cyclone Tracy 50th anniversary memorial sculpture, has described the concept behind his work as a “celebration of life” and that it was “not anything more than that”, adding it was impossible to really create a sculpture that represented Cyclone Tracy and suggested survivors who do not like it do not have the right attitude.

The controversial kinetic sculpture’s legitimacy as a memorial to Cyclone Tracy has been called into question based on at least four issues: the secret selection process for the design, the similarity of the work to Price’s previous works, a large cyclone survivor backlash to the design, and the ongoing public denials by Lord Mayor Kon Vatskalis that the sculpture is a memorial to Cyclone Tracy.

A five-and-a-half minute interview with Price was played on ABC Darwin radio on Monday, an interview where the artist did not mention Cyclone Tracy survivors, nor Cyclone Tracy in direct reference to it being an inspiration for his work, which saw him paid $535,000 in public funds to produce.

Darwin Council said the entire cost of the sculpture, including landscaping, was $700,000 with the Federal Government contributing $300,000 in funding.

Another $300,000 in Federal Government funding has been given to the Remembering Cyclone Tracy Committee for another memorial at East Point created by a local artist that has seemingly not attracted any controversy nor rejection of its design.

Price was asked by ABC Darwin Radio producer Conor Cartwright what he was trying to achieve with his sculpture for the Cyclone Tracy memorial.

“I think, you know, the calling card of my sculptures, public sculptures, well, all of them really, is that they’re, they’re really happy, you know, they’re kind of a…because they have, because they’re influenced by nature,” Price said.

“And, you know, I’m interested in beautiful forms. I’m interested in, in, you know, positive and negative spaces, you know, lovely proportions, colour, you know.

“I rather think that, that is the concept. The concept is a celebration of life, you know, and it’s not anything more than that. I’m not saying that that’s a flippant concept. I think that in art, that has been one of the most foundational, you know, the pursuit of beauty, there is nothing wrong with that.”

Sixty-six people were reportedly killed during Cyclone Tracy.

Price did not expand on what elements he thought made the work a celebration of life. When asked about the controversy, Price said he had heard about the criticism but had not “engaged” with it.

“And I am not being rude by doing that,” Price said.

“But I rather think that, you know, there are things that can’t be satisfied, and, you know, I don’t know, show me a sculpture that does represent, you know, something for a school of thought that’s coming from a, you know, a certain standpoint.

“And you’re not going to achieve it, you know. I think it’s, I think that the issue is not whether or not it addresses every concern, the issue is, you know, let’s have the right attitude.

“I think it is the go-to for the media [hostility towards public sculpture], they have to do something on public sculpture, and they think, ‘Oh this is controversial, of course it is’.

“Well is it? You know, there are some….there are sculpture and artworks around that are controversial because that is their, that is their concept you know, but in this instance I think, you know, embracing a public work which is supposedly a celebration, is just a nice thing to do.

“You know, it’s not going to change the attitude of a person who’s negative, it’s not possible.

“…You know I have to say that a community embracing public artwork is the success. It doesn’t matter what I say, or what I think, you know, it doesn’t matter what I call it, it’s that ability to embrace and to own, that’s the key, that’s success.”

Cartwright did not ask Price about the work’s similarity to his other works for which he has attributed different meanings, but the producer did tell the artist that if there ever was a piece of art that would change someone’s opinion once it was seen, it would be his Bundilla Beach work.

Price did not respond to questions from the NT Independent last week about the inspiration for the work, what the brief he was given by the Darwin Council entailed, nor how he accounted for the meaning attributed to his Darwin work compared to his two other works in Canberra and Denmark called Snake, that the artist describes as symbolising Eve’s temptation by the snake in the Garden of Eden.

When unveiling the design of Coriolis, a Darwin Council press release said it was designed to pay respect to the history of Cyclone Tracy and represented the forces of nature affecting the Darwin environment.

It also gave a different meaning that Price now attributes to the work.

“The theme of Coriolis is ‘momentum capturing the power of wind’. Its movement is dictated by the force of the wind and the sculpture will have expanding and retracting branches that represent themes of growth, resilience and regeneration,” the press release said.

Federal member for Solomon Luke Gosling is on the record stating that if the Bundilla Beach memorial did not achieve the aim of commemoration, and did not fulfil the requirements of the funding agreement between the Northern Territory Government and the Darwin Council, then the NT Government should seek to recover the funds and return them to the Federal Government.

The controversy of whether the funding should be pulled back follows the public backlash against the design when it was unveiled on June 7, with the now Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro having said the council needed to consult with the community to deal with their concerns. NT Treasurer Bill Yan recently said the whole affair had turned into a “dog’s breakfast”, and former Darwin councillor, and now CLP MLA for Karama, Brian O’Gallagher said he told Mr Vatskalis to put off passing a motion on the design because of the controversy.

In July, Federal Infrastructure Minister Catherine King also said her government would work with the NT Government to “make sure we get the project right”.

It is unclear what Ms King did to “get the project right” with the only change to the unpopular design being its colour.

Mr Vatskalis has said at least five times in the media, including as recently as Thursday, that the sculpture is not a memorial to the cyclone, or not the “official” memorial, despite council receiving $300,000 in taxpayer money for that reason and previously stating it was a memorial.

The discussions about why Price’s design was selected, and whether other artists were considered, are suppressed as they took place in confidential sections of meetings, with one of the Cyclone Tracy Commemorative Advisory Committee members, Richard Creswick, stating he had to sign a confidentiality agreement. A Darwin Council email seen by the NT Independent claims there were no confidentiality agreements.

Mr Creswick is also the Remembering Cyclone Tracy Committee chair and told the ABC in June he was aware “mostly of criticism” about the council’s memorial design and said he didn’t believe the work should be affiliated with Tracy.

“My concern is the linking of that sculpture to Cyclone Tracy…we’ve always believed that a memorial should be designed by a local artist and should be designed locally,” Mr Creswick said.

“If the council decides that it wants a kinetic sculpture at Bundilla Beach, that’s great, but…my committee and the people we represent, survivors of Cyclone Tracy, want a memorial that is reflective of Cyclone Tracy.”