Big Nut and Bolt – Launceston

What makes it worth an entry is that a fastener is not an obvious thing to enlarge. Giant fruit, animals and food are appealing at scale because they are already pleasant to look at. A nut and bolt are among the most purely functional objects ever designed – the thread geometry is the entire point, and nobody has ever admired one. Blown up, that changes. The helix of a bolt thread at two metres is a genuinely handsome piece of geometry, and the sculpture ends up revealing something about an object people handle daily without once looking at.

The business behind it has real longevity. It was started in 1990 by Paul Cabalzar at the old Launceston store in Wellington Street, and Paul is still the owner. It has since moved to a much larger store at 60 Frederick Street, with a similar one in Hobart at Albert Road, Moonah.

Current local and travel directories continue to identify the Big Nut and Bolt at the Frederick Street address, and the business remains active there.

The maker, date and dimensions of the sculptures are not established in the record.