All stand up: 10 phallic monuments in different cities of the world
Olga Insurance
In the middle of October in the center A premature Christmas tree appeared in Paris - a giant green inflatable sculpture of Paul McCarthy, clearly repeating the outlines of the anal plug. At the end of last week, something similar happened in Sydney, where an 18-meter condom of a cheerful shade of fuchsia was pulled on the obelisk in Hyde Park. If in the first case, Parisians and the world community faced another manifestation of the corporate identity of the famous muralist (you can also recall the ambiguous Santa Claus McCarthy), then in the second, the action has social overtones: thus, the authors want to remind you of the importance of safe sex and stop the spread of HIV.
Anyway, both precedents beat the ambiguity of many urban monuments that reflect the phallocentricity of our society: proudly rushing upward monumental columns and obelisks, erected in honor of various achievements of mankind, traditionally look "like men": for example, the famous 169-meter Washington Monument is not for nothing called the main phallic symbol of America. We decided to recall other urban sculptures and monuments, whose form causes well-defined associations, and sometimes ambiguous reaction of others.
The Woman and the Bird by Joan Miro
Barcelona
The 22-meter sculpture, lined with multicolored mosaic, appeared in the Joan Miro park in Barcelona in the early 80s, and the author was, in fact, Miro himself - a great abstractionist, it seems, long and undoubtedly defeated Dali in the battle for the title of the main Spanish artist of the XX century . By the time the Woman and the Birds opened, Miro was almost ninety years old, which did not prevent him from joking on the slippery topic: the Catalans affectionately called a member a “bird” (substitute yourself for a joke about a bird in the hands). To look at the image of a woman in an obviously phallic column with a cylinder y, a hum, headboards, the main thing is to look from the right side - there is a vulvo-shaped crevice on it, which all Barcelona guides do not cease to rejoice.
"Monolith" by Gustav Vigeland
Oslo
Vigeland Sculpture Park, which occupies part of Frogner Park in the Norwegian capital, is an amazing place in itself. Among the hundreds of sculptures of the famous artist, reflecting the different states of a person, there is, for example, a man who throws away babies, but the central sculpture group of the park — a plateau with a stele surrounded by an image of naked people frozen in various poses — is most striking. All of them symbolize the "circulation of life", and the Monolith itself rises on the highest point: an obelisk installed in 1944 from 121 woven figures carved from a single multi-ton granite block. As conceived by the author, the obelisk, aspiring to the sky, symbolizes the ineradicable man's craving for spirituality - the figures tend to rise with a mixture of despair and hope. Also in the monument laid the idea of an endless cycle of rebirth, which is really difficult to imagine without an object of similar shape.
"Nail's Tales" by Donald Lipsky
Madison
In 2005, an obelisk made of concrete, steel, stone and rubber, "folded" from soccer balls, appeared in front of the Camp Randall stadium, located on the territory of the University of Wisconsin. Its author was a recognized American artist and graduate of this very university, Donald Lipsky. However, not everyone liked his work at the project stage. Local residents gently called it "monstrous" and, of course, compared with a specific element of the male anatomy. The piquancy of the situation is added by the fact that Lipsky called the obelisk in honor of his fellow university hostel Eric Nathan, nicknamed Nails. As the artist himself explained, this his work, according to the idea, should exude "strength and imperiousness." Hm
"Velvet Nation" by John McEnroe
Denver
Seeing phallic undertones in any vertical object is too much even for Freud, not to mention that it is simply unwise to compare abstract art with figurative art and look for references to everyday objects in it. But the Denver residents did not stop. In 2006, the city finally opened a pedestrian bridge connecting two popular districts: Highland and Platte Valley. Next to the bridge, a new Denver street art object appeared by the work of contemporary artist John McEnroe, and as it was not called. "Red Tree" and "mountain beans" - the most delicate options, and, of course, comparisons with the penis could not be avoided. To the credit of McInroy, it should be noted that he did not just cast a suspicious form of plastic, but really "folded a bunch" of many separate identical parts. And so that no one misses it even in the dark, it glows at night.
Bruce Armstrong's Giant Owl
Canberra
"Owls are not what they seem." It seems that this is what the Australian sculptor Bruce Armstrong was thinking about, preparing to erect a monumental concrete bird as part of a program to develop urban public art. At the opening of the monument in 2011, the then Minister of the Australian Capital Territory John Stanhope made a heartfelt speech about how this symbol of wisdom will help develop the local people’s love for art and also protect them from trouble as a totem. Locals and tourists responded with a Flickr photograph in the background of an owl in indecent angles with the signatures "WTF". Although the Australians must be no stranger - they like weird big things.
"Colonna Mediterranea" by Paul Vella Critien
Luke
The Mediterranean Column, welcoming and accompanying visitors to Malta since 2006, is installed near the island’s sole airport and could easily have passed under the radar of art historians and the general public if it were not for one incident. In 2010, the convoy of Pope Benedict XVI, who arrived in Malta on an official visit, was to proceed past the column. The agitated mayor of Luke raised a fuss and demanded to dismantle the monument, which, in his opinion, could desecrate the eyes of the prelate. In response to this, the author of the column called this position ignorant and far from understanding the essence of modern art. "I did not put in the column any allusions to the penis," the artist said. "If I had the desire to build a giant member, believe me, I would know how to do it."
"Haka Peep Show" Rachel Rakena
Dunedin
"What do taxpayers' money go to ?!" - One of the most frequent questions that pops up in connection with the public art that is not understood by local residents (and in fact, the argument against its dissemination). In the case of the installation of Rachel Rakena, nicknamed by the people "black member", this question also sounded - especially when it became known that 130 thousand NZ dollars were allocated from the city budget for this work of art. Meanwhile, this object cultivates traditional values: based on the principle of an erotic peep show, it actually invites everyone to look at the one-eyed 3D video clips of the New Zealand Maori hack that is broadcast inside the post. "Hack Peep Show" stood in the town square during the Rugby World Cup, and then moved to the main local museum of visual arts.
Jeffrey Drake-Brockman's Totem
Perth
Pagan totems were one of the earliest examples of phallic sculpture, so it is not surprising that contemporary artists sometimes refer to this tradition, erecting their man-made pillars in different cities of the world. The Australian Drake-Brockman was no exception, having invented his totem of the future - a kinetic sculpture that responds to the movements of passersby. This "Totem" was set up in front of the Perth Arena stadium, which opened in 2011, which in itself looks impressive - well, and the artist’s work, resembling a giant robotic origami (and not only), adds to him the futurism.
"Virgin of the stream" team of authors
Pengam
In 2010, a stele appeared in the former Welsh mining town of Pengam, evoking mixed feelings among the locals. For its appearance were responsible, in particular, the remaining unknown representatives of the local Lewis School - an educational institution created in the beginning of the XVIII century for the sons of the poor. Erected on the site of a decaying children's playground, "The Virgin of the Creek", on the one hand, should have attracted the attention of investors to the development of an abandoned territory, on the other - reminded of an old legend: children used to drown in a local creek. Bowing her head from a height of 12 meters, the maiden, according to the authors, should “look after” the new generation. Here are just residents noted that this woman looks like only on one side. And from the back - on something completely not feminine.
"8 => in captivity at the FSB!" art group "War"
St. Petersburg
This list would be incomplete without the most monumental work of the “War” group. We, of course, are a little tricky, because this work is also instantaneous - the creation of the 65-meter image took less than a minute, and only the collective memory and video on YouTube remained in eternity. Despite this (as well as the directness of the statement), it is impossible not to admire the elegance of this model of protest public art and artists' fiction: the giant member rising unequivocally with the Foundry Bridge opposite the FSB building was at the same time a tribute to the great Russian tradition to paint certain symbols on the fence a distinct political statement.