The Big Yellow Rabbit
Artist Florentijn Hofman
Örebro, Sweden
Concrete, metal, wood and takspån (sweedish pine shingles used for roofing)
13 x 16 x 16 meters
Florentjin Hofman is a Dutch artist. Born April 16, 1977 in Delfzijl, Netherlands. He received his Masters in Art in Berlin, Germany in 2001. Hofman likes to create larger than life sculpture of everyday things from giant bunnys, pigs, slugs, dead flys, rubber ducks, and colorful paper boats to painting entire buildings one solid color so people will start looking again at what was and is there. Since 2000, his installations have appeared all over the world.
Hofman: 'My sculptures cause an uproar, astonishment and put a smile on your face. They give people a break from their daily routines. Passers-by stop in front of them, get off their bicycle and enter into conversation with other spectators. People are making contact with each other again. That is the effect of my sculptures in the public domain.'
The Big Yellow Rabbit was a temporary 13 meter high sculpture. Hofman, and his design firm, are best known for their larger than life sculptures and clever statues. In this photograph, Hofman and his team created an enormous yellow bunny in the middle of the town square in Sweden. The bunny provides a new focal point to the public space, which once was the Statue of Engelbrekt (standing behind the rabbit). The sculpture provides a new experience to people who regularly use this space for shopping, restaurants, and church. Florentijn Hofman encouraged Orebro visitors to examine the space both with the bunny, and then again after its removal. The 43 foot high rabbit is hand constructed with Florentijn Hofman’s team and 20 volunteers. The sculpture is made on site, of all local materials, wood, some metal, wood shingles, and paint. Each wood shingle was screwed on, one by one! It’s only when you are up close that you can understand the detail and precision that went into its making. The work was seen seen during the summer of 2011 during the OpenArt biennale.
I love these larger than life constructions because they take you back to your childhood. The exaggerated scale of his works are seen all over the world. He has a giant rubber duck that swims the world from New Zealand to Japan. A giant, fat monkey that lies stretched out in a park in Brazil, and countless others that greatly impact all who see it. An encounter with one of his extraordinary pieces invites you to stand still for a moment and look; to really look.
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