(Click to enlarge)
I took these photos in downtown Bogota, where artist Rafael Gomezbarros covered the Colombian Congress building with this art installation of giant ants. Apparently this has been an ongoing, Christoesque project in which the ants have appeared on different public buildings throughout Colombia at different times; according to Gomezbarros, the ants “represent immigration, globalization and displacement; I’m trying to force a reflection on what we experience and see on a daily basis, and also to raise awareness about our monuments.”
What do you think?
I love this blog.
Thoroughly awesome. What a beautiful installation. (When I see ants I think Dalí, but the artist’s statement sounds pretty unrelated to surrealism. But there’s room for many different takes on insects out there. At my blog I’ve been doing a lot of thinking about flies lately.)
When I see the ants, it makes me think of a literal infestation, of course–how can people not see this as a metaphor, too, for some sort of infestation of the government? My first thought, in other words, was that it was an actual critique of government, done covert-guerilla style…
This is fantastic! I can’t look at it without seeing real, live giant ants. For whatever reason, despite the fact that giant ants are rather oogy, I find this completely delightful.
I find myself reaching for chemicals.
Love it; love the photos; love the blog; love you; love love.
I don’t see how this is similar to Cristo’s installations — it seems more like the statues I sometimes see in NYC — I can’t bring any of them to mind right now but I am clearly remembering the category — of abstract shapes ballooning or bubbling out of the sidewalk… Obviously on a far grander scale; but it seems much more human than Cristo’s pieces, more moving (at least at this remove — I have never seen any of Cristo’s pieces in person either.)
(Did I see the Gates in Central Park? I must have seen the Gates in Central Park. They did not stick in my memory at all, at all.)
I found the Gates quite disappointing. These ants are fantastic, though.