Canberra Celebrates 100th Anniversary with Bizarre Balloon
To celebrate the 100th anniversary of Australia's capital, the government commissioned sculptor Patricia Piccinini to create an 1100-pound hot air balloon, entitled Skywhale. The balloon looks something like a prehistoric manatee with 8 nipples. The balloon has ignited some controversy, because no one can quite tell what it is, or what it has to do with Canberra. Some critical taxpayers have decried the art as a waste of tax dollars. The 34 m long balloon cost $172,000, and took 16 people seven months to construct.
“My question is what if evolution went a different way [and] we evolved a nature that could fly instead of swim. Coming from a place like Canberra where it’s a planned city that’s really tried to integrate and blend in with the natural environment, it makes a lot of sense to make this sort of huge, gigantic, but artificial and natural-looking creature.”
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