Naked Trump statue near Las Vegas: The message behind the giant puppet
An unidentified group has erected a 43-foot marionette of former President Donald Trump in the buff near Las Vegas. Here’s the meaning behind the statue.
Art is often meant to start a conversation, and that is exactly what an unidentified group is trying to do with a mammoth statue of Donald Trump, while raising some eyebrows at the same time. The 43-foot marionette erected just north of Las Vegas along Interstate 15 depicts the former US president in the buff.
The giant effigy, dubbed ‘Crooked and Obscene’, weighs around 6,000 pounds and is made of foam and rebar. TMZ reports, that being a marionette, at least its arms can move, and it is currently supported upright by a crane in a fenced lot.
Naked Trump statue near Las Vegas: The message behind the giant puppet
The title of the work is in reference to “the controversial nature of both the man and the statue itself,” TMZ was told.
Displaying the former president in the nude “is intentional” according to its creators. They say that it serves “as a bold statement on transparency, vulnerability, and the public personas of political figures,” according to a press release to which The Wrap had access. The idea is to start a conversation about “transparency—or lack thereof—in politics,” while at the same time “challenging viewers to think critically about political influence.”
The giant statue will be going on tour around the country according to organizers. However, no dates nor locations of where the “Crooked and Obscene” marionette will be presented have been released as of yet the outlet reports.
This is not the first time that a naked statue of Trump has been put on display. In 2016, a series of nude effigies of the GOP candidate for president were put on display around the country in Cleveland, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Seattle. The project was the creation of an activist art collective called Indecline according to The Independent.