September 25, 2019

NEMO Science Museum gets huge Hofman statue

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 4:16 pm

The NEMO Science Museum in downtown Amsterdam has recently bought and installed a 8.5-meter-high statue by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman.

It wasn’t easy to install: the artwork, A Handstand, modelled after Hofman’s 11-year-old son, took 20 people to install and acts as a centrepiece for the museum and its new exhibition, Humania, about humans, to open on 23 November. Only then will people be able to admire the artwork in person.

A Handstand shows the world upside down. Made of lycra, the skeleton can be see on the outside as a costume, while the child is inside (not the real one). There’s also a lot of detail in the muscles and bones of the body, so that it really looks like how a boy would tense his muscles when doing a handstand. The whole thing weighs 400 kilos and needed four stories of space indoors to be able to install it properly.

(Link: nemosciencemuseum.nl, Photo: parool.nl)

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September 18, 2014

Hofman’s giant rabbit burnt by accident

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 1:31 pm

Rotterdam-based Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman, known for his giant yellow rubber ducks and huge plush toys around the world, has had his big bunny rabbit in Taiwan burnt by mistake.

Firefighters claim that the fire which torched the 24-metre-tall rabbit, created for the annual Taoyuan Land Art Festival, was ignited by welding sparks from workers disassembling festival structures nearby. Local authorities might seek compensation from contractors for the blaze.

Commissioned by the Taiwanese government, Hofman’s latest installation project had been hugely popular, with more than two million visitors to the festival paying a visit to the giant rubber mammal. The ‘moon rabbit’ is a symbol of altruism and love in the legend of the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival, which took place on September 8.

Other fun creations by Hofman include big slow slugs and a festive aardvark (picture above).

(Link: www.scmp.com, Photo: www.florentijnhofman.nl)

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September 24, 2013

Festive aardvark celebrates the city of Arnhem

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 12:40 pm

Rotterdam’s Florentijn Hofman does it again in a big way, this time in a festive manner with the ‘Feestaardvarken’ (‘Party aardvark’) made mostly of metal and concrete.

The Feestaardvarken is a 30-metre-long concrete sculpture which looks like an abstract aardvark with a golden party hat. The work was made specifically for this site and commissioned by Burgers’ Zoo and is a present for the 100th year anniversary of the zoo to the city of Arnhem.

‘Party aardvark’ is a play on words of ‘feestvarken’ (‘party pig’ in Dutch), while aardvark is an Afrikaans word also used in English meaning ‘earth pig’.

(Link and photo: www.florentijnhofman.nl)

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May 1, 2013

Hofman’s rubber duck invades Hong Kong

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 1:26 pm

On Thursday 2 May the Rubber Duck is set to sail into Victoria Harbour, Hong Kong, China.

“We tested it for several days at a shipyard and it already got a lot of attention and spin off. People started going there to get a glimpse of the project. This is the first time the Rubber Duck is floating in Victoria Harbour, which is directly connected to the South China Sea. Right now it’s also the biggest rubber duck floating around the world.”

(Link and photo: www.florentijnhofman.nl)

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September 26, 2012

Big slow slugs in France by Florentijn Hofman

Filed under: Animals,Art by Orangemaster @ 5:12 pm

Rotterdam artist Florentijn Hofman, the guy who brought us the big cute ducks, big bunnies in Sweden and in Nijmegen, and much more greatness, just finished a show in Angers, France with giant slugs made of plastic bags (slideshow).

The work is made out of 40.000 plastic bags that move in the wind. The slugs are ascending this steep city staircase that leads up to a huge Catholic church, essentially signifying their slow crawl towards death. The work reminds us of religion, mortality, natural decay and the slow suffocation of commercialized societies.

(Link: www.designboom.com, photo florentijnhofman.nl)

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August 26, 2012

Japanese fan mail for Florentijn Hofman

Filed under: Art by Branko Collin @ 9:50 am

Rotterdam-based artist Florentijn Hofman, him of the huge rubber duckies and city square hugging plush toys, received a letter the other day:

Hello! I’m Zozi, your fan in Japan. When the Rubber Ducks appeared at Onomichi, I was so amazed at them. I like the Rubber Duck that you’ve designed, so I made this movie.

It is a nice video. Please watch it past the first minute and a half, to see the videographer bend reality.

(Illustration: screenshot of the video. Video: Youtube / zozi009.)

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June 4, 2012

Colourful balloons ‘floating’ on and over water

Filed under: Art by Branko Collin @ 11:56 am

Artists Merijn Hos and René Reijnders from Utrecht worked together to create this Florentijn Hofman-like installation called Bubblegum for the Cultural Night in Almere (2010).

The balloons had LED lights inside, so that they could be lit up at night.

Link: The Pop-Up City. Photo: Merijn Hos.

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August 24, 2011

Huge Dutch bunny art invades Sweden

Filed under: Art by Orangemaster @ 6:43 pm

Rotterdam artist Florentijn Hofman has shared with us [Designboom] images of ‘stor gul kanin’ (big yellow rabbit), his newest large-scale sculpture for this summer’s Openart Biennale in Öreboro, Sweden. Challenging the function and purpose of the public space, the 13-metre high installation explores the notion of scale and urban perspective by providing a new focal point in the open square.

Made out of locally-manufactured shingles and a wooden armature, the temporary sculpture depicts a giant plush rabbit that has been seemingly dropped into the centre of the Swedish plaza.

(Link: designboom.com, Photo by Florentijn Hofman)

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April 12, 2011

Looking through the Lookout Rabbit in Nijmegen

Filed under: Animals,Art by Orangemaster @ 10:12 am

The Lookout Rabbit was made of concrete, sand, grass, metal, wood, paint and cement coating by Rotterdam artist Florentijn Hofman who has this thing for cute animals.

The Lookout Rabbit is a temporary 12-meter high sculpture. It’s a rabbit with a red dot which you can enter and have a look out over the Waal river. The arwork is located at the Valkhofpark in Nijmegen and will stay put for at least six months.

There’s even a making of the Lookout Rabbit.

(Link and photo: florentijnhofman.nl)

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July 2, 2010

Rotterdam quay decorated with huge paper boats

Filed under: Art,Design by Orangemaster @ 2:21 pm
5_bootjes

Florentijn Hofman, the artist who gave us huge cuddly dolls and huge rubber ducks, now has some very colourful yet huge ‘folded paper boats’ (made of metal) on display in Rotterdam, installed just a few days ago.

There are tons of pictures showing all five boats of different colours, even a pink one.

(Link: trendbeheer.com)

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