Culture> Art

Giant panda scales Chengdu mall

By Gan Tian ( China Daily ) Updated: 2014-03-17 07:24:04

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Leap, in Sacramento Airport, California, is one of Argent's signature works.

China's 'smog art' movement

Crying their hearts out

Leap is a giant red rabbit in Sacramento Airport, California. According to Argent, the rabbit is not about the animal, but a vehicle for self-reflection. He explains the rabbit has a meaning for everyone, from childhood stories to live animals. When people go to an airport, they are full of energy and nervousness. The artist wanted to defuse their nervousness with this giant rabbit.

"And the rabbit is jumping into a suitcase, which represents a person. These are your items and possessions. This is a metaphor for the baggage you carry through your life, what happened to you to bring you to the point of who you are now."

Art critic Feng Huang says public art becomes a success when it stimulates people in this public area to reflect and think.

"It is more than a decoration. It becomes meaningful when it appears only in this area," Feng says.

The panda in Chengdu IFS is the first project that Argent has done in China. It is also one of the largest outdoor installations ever in Chengdu. Feng says it is a successful one.

"The panda becomes meaningful. The artist has made its bottom face the public - it is defiant toward the traditional image of a panda," Feng says.

Argent says: "I'm not interested in creating an object of decoration. That's not what I do. My task is to create something that fits the surrounding or the area. If it were to be removed, you would miss it."