Visitors to San Francisco City Hall will be in for quite a treat between now and April 25, thanks to a set of giant inflatable bunnies that have graced the lawn of Civic Center Plaza. The rabbits, which glow in the dark and reach up to 23-feet-tall, are part of a new art installation project known as “Intrude” by Australian artist Amanda Parer. The purpose? To bring awareness to the many pressing environmental issues facing humankind.
“They represent the fairytale animals from our childhood – a furry innocence, frolicking through idyllic fields,” the artist says. “Intrude deliberately evokes this cutesy image, and a strong visual humour, to lure you into the artwork only to reveal the more serious environmental messages in the work. They are huge, the size referencing ‘the elephant in the room’, the problem, like our environmental impact, big but easily ignored.”
San Francisco is in good company. The display has already made its way to London, Paris, Boston, and over a dozen other cities. But the artwork isn’t cheap. To keep them safe, the bunnies will receive round-the-clock security, estimated at around $34,000. That cost is being covered through a combination of city and private funds.
Read more about San Francisco’s giant visitors here.
Image Credit: Flickr User 50504703@N00, https://flic.kr/p/BbsVUs