Yes, you are looking at an 5.49m sculpture of a man’s arse. In fact, the artwork is one of the finalists of this year’s Turner Prize — though the owner of the depicted arse is a mystery, with the artist admitting only that it’s from a 3D scan of a well-known graphic designer’s posterior.
Image: Kyle Knodell
The huge piece formed part of an exhibition — called Lichen! Libdo! Chastity! — first shown off in New York last year by the artist Anthea Hamilton. According to Wallpaper, it’s inspired by a 1972 proposal made by Italian designer Gaetano Pesce, who wanted to use a similar form for the front entrance of a building. It never got made, but Hamilton has at least shown us what it could look like.
Speaking to Wallpaper last year, Hamilton would divulge only that the sculpture was based on a 3D scan of a “well-known graphic designer” who’s “in his mid-to late-thirties and often works with contemporary artists.”
Artists Michael Dean, Helen Marten and Josephine Pryde also made the shortlist for the Turner prize. They will all exhibit their works at a Turner prize show running from September to January. The winner will walk away with £25,000 ($49,390).