Pig in Prague by Chipka
Close
Hover over top left image to zoom.
Click anywhere to exit.
Members remain the original copyright holder in all their materials here at Renderosity. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth is prohibited and is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise.
Description
Once, I saw giant, fiberglass mushrooms in Prague’s Old Town Square. I saw ballerinas dancing atop beach balls and the Birth of Venus inside of a giant, high-heeled shoe. I saw a statue of Franz Kafka, only it was the statue of an invisible man, a full suite of men’s old-style clothing, with no man inside. I saw doors emblazoned with countless disembodied heads, and most intriguingly I saw…hmmm…well…I saw something best described as Art.
What is there to say of a pig on a diving board?
Prague is nothing if not quirky. Art sprouts like some strange fungus in open squares and hidden niches. Riots of graffiti mark the walls, but such tags are strangely existentialist in nature, strangely poetic and contemplative. As you wander through the more remote streets of the city (in Prague-3, perhaps) you’ll find grungy buildings of Communist design: the city’s infamous “Panelek” or “Panel Apartments.” They resemble American housing projects of a sort now largely torn down. They’re built from prefabricated parts and put together like some giant child’s erector set. They’re sturdy. They’re grim. They’re a part of local history, local color, and the local mindset, and perhaps it is the dominance of such structures along the fringes of Prague that inspire fiberglass pigs to jump from diving boards near the city center.
There may be a lot to say about this picture. There may be nothing. I remember the night that I captured this image. I wandered, as was my custom in Prague, when the nights were too sultry for sleep. With the aftertaste of beer on my breath, I aimed my camera at whatever drew my eye. I cannot think of how this could possibly fail to draw anyone’s eye. The diving board and pig are both life-sized. Pedestrian traffic must break around the strange navigational hazard. But on one night, when I had the pig on a diving board all to myself, I simply walked around it, taking pictures, and wondered what went through the mind of the artist who’d created it.
This is one of the photos I'd sent to friends, and it's also the picture that caused many of those same friends to declare that Prague must be one of the strangest cities on Earth. Admittedly, Prague is strange. Babies on TV towers and pigs on diving boards are as commonplace the art of Alfons Mucha and the writing of Franz Kafka. It is this strangeness that makes it so compelling, so intriguing, and so much the home that you miss when you leave it.
***
As always, thank you for viewing, and reading, and commenting, and I hope you're on the verge of a great weekend.
Comments (39)
ToniDunlap
What A Fun Image! Most Unique Indeed!
three_grrr
I think I like Prague .. and know I would intensely miss it if I had leave. A wonderful .. whimsical .. maybe even political statement!!
morningglory
Very different! That would cause someone to stop and look for sure.
myrrhluz
Who needs to say anything about this pig, when there is laughter! Having said that, I'll be my usual talkative self. I don't think this pig is a friend of the artist that put him there. Judging from his body language, the only way he'll jump is if the artist walks below him. But he is smiling, so perhaps the artist is walking his way. Wonderful art, wonderful capture and narrative and wonderful city! I remember the mushrooms and the heads. Are there pictures of the other marvels in your gallery? Excellent lighting! The pig seems to glow against the city. I love your images and stories of Prague! I hope I get there one day! (I am now in Ul Qoma!)
TwoPynts
Okay, this is just wild. And wonderful. Nicely captured by you I might add.
mbz2662
LOL...great capture!
tennesseecowgirl
I think that was the artists point to get people to stop, look, wonder, laugh, smile.. I think you've done the same by posting this, we are stopping, viewing, wondering hopefully chuckling and wondering what the heck?? Perhaps the pigs is doing the same.. Great capture and thanks for sharing part of the city with us.
beachzz
Something tells me I would like Prague a LOT!! This is exactly the crazy kind of art that catches my eye, my heart and my soul. Makes me wish I had thought of doing something like this--what a great shot, Chip--I REALLY love this!!
MrsRatbag
Oh my, that would make one stop and wonder! Strange and wonderful at the same time, I suppose much like Prague!
MrsLubner
I love a city with a sense of humor. Sometimes cities take themselves much too seriously and all the job seems to go flat. This looks like a great place from this simply marvelous capture.
bmac62
I like a pig anywhere doing anything. This is a fun shot. But more than that, it has opened up the character of the city to my mind's eye. I imagine it may be a little dangerous going around that traffic circle with everybody's eyes on the pig slipping toward the end of the diving board:) Oops, there he goes! Good one my friend. Bit by bit, I keep getting to know Prague better and better:)
blinkings
I gotta stop drinking! For a second I thought I saw a pig on a diving board. ;)
wysiwig
What a hilarious and glorious installation! I have a theory. Prague has always been a cneter of the avant guard, perhaps more so than Berlin. Then for fifty years, first under the Nazis and then under Communism, the spirit of the city was surpressed. Then after the fall of the Soviet Union the city was free to find it's own way. And so we have fibergalss mushrooms and pigs on diving boards. Long live Prague, long live freedom, long live art!
whaleman
I love it! It is likely provocative to some but I think it's beautifully executed, and clealy from a creative mind.
Meisiekind
Oh Chip - I had the best laugh now!!! A pig on a diving board... I might have just seen it all now!! Thank you for sharing this rather bizarre but fun piece of art and as always your narrative added to the viewing pleasure!
zulaan
This is excellent !!! :)
durleybeachbum
Great musings on a wonderful 'installation'. Before I opened the image my mind was wandering through a menu of more mundane food things...chicken livers in aspic, toad-in-the-hole, etc, What a delight!
helanker
HA! That is indeed a strange "sculpture" Yes, it must be a strange city. Great shot too. Chip, one of the things that make you such a good writer is the little funny details. Quote: "With the aftertaste of beer on my breath......" Chip, That creates pictures in the readers mind. Suddently the "I" becomes a person one can relate to. I think it is what makes one like this. Not that I know much about writing, but I can just say what I feel, when I read it.
njb2000
Fabulous shot its things like this that you can discover yourself walking on the street that make the place interesting Prague has done a great job on marketing itself with its architecture history and art!
jmb007
amusant!!
flavia49
Sublime Prague! fantastic picture!!
costapanos
LOL! what an amusing and wonderful narrative and capture.
lucindawind
ohhh what fun love it !
sandra46
AWESOME MASTERPIECE, GREAT WORK!!! i'm very sorry i didn't see it but i suppose it was a temporary installation! it's provocatively mind tangling, and i've already rocketed to the ionosphere...
Daz1971
Wow! Great photo and a great work of art. Thank you for sharing it with us. I think I will have to visit Prague.
auntietk
LOL! What a fabulous installation! I love the tension, the energy in the piece. I'm a bit worried about the lack of water under the pig, and I suppose he's worried about the same thing! Excellent capture ... the light is just right. And of course what you have to say about it is fascinating, and gives me more of a sense of why you miss Prague than almost anything else. Wonderful work!
KatesFriend
I know it is cliche for me to say it but, now there's something you don't see every day. I think about all the hand wringing about the prefab moose that litter the streets and alleyways of Toronto and then... this. Toronto has got nothing on Prague. It just doesn't compare. Not in history, not in imagination, not in humour. You think you've got a handle on things and then you turn some innocent corner and this happens. Hmmm, perhaps the artist was satirizing the infiltration of rabid commercialism in the Olympic games. It's shallow but it fits - snicker.
sharky_
Uhoh??? Don't do it! LOL... Interesting shot. Aloha
Bothellite
How amazing - the art monster that is Czech - unleashed with the coming of freedom. Pigs are smart. Obviously cautious and a human kids would probably jump without regard -- and the pig is contemplating. What an amazing brain drain Free Prague caused including those leaving from the U.S. (you included apparently). My only experience was on the German (Free) border watching while the Russian tank army invaded to put down that last freedom attempt in 1968, last attempt before freedom fell like heaven upon Prague.
tofi
I do agree with you, that it would be hard to miss such an image, especially live and right in front of your eyes! A most intriguing and curious depiction.... makes me wonder what was in the artists mind at the time of creation. A sensational capture, however, Chip! The lighting is marvellous! I was wondering, if whether or not you've ever read "A Brave New World", by Huxley? The image for some reason stirred the existentialist stream of thought in my mind when I looked at this image. Truly an act of human free will... society seen as unnatural and its traditional religious and secular rules are arbitrary... It doesn't always have to have a particular significance, but rather constructed meaning, which, and I may be wrong seems like what the creator of this lovely depiction did! You always have such a tremendous eye for the most inspiring and thought-provoking subjects and then you capture them, with such an exquisite mastery!