Massive human-like figures will descend on Aberdeen to peacefully observe residents when the city’s popular festival of light Spectra returns next week.
The giant visitors from afar – which will settle in Union Terrace Gardens, Aberdeen Art Gallery and Marischal College – will playfully encourage people to envision the future of their home planet.
The illuminated large-scale public installation was created by Australian artist Amanda Parer, of Parer Studio, who was inspired by the 1973 Czech/ French animated film Fantastic Planet.
“In that animation, humans – in the distant future – lived on a planet that was inhabited by giants,” said Amanda.
“And in a way, in my artwork, I turned that around and have the giants come and visit us on our planet in our time to observe us in a peaceful way.
“I wanted to offer viewers and visitors a sense of fantasy and maybe even humility to be faced with these giants, peeking and poking their way through Aberdeen city.”
But how did Amanda come across the experimental science fiction film?
“Growing up in Australia, late-night movies ran and at least once a year that particular animation was played,” said Amanda.
“I found myself mesmerised. It was a fascinating piece of art and it inspired me to make my own piece.”
Humanoids from Fantastic Planet to visit Aberdeen’s Spectra
The talented artist created six humanoid inflatables, the tallest of which is 12 metres high. But there’s a long process before an idea can become a large-scale installation.
“The idea formulating is always the fun part,” said Amanda.
“Then, you not only have to make it a reality in your chosen medium – in this case, inflatables – but you also have to make sure a lot of other boxes are ticked such as engineering, lighting and safety.”
She also had to write detailed instructions on how to assemble her creations.
Four humanoids from ‘Fantastic Planet’ are currently en route to Scotland for the first time – but Amanda won’t be travelling to the city to inflate them back to life.
“I have a production team in Spain who will be travelling to Scotland to oversee the installation and will then take the humanoids back to Spain when Spectra is finished,” explained Amanda whose work has been on display in more than 300 cities around the world.
“It’ll take the team about three or four days to set up the four figures that will be on display in Aberdeen.”
From large to huge
Amanda, who used to be a painter and sculptor before shifting her focus to public artwork, told the P&J that even when her pieces had to fit inside an art gallery, they were always on the larger side. So now, she relishes creating larger-than-life artworks.
“Even in that medium I tended to work large,” said the creative.
“So it was exciting for me to extend out of the gallery space into the public art realm because it essentially allowed me to go huge.
“I love playing with the scale because I can really play with people’s sense of fun and fantasy and change spaces that they’re used to. For instance, they may be catching a train and they see a giant rabbit or a humanoid creature appearing behind a building.”
See Aberdeen in different light thanks to Spectra’s Fantastic Planet
Amanda worked closely with arts company Curated Place, which organises Spectra, to pick the perfect locations for her humanoids.
“Organisers approach me with their ideas and I use a lot of Google Maps,” she explained.
“I’m sure it’s going to look amazing in Aberdeen. I think the Art Gallery and Union Terrace Gardens will be wonderful locations.
“It creates that curiosity for people to go hunting around and see their city in a different light.”
Aberdeen’s festival of light Spectra will be back from Thursday February 9 to Sunday February 12. Go to spectrafestival.co.uk for more information.
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