During the 16th International Architecture Exhibition, in the collateral section “Time Space Existence”, La Biennale di Venezia will host “King Kong Rhino“, a sculpture by the Chinese artist Li-Jen Shih.
The animal will be located until the 25th November at the Giardini della Marinaressa: it’s a majestic rhinoceros made of stainless steel, 8 metres high and 4 metres wide. Every single detail contains a specific meaning: from the tail, moulded as a ritual Tibetan dagger, to the ears, whose shape reminds the statues in the Sanxingdui archaeological site in China. Engraving a fingerprint on the horn, Li-Jen Shih wants to emphasize what can be the bond between the animal world and the human being, but also the destructive action of the human towards the Earth. Following this perspective the material used to build the sculpture, that reflects the day-by-day changing of the sky and the sea in Venice, suggests the idea of the climate change and the rhino’s weakness, in danger of extinction.
The modernity of King Kong Rhino approaches to the artistic history of Venice, intriguing both tourists and city inhabitants.
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Pic by VisualHunt
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