This morning, a nude state of Donald Trump was unveiled in Union Square. Trump’s campaign has drawn a lot of controversy since it began, particulrly in these last few months. Yet nothing he said has proved to truly shake up his seemingly “invulnerable” campaign. Members of the anarchist collective INDECLINE, who are responsible for the statues, chose to depict this bombastic, overly confident, aspiring president in the most vulnerable and mortal way possible: naked.
The life-size statue in New York’s Union Square is not the only one. Members of INDECLINE put ones in public spaces in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland, and Seattle in a project titled “The Emperor Has No Balls.” According to an INDECLINE spokesman, the project, which has been in the works for the past four months, was inspired by Hans Christian Anderson’s story “The Emperor’s New Clothes.“
The statues are reminiscent of large monuments erected by authoritarians in their likeness and speaks to some of the scary aspects surrounding the Trump camp. Although clearly, INDECLINE is not idolizing Trump. The statue does not have any of the classic chiseled looks usually associated with such works. Instead, the plump, fleshy, and vein covered statue exposes Trump in an unsettling way and in the most embarrassing way: with no balls. Some other details include a Masonic ring on his right hand, a “constipated look” in the face, and subliminal jokes carved into the statue’s skin.
The conception and creation of the statues were done by Las Vegas-based artist “Ginger.” He explained to the Washington Post that INDECLINE approached him for his “monster-making abilities.” “Trump is just yet another monster, so it was absolutely in my wheelhouse to be able to create these monstrosities.”
This is not the collective’s first effort to highlight their contempt with the candidate. A few months ago, the group covered the names on the Hollywood Walk of Fame with the names of African Americans who have been killed by police. They’ve also claimed responsibility for the massive graffiti piece in the Mojave Desert and the anti-Trump “Rape” mural on the US-Mexican border.
The only question remaining is how long will these statues last. An INDECLINE spokesperson said he “doesn’t expect these things to last more than 30 or 45 minutes. But I would love to watch some irate 65-year-old Trump supporter to take the thing down with his bare hands.” He also thinks the San Francisco statue will stay intact the longest. As for what the city has to say, “NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks,” said Parks Department representative Sam Biederman in an official statement, “no matter how small.” It has already been removed from Union Square.
