IT WAS INFLATABLE- | "When Public Art Goes Wrong"

[00:00:00]Welcome back to I shall not put this cookie in my mouth.

[00:00:10]That was a good cookie.

[00:00:14]But I found a video for us to react to.

[00:00:18]Kind of old. You're old.

[00:00:27]Oh my god.

[00:00:33]But it's when public art goes wrong.

[00:00:38]We know the tree.

[00:00:42]Oh boy. We know that tree. That's a That's a tree art. What the fuck is a kiwi doing?

[00:00:56]Public art is a tricky thing to get right. Unlike art in a museum, which people deliberately pay to see, public art is often not deliberately paid for by the public and is usually constructed in hightra areas where you're going to see it every day on your way to work.

[00:01:12]So, if you're an artist being commissioned to make a public piece of art, you'd better get it right, or else the entire city is going to hate you, and random people on the internet with no artistic abilities at all [laughter] are going to make fun of your life's work. No, we don't.

[00:01:25]>> So, without further ado, here are 10 public art installations that went horribly wrong.

[00:01:32]Number 10, traveling light.

[00:01:36]Our journey begins in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, or just off an overpass. You can find this big blue thing right here.

[00:01:43]Designed by the >> I No, go back.

[00:01:48]>> You can find this. That's the type of shit you see in a Sonic the Hedgehog level.

[00:01:57]That's the type of shit he spins around on in a circle.

[00:02:04]What the do you mean that this is traveling light? Cuz it's got tra cuz it's got like fucking light headers up here.

[00:02:13]Is that it? That the whole thing? Wow.

[00:02:19]Innovative in innovative innovative innovative innoving >> big blue thing right here designed by the inje art collective travel >> that logo checks out with what the fuck I'm looking at right now.

[00:02:35]>> Light is a big blue steel ring with a traffic light stuck on top of it. It measures about 55 ft tall and across and boasts 2.3 stars on Google reviews.

[00:02:45]>> That's not a traffic light. That's a street light. this thing was first installed, the people of Calgary wrote reviews.

[00:02:51]>> Why is it Google reviews?

[00:02:54]You can Google review this Sonic speed ring.

[00:03:00]>> Yeah. When this thing was first installed, the people of Calgary were not super happy. Not only because the art here is abstract and odd, but mostly because the art here cost 471,000.

[00:03:14]$471,000 for a Sonic level speed ring.

[00:03:34]$471 for something that looks like a really really thin cock ring that you'd put on a giant's dick >> with decoration because street lights >> dollars and taxpayer money and public funding. Calgary's got a tricky history with public art mostly.

[00:04:03]The fuck am I looking at?

[00:04:09]What the hell are these supposed to be?

[00:04:11]Cresant moons >> because of how much money is sunk into it. In fact, they even have legislation that require >> What the hell is that in the back? There is any public construction project under $50 million to set aside 1% of its budget to public art, leading to a bit of a surplus of controversial sculptures popping up around the city. traveling.

[00:04:34]>> Why is this like a mustd do sort of thing in this city that 1% of it must go to this cock ring for a giant >> fight in particular was so controversial even the mayor called it awful as the art was approved right before he could enter office.

[00:05:02]It was approved before he could enter office. That poor guy. He's just like, "Shit, this is what's associative with me. A massive cock ring.

[00:05:13]Fuck me, man."

[00:05:15]>> Eventually, the people had had enough of this madness and the government of >> genuine question though. What the fuck is this supposed to be? I know it's like what is the title of this?

[00:05:26]Traveling light art pieces are usually supposed to do something if it's like a name like that.

[00:05:34]Like what the hell? What? What? What?

[00:05:36]>> Officials spoke up about the absurdness of the big blue ring. And in 2023, the city council hosted an emergency meeting where they approved the construction of a second traveling Please, please let that be a joke.

[00:05:59]>> To ring it. It's to be placed somewhere else in the city, but to my knowledge, it has yet to actually be funded. So, I mean, well, we'll just have to wait and see.

[00:06:07]>> Why would you agree to this? Even your own fucking mayor is like, "This is ugly as hell. Let's make another one, then.

[00:06:22]Why?

[00:06:23]>> And in the meantime, just thank goodness that most of us >> don't live in Calgary.

[00:06:28]>> Number nine, morning sun.

[00:06:32]We're traveling down south to the wealthy city of I don't like how he in the middle of a roundabout. You can find whatever this is supposed to be.

[00:06:41]>> Oh, wow. He Oh. Oh, he meant that literally. It's just a bunch of lines.

[00:06:47]I thought he was trying to indicate that it's Harry >> created by sculptor. No, it's just a bunch of lines.

[00:06:53]>> Sun is a abstract piece.

[00:06:58]>> It's just a bunch of lines.

[00:07:01]Thought it was going to be hairy.

[00:07:04]Oh no, he meant that literally.

[00:07:06]>> Made from steel and urethane resin, it measures 16 ft tall and features a red and white body topped with a interpretive spiky ball looking thing.

[00:07:14]When it was erected in the beginning of 2021, it was compared mostly to a COVID 19 virus, while others saw it as a big fat round hairy uh >> kiwi fruit, of course.

[00:07:28]>> Yeah, kiwi fruit.

[00:07:31]Nut sack. Oh my god. Who said that? Who said that? Oh my god. Anyway, >> which makes no sense because kiwis aren't even grown in Indiana. Actually, a kiwi is just what I see. Most people just call the statue Harry costing a modest $29,000.

[00:07:48]Morning sun is just one of >> $29,000 for an artist's kind of shitty interpretation of hairy balls.

[00:08:02]>> 17 sculptures that have been built in Caramel Roundabout.

[00:08:06]>> Okay, at least that looks pretty.

[00:08:09]The hairy nut sack does not. together costing over 5 million in >> I thought that was like some war thing and then I realized no that's just tennis isn't it the fucking baseball whatever it is that fucking thing >> taxpayer But despite the high price tags, >> that looks pretty.

[00:08:46]>> None of these sculptures really faced any backlash. Besides this one, not only was it expensive and not super appealing to most, but it was constructed right outside of a brand new luxury apartment complex in >> buying a luxury apartment.

[00:09:01]First thing you see when waking up is a hairy nut sack. In fact, a close friend of mine actually lived in one of these street view units at the time it was constructed, and it had a perfect view of the sculpture. Here you're seeing some of my own boots on the ground coverage.

[00:09:19]Facing scrutiny, it was debated whether the sculpture should stay or not. And in late 2022, at the cost of an additional $50,000, the sculpture was eventually moved to a different roundabout to They didn't even rec deconstruct it.

[00:09:38]They just moved it.

[00:09:39]>> Miles north where it sits closer to two roundabouts that also feature some of Brad How's sculptures.

[00:09:46]>> Number eight.

[00:09:46]>> At least weirdness.

[00:09:49]>> We are moving back to Alberta, Canada.

[00:09:51]This time to the city of Edmonton. And what better place to put a $600,000 public art piece than >> What the hell is that?

[00:10:03]I'm so shook of I yawned.

[00:10:07]It's only 4:30 p.m.

[00:10:11]$600,000 for something that looks like it'd come from an My Little Pony infection. AU.

[00:10:21]What the hell am I looking at?

[00:10:23]>> And the sight of a busy highway built by Vogga Studio in 2011.

[00:10:29]name actually checks out.

[00:10:31]>> Palace dome is a welded pile of nearly 1,000 stainless steel spheres. This sculpture has been mocked constantly throughout its 14year existence. It's of course scrutinized for its expensive construction cost, but also for the fact that no one seems to know what it's supposed to be. Some people think it's a stack of marbles, while others see a giant pile of rabbit droppings that have been spray painted as if everything in Edmonton needs to be chrome. In reality, Talis dome derives its name from Talis slopes, which are a geological formation. They are these piles of eroded rock that used to exist in the same look like an MLP infection. Here is surprising that this sculpture itself hasn't been eroded away by vandals because it has been vandalized on three separate occasions so far with varying degrees of damage. But probably the best, >> no, the bowl has been dented. The story surrounding the Talis Dome occurred in 2023 when a full-grown 26-year-old man tried to climb the Talis Dome, slipped in between the spheres, and became trapped inside.

[00:11:35]>> Some dude is stuck inside the talis walls. Look at this.

[00:11:42]>> How the fuck did you accomplish this?

[00:11:46]Why is there just a hole big enough for a grown ass man to be slipping and slathering inside?

[00:11:56]>> There's got to be a fate worse than death being stuck in the balls like that one scene from The Incredibles. But luckily, the fire department was called and the man was saved and promptly finds $5,000 in criminal negligence charges in addition to the cost to repair the sculpture from the damage caused by the rescue. And I have a feeling that that wasn't cheap either.

[00:12:18]Number seven, Tilted Ark.

[00:12:20]>> Tilted Towers.

[00:12:21]>> We're ping ponging back to the States.

[00:12:23]This time to New York City and the year of 1981 when this massive sculpture was >> I'm sorry. Anytime I hear Tilted, my brain just goes to Tilted Towers in the fucking fucking Sonic fan.

[00:12:43]>> [laughter] >> constructed right in the middle of the busy fully federal plaza created by artist.

[00:12:52]Is that just a fucking black wall positioned horribly in the middle of a plaza? What the fuck is the point?

[00:13:03]>> Richard Sarah Tilted Arc at first looks like a giant sheet of rustcoed steel and that's exactly what it is. This somewhat inconveniently placed sculpture measured 12 ft tall and 2 and 12 in thick.

[00:13:19]>> There's no point to it.

[00:13:23]>> And 120 ft long, which made it long enough to cause a lot of outrage among pedestrians. With a construction cost of $175,000, about $600,000 in the day's money, the tilted arc was seen as a expensive eyesore and a massive inconvenience to the large plaza. Locals claimed the sculpture made the plaza feel much more cold and closed off than it used to. It supposedly made the location feel less social and heavily impeded foot traffic as people had to make their long way around it to navigate across the plaza.

[00:13:53]>> Many discussions were had and trials were folks lobbying to have the sculpture removed. However, Richard, Sarah, along with many art lovers, all shamed those who wanted to take it down >> and art lovers.

[00:14:08]Who the fuck is loving this?

[00:14:11]What's the sentiment behind this bullshit?

[00:14:14]>> They particularly shamed the government, as it was the government who commissioned Sarah to build the ark in the first place. And the ark was promised to be a permanent display. And because it was so large and heavy, to remove it would mean destroying it. It was eventually ruled that because the art was funded by the government, it was thus owned by the government, and it was the government's decision to destroy it 8 years after its construction. Yes. To the joy of many, but to the dismay of many others, including Richard Sarah.

[00:14:43]And although Sarah just recently passed away in 2024, many of his works and sculptures still exist. many very similar to but much less controversial than his Tilted Ark.

[00:14:55]>> Tilted Ark in storage.

[00:14:57]>> Number six, The Embrace.

[00:15:00]>> We're staying on the East Coast, but moving to Boston, Massachusetts, where in this massive bronze sculpture was >> The fuck am I looking at?

[00:15:13]>> irected in the Boston Commons. The sculpture depicts the hugging arms of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his wife Curtis Scott.

[00:15:20]>> What?

[00:15:23]Where are the bodies?

[00:15:24]>> It is based off of this famous photo of Dr. King shortly after receiving the Nobel Peace Prize. The statue measures 25 ft wide and 20 ft tall and weird rights movement.

[00:15:37]>> So, what seems to be the problem here?

[00:15:40]The sculpture doesn't seem controversial and >> yeah, the the sentiment behind it is sweet.

[00:15:48]I just don't like the fact that it's just arms.

[00:15:52]>> Although it cost about $10 million to build, it was the fuck >> largely funded through a nonprofit organization, not through the government. Well, the thing is when you actually view the sculpture from the ground in the round, uh it's not really easy to tell what it is. In fact, because the sculpture features no fake Yeah, that's the thing. It's just arms.

[00:16:21]It's just arms and hands and I don't understand what the fuck I'm looking at.

[00:16:27]I went I had to be explained what it was.

[00:16:32]But also, can we acknowledge the fact that at certain angles it looks like he's holding a really massive big turdes [laughter] or obvious hints as to what it's supposed to represent. Many people who saw the sculpture for the first time saw a variety of different things from different angles.

[00:16:51]>> It just it just looks like the arms are holding each other, but the other arms are turning into poops. That's a lot of poops. That's a lot of big poops.

[00:17:04]>> It's not the missing heads that's the atrocity, although people glam on that.

[00:17:09]It's a stump that looks like a penis.

[00:17:12]>> Yes. From many angles, these You know what? I can see the penis.

[00:17:25]I was mainly seeing a massive turd, but >> looks rather phallic, especially from this one. The controversy behind the sculpture spread around the world with many harsh comments directed towards the city for approving such an interpretive abstractish piece of art. And the artist himself, Hank Willis Thomas, and quite a bit of scrutiny. But luckily, he didn't seem too bothered and put down by the harsh comments.

[00:17:48]>> When you put out in the world, you can't control what people see. You know, I think about the Roarshack test, the Inklot test. You know, >> nowadays the sculpture isn't too much of a problem as most people know what it's supposed to be by this point and most people can appreciate what it represents, but it is still common for some first time passerbys to get a little confused at what they're looking at.

[00:18:07]>> Yeah.

[00:18:09]>> Number five, don't blame them.

[00:18:10]>> Kaha Madrid obelisk.

[00:18:13]And we're finally escaping North America to Madrid, Spain, where in this big honking it we find a big honken bronze spike. Built in 2009 and designed by architect >> everything's a dildo if you're brave enough.

[00:18:28]>> Santiago Katraa, this structure was supposed to be a grand landmark of Madrid dedicated to the city's 300th anniversary. The tall spike is clad in 462 bronze strips that move and flow, giving the sculpture a very organic look. The controversy behind this piece actually doesn't come from its appearance. Wiggle wiggle wiggle wiggle conception. In the original plans, the spike was supposed to reach a height of 120 meters, but the land it sits on is undermined by three major metro lines.

[00:18:56]This meant the ground was much too hollow to support the massive weight of a 120 m bronze spike, so they had to shrink the project down to only 92 m.

[00:19:06]The project also was not very cheap, costing an estimated 14 million to build. more than what was anticipated even before the project was shrunk.

[00:19:15]Luckily to the taxpayers of Madrid, the obelisk was a donation to the city by a large bank firm.

[00:19:22]Unluckily for the taxpayers, once the construction cost was initially increased, the bank requested the city to donate a large lump sum of cash to help support the construction of the city's own gift. Luckily for the taxpayers of the city, the city was able to refuse this request and the bank was able to cough up enough money to finish their own project.

[00:19:45]>> Unluckily for the city, once it was finished and the sculpture was powered on, the cost to maintain the heavy hydraulic system that moved all the bronze ribbons went on to exceed €6,000 >> per day. This one was all coming from taxpayer dollars. And after [snorts] only one month of operation, the hydraulics were turned off and the sculpture has remained still ever since.

[00:20:07]Contrary to the obelisk's initial gold to even match the significance of the likes of Paris's Eiffel Tower, the Kaja Madrid obelisk now just kind of stands as a landmark for horrible city planning.

[00:20:23]>> Number four, the orbit. This one's a little less easy to draw.

[00:20:29]We're taking a short flight. That's a funky lighthouse >> where it's pretty hard to miss this massive twisted steel sculpture.

[00:20:36]>> I'm glad I've never been to London now.

[00:20:38]What the fucking >> costing a whopping 24 million ugly lighthouse.

[00:20:44]>> This project was built and luckily largely privately funded by the Arcel Steel Manufacturer. The orbit was originally constructed for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games and was to serve as a permanent monument to the event. The sculpture measures 115 m tall and is comprised largely of red tubular steel that twists and winds all around a central trunk. Unlike most art, the sculpture is not just for show, as in the central trunk is an elevator that takes visitors up to a large observation deck. You can also get your steps in by taking the >> Okay, at least it's got a cool function where you can see around this you can see around the city.

[00:21:25]At least it's got a cool function, but it looks like a weird lighthouse.

[00:21:30]>> Massive spiral staircase that winds around the central trunk. The orbit was designed by artist Anapor, who's most famous for his cloudgate sculpture in Chicago.

[00:21:39]>> Is known for making very abstract art.

[00:21:41]And because the orbit was no exception when it was finally unveiled to the world, most people were a bit confused as to what it was supposed to be.

[00:21:49]>> Yeah, it just be like a torch or something. I don't even know what it looks weird. Some people saw a giant mutilated roller coaster, while others thought it looked like an abstract Olympic torch, but most people just had no idea what they were looking at. Some locals even thought the structure was still under construction when it was revealed because they thought it just looked like a bunch of scaffolding.

[00:22:09]Since the Olympics are a fairly large and globally televised event, spitballs came flying from critics across the globe with people pretty disappointed at what they were left to look at. But it was >> No, I don't blame them for thinking it it was still under construction.

[00:22:24]Fucking look at it. And locals who are most concerned since, as mentioned, this was meant to be a permanent installation to the city. Moreover, if you wanted to go inside the sculpture up to the observation deck, it cost a whopping 15 to do so. And that's in 2012. Even himself was pretty upset to learn how much was being charged >> for the three weeks of the Olympics. The price I think is ridiculously high.

[00:22:49]>> After the Olympics, the orbit stood normal for four years until in 2016, the city decided they wanted to add some fun to the sculpture and commissioned another artist to design a massive 178 m slide to the tower. Okay, now we're talking.

[00:23:10]>> That just sounds like a lawsuit waiting to happen. This helped the orbit kind of ascend from the level of a abstract sculpture to a genuine tourist attraction. The slide was met with positive feedback and today the prices to visit are even lower than they once were when the tower first opened. Now at just £7 to go open to the observation deck and £14 to also go down the slide and a5 booking fee for every order.

[00:23:37]>> Oh my god.

[00:23:37]>> Number three, the vessel.

[00:23:41]And that's enough of Europe because we're heading back to New York City.

[00:23:44]>> Oh my god, you just can't escape it.

[00:23:46]>> In Manhattan, this massive sculpture was constructed and opened in 2019.

[00:23:50]>> What the fuck?

[00:23:51]>> The vessel was designed by designer Thomas Heatherwick. And like >> it looks like a rib cage.

[00:23:57]Like a really funky cyberpunk rib cage.

[00:24:04]And if that was where he was trying to go with it, I think he did well. It looks like a cyberpunk rip cage, but I highly doubt it with that.

[00:24:16]>> Anish Kapor's orbit. The vessel is an interactive sculpture. It is made out of carbon steel, which probably makes it one of the heaviest sculptures on the list. It's also pretty tall, measuring at 150 ft in height, and is comprised of 154 flights of stairs with a lot of stairs.

[00:24:34]Oh my god.

[00:24:38]Holy moly.

[00:24:41]Also, that thing on the side, is that like a really weird elevator? [laughter] >> The landings that kind of act as small observation decks. Fortunately, the vessel was privately funded by a large real estate developer because the final construction cost was estimated to be between 150 to $200 million, which makes it the most costly piece of art on our list. So then what makes the vessel so problematic and why is privately funded in quotation marks? Well, when it was first constructure sits claimed all ownership of any photos taken of the sculpture.

[00:25:18]>> What all photos you take of the sculpture, no matter the context, it's all owned by us. shouldn't say anything about it.

[00:25:34]Go cry, suck on your thumb, maybe a nipple.

[00:25:42]>> This did not go over very well with the public. Mainly because this claim is ridiculous and almost impossible to enforce, but also because at the time the vessel was constructed, nearly $4.5 billion in taxpayer money had been sunken into the Hudson Yards area. And who is one of the main real estate developers in Hudson Yards? The same developer that paid for the construction of the vessel.

[00:26:05]So, this was not a very good look for the developer or the Hudson Yards as a location. And they promptly retracted their strict photo policy.

[00:26:12]>> It looks so weird in that picture. It just looks like a really weird rib cage.

[00:26:17]>> Aside from this hubbhub, the actual appearance of the piece was also a little controversial. Some criticize the piece for being a useless staircase to nowhere, and many think it just looks like a giant schwarma.

[00:26:29]>> The vessel has also been as not being very wheelchair.

[00:26:33]In fact, most staircases aren't according to my research, although it does feature a single glass elevator that can take guests up to the top observation deck. It's a pretty slow and low capacity ride for an area as busy as New York City. And if you want to go to the top level of the structure today, you can't because it is closed off to the public.

[00:26:52]Why? Well, >> I was going to say, did someone die?

[00:26:57]This motherfucker just scrolled down.

[00:27:00]Suicides.

[00:27:02]Suicides plural.

[00:27:05]>> That's why with interest.

[00:27:09]>> Oh my lord. People. Oh my goodness. Oh my god. The one, two, three.

[00:27:25]free free deaths until they went, "You know what?

[00:27:32]We're going to like close the top."

[00:27:36]Also, I would like to note that residents of the surrounding neighborhoods hired a suicide prevention expert who suggested adding netting or raising the glass barriers.

[00:27:45]However, no changes were ultimately made to the barriers.

[00:27:52]So, so, so instead of, you know, doing doing good and and and hopefully making the suicide issues go down on it.

[00:28:14]You just went, "No, I'mma fully close it.

[00:28:21]No one's allowed up there anymore."

[00:28:23]>> 18 months of opening. Three people have taken their own lives by leaping over the glass barriers surrounding the >> It all three of those happened in the span of 18 months.

[00:28:35]A little over a year. Holy shit.

[00:28:38]>> Staircase of the vessel. This forced the closure of the structure until a solution to the problem was found and put in place in the form of a net that surrounds all accessible areas. The top level remained closed as netting could not be put around the whole area. This netting proved not to be a very effective solution as when the vessel was reopened, a 14-year-old boy managed to bypass the safety nets and another life was lost. After this, the vessel remained closed for over three years until it was finally reopened in October of 2024 with much taller steel mesh nets now in place to make further incidents hopefully impossible.

[00:29:15]I don't know why my videos always take a dark turn around the number three mark, but we're done with number three, so let's move on.

[00:29:21]>> Anyway, >> number two, the portal.

[00:29:26]Now, this two part >> Oh no, I know this one.

[00:29:31]Oh no.

[00:29:33]Oh no. I know this one. Oh no.

[00:29:39]Lot of topless lot of topless women happened in this one. I remember very vividly there was the talk of topless women.

[00:29:52]Uh get ready >> with point A conveniently in New York City and point B across the globe in Dublin, Ireland. Created by Arnes Benedictis Giz, the portal is basically a giant public webcam that displays live feeds between two city streets and allows people to interact with each other from across the world. One side of the portal was placed on a busy pedestrian street in Manhattan and the other in a comparative spot in central Dublin. The New York to Dublin portal was actually a successor to an already existing portal that the artist had already built connecting the cities of Villinius, Lithuania and Lublin, Poland.

[00:30:24]So, if the first portal worked so well, then what could go wrong with a portal between New York City and Dublin?

[00:30:33]>> Everything. Because it's New York City and Dublin.

[00:30:36]>> Now, passerbys in both countries actually loved their new art installation and begun sharing their love for each other through the portal.

[00:30:43]But, of course, before very much time, there were a few whippers snappers that stepped in and just had to ruin the fun for everyone. Both sides of the portal had people exposing themselves to the poor unsuspecting souls across the world. You had everything from an Only Fans model exposing herself. Two Dubliners flashing photos of 9/11 to New York. You know, just the expected stuff.

[00:31:04]And as a result of all this, the portal did not even make it one week until it had to be shut down. It was turned off for just 6 days. And in that time, a fence barrier was installed around the portals and new technology was implemented that would cause the camera feed to blur if someone got too close.

[00:31:20]This prevented more people from showing offensive photos from their phones. The portal still actually exists today, but not as such. The Dublin installation still exists, but the New York side was moved to Philadelphia just 3 months after it was turned back on.

[00:31:34]>> It's fucking New York.

[00:31:36]>> The portals still operate and have even had another installation pop up in Pawi, Brazil. this.

[00:31:41]>> It's like, oh yeah, the portals only worked because it wasn't American. It wasn't American.

[00:31:54]It wasn't American they were interacting with. It was anyone but American, it appeared.

[00:32:02]Lord have mercy. Where did my pen go?

[00:32:05]Oh no. Five portals in total that still stand strong despite their occasional and unfortunate abuse.

[00:32:13]>> Mhm.

[00:32:14]>> Number one, >> the tree.

[00:32:18]>> Our >> the butt plug.

[00:32:21]The butt plug tree.

[00:32:24]The tree plug. [laughter] >> Artistic journey comes to an end in Paris, France.

[00:32:30]>> Plug 14. For a brief time, if you were lucky, you could have been walking around the streets of Paris and could have seen this. It is a giant 24 meter tall inflatable structure that is supposed to look like a giant Christmas tree.

[00:32:45]>> It does not.

[00:32:49]I don't know what the hell they were smoking to think that this looks like a Christmas tree, but that's just a plug.

[00:32:59]That's a lovely little plug. And boy does it look like a Christmas tree and absolutely nothing else. Just giving that tree at Rockefeller Center a run for its money. But apparently most of the public did see something else other than a Christmas tree. I can't imagine what. And >> love how he's emphasizing Christmas tree. [laughter] Art bites. Paul McCarthy's humiliating Christmas tree. Paris asked the artist for a Christmas [laughter] tree. He gave them a giant butt plug instead.

[00:33:34]>> Criticism [laughter] came flying right away. In fact, the backlash for this piece was so swift that as it was being installed and publicly inflated for the first time, >> it was an [screaming] inflation.

[00:33:47]I didn't even know this.

[00:33:53]It's an inflatable pup. Look. Oh, people would pay money for a device like that.

[00:34:02]>> The treere's artist, Paul McCarthy, was brutally attacked and beaten by a passer by. Paul McCarthy was already known for creating controversial pieces in the Christmas spirit. Most notably, this one.

[00:34:20]There's got to be a point.

[00:34:24]There's got to be a point where you realize if you try and do anything [screaming] Christmy, everything you make just turns out to be a very obvious innuendo.

[00:34:40]There's got to be a point at some point. There's got to be a point, man, because that's a triple dildo stacked upon one another.

[00:34:53]That's That's That's a dildo with ridges.

[00:34:58]That's a dildo with bumps. That's a dildo with curves.

[00:35:04]>> Or just a really thick anal bead trio.

[00:35:07]>> Just keep using your imagination as to why this one is controversial as well.

[00:35:11]Once the installation was complete, >> there's got to be a point you realize this wildfire. And many were pretty furious that this now stood as a massive unavoidable landmark. Sorry.

[00:35:22]>> It only took about a week until a group of vandals.

[00:35:25]>> Some reports indicate vandalism just 2 days after construction. I would not be surprised. What did they do? Poke the Did they poke the base of it? They're like, "Oh yeah, let's get rid of the inflation real quick."

[00:35:37]>> Cold enough to take action and destroy the entire massive sculpture by hand, which just consisted of cutting power to the blowers that kept the thing inflated. The tree could have been easily reinflated so as to actually make it to Christmas. But Paul McCarthy himself actually decided against it and it was permanently removed from the streets of Paris.

[00:35:56]>> Even he realized, "Damn, it dude be looking like a butt plug."

[00:36:00]>> So, in the end, most of the city and the world hated the sculpture. Not everyone.

[00:36:04]Some people wanted it to stay, but most people hated it and it was quickly removed.

[00:36:08]>> Like I said, anything's a dildo if you're brave enough.

[00:36:10]>> So, did anything good come of the tree?

[00:36:13]Well, a couple local specialty shops did.

[00:36:17][laughter] Of [laughter] course, the sex the sex shops would be like, "We we got to get our money out of this, bro."

[00:36:32]>> See a massive increase in sales.

[00:36:35]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:36:36]>> Of one particular item. Uh, what were they called?

[00:36:39]>> The butt plug.

[00:36:41]>> Oh, yeah. Butt plug. So, there's my What were they called?

[00:36:48]Oh yeah, butt plug.

[00:36:51]>> Wow, he took that literal.

[00:36:53]That's a plug with a butt on it.

[00:36:55]>> So, there's my list here. Um, if I sound a little different, it's because I've contracted the flu whilst editing this video. Um, but that's besides the point.

[00:37:03]There are hundreds and possibly thousands of other controversial art pieces.

[00:37:08]>> I have questions mainly about that second one because what the hell am I looking at? out there in the world.

[00:37:18]>> I'm sorry. What the fuck was that?

[00:37:29]That is a That is a turd rock.

[00:37:33]That is a turd rock.

[00:37:38]I am currently just looking at a curved turd rock.

[00:37:44]What the fuck?