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KAWS Floats a Massive Inflatable Sculpture in Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour

Photo Credit: @AllRightsReserved

COMPANION, a 121-foot-long inflatable sculpture by street artist KAWS, launched today at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. The reclined, monochrome figure is the largest to date for the American artist, with recent previous iterations of the project installed at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, and on Seokchon Lake in Seoul, South Korea. The figure was purposefully designed to be in a peaceful repose, its crossed-out eyes gazing at the sky above.

“I was thinking of all the tension in the world, and I wanted to create work that would make people think about relaxing,” KAWS recently told TIME. “And there’s nothing more relaxing than lying on your back in water and looking up at the sky.”

To get the monumental work far enough into the water, tugboats pulled the sculpture from Wanchai to the waterfront off Tamar Park until it reached the Central Harbourfront. The event was celebrated with a water spray performance by the Hong Kong Fireboat 1 Elite. The work was launched by Hong Kong-based creative studio AllRightsReserved for the annual Hong Kong Arts Month, and will continue to occupy the harbor until March 31, 2019. (via Artsy)

Photo Credit: @harimaolee

Photo Credit: @NK7

Photo Credit: @cheukyh

Photo Credit: @AllRightsReserved

Photo Credit: @AllRightsReserved

Taipei installation, image via #AllRightsReserved

Taipei installation, image via #AllRightsReserved