The Trouble With Barry
April 8, 2011
Even statues of little boys get into trouble
I can’t see what all the fuss was about. I was expecting to see some kind of weird interpretation of Obama as a child, but to my eye this statue was actually cute. Who wouldn’t love a sculpture of a little boy appreciating a butterfly while sporting a giant Nobel Peace prize around his neck? So much happy symbolism packed into 110cm. After All, did you see Liu Bolin’s “Burning Man Obama” sculpture in Beijing? Or how about Huang Xin’s tribute–a sculpture of Obama made of human hair…
Looking at the sculpture in person (from the periphery of the primary school where it now resides), I couldn’t see how this benign bronze depiction of a ten-year old Obama could draw such disdain. I will say that the name of the sculpture, “Barry Dream Statue”, is almost reason enough to banish it to a less trafficked area, but still the vitriol this thing received based on its aesthetics was harsh.
Hopefully, now that Little Barry is surrounded by his peers, and not by us jaded grown ups, he can finally relay the kind of inspirational message he was intended for.
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wanderlust and wonder 