Latest news with #TheBlissProject
News18
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News18
San Francisco's 45-Foot Statue Of A Naked Woman Triggers Social Media Storm
Last Updated: The statue was installed last month with hopes it will attract more visitors and help boost economic activity in the city. San Francisco's Embarcadero Plaza is home to a new, eye-catching figure – a 45-foot tall statue of a naked woman. Named R-Evolution, this steel sculpture weighs 15,000 kg and shines with multicoloured lights. Created by artist Marco Cochrane, it is the final piece in his 'The Bliss Project' series, which debuted at the Burning Man festival in 2015. The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, together with The Sijbrandij Foundation and Building 180, installed the statue last month hoping it will attract more visitors and help boost economic activity in the city. Social media platforms have been buzzing with opinions. A user wrote on X, formerly Twitter, 'San Francisco unveiled their 45-foot statue of a nude woman Thursday at Embarcadero Plaza to attract tourism. The piece is titled 'R-Evolution.' SF continues to be plagued by crime, homeless and illegals. The city would have many more tourists if these issues were addressed." San Francisco unveiled their 45-foot statue of a nude woman Thursday at Embarcadero Plaza to attract tourism. The piece is titled 'R-Evolution."SF continues to be plagued by crime, homeless, and illegals. The city would have many more tourists if these issues were addressed. — Paul A. Szypula 🇺🇸 (@Bubblebathgirl) April 13, 2025 Another wrote, 'Public art is a waste of money." Public art is a waste of money.— Jakob Mi (@Jakob_Mi_) April 13, 2025 'This is not the way to attract more tourists," a comment read. Someone said, 'This is weird." 'And the point of that statue is what??" a user asked. The Recreation and Park Department defends the installation as gender representation in public art. According to their press release, 'Despite making up more than half the population, women are vastly underrepresented in public art, comprising only 8% of statues in the US. This sculpture challenges that imbalance, creating a powerful moment of visibility and reflection." R-Evolution is an impressive piece of art. Made with more than 55,000 steel welds, the statue moves slightly for one hour each day to look like it is breathing. At night, it lights up softly with colourful lights, turning Embarcadero Plaza into a beautiful spot to visit after dark. The artist Marco Cochrane explains his vision behind the sculpture: 'This sculpture is about being seen. Women's presence in public art is rare. When they are depicted, it is often through outdated or passive narratives. R-Evolution challenges that. She stands strong, aware and grounded, calling for a world where all people can walk freely and without fear." Cochrane's work focuses on empowering female figures in a way that breaks away from traditional portrayals. 'The Bliss Project' series, ending with R-Evolution, shows women not as passive objects but as powerful, self-aware beings. First Published:
Hindustan Times
29-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hindustan Times
45-foot statue of naked woman in San Francisco divides opinion: ‘Nobody asked for it'
The San Francisco Recreation and Park Department hopes that a giant statue of a naked woman – erected in Embarcadero Plaza – will boost footfall and enhance economic activity in the city. But not everyone's happy about it. According to a report in The Sun, several locals have taken to social media to register their protest against the 45-foot statue of a naked woman that went up last month in San Francisco, California. The sculpture, named R-Evolution, is made of steel, illuminated with multicoloured lights, and weighs a whopping 15,000 kg. It is the third and final sculpture in Marco Cochrane's series, The Bliss Project, originally created for and debuted at the Burning Man festival in 2015. The 45-foot statue has been displayed in San Francisco through a collaboration between the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department, The Sijbrandij Foundation and Building 180. According to a press release from the department, 'despite making up more than half the population, women are vastly underrepresented in public art, comprising only 8% of statues in the US. This sculpture challenges that imbalance, creating a powerful moment of visibility and reflection.' "This sculpture is about being seen," says artist Marco Cochrane. "Women's presence in public art is rare. When they are depicted, it is often through outdated or passive narratives. 'R-Evolution challenges that. She stands strong, aware, and grounded—calling for a world where all people can walk freely and without fear." The 45-foot sculpture greeting ferry visitors in San Francisco has divided opinion. Some locals say they were blindsided when the statue first appeared, others have called it obscene. 'Somebody put up a 45' naked lady statue in San Francisco, nobody asked for it. Now you have to walk between her legs to get from the Ferry building to the Embarcadero,' wrote one X user. 'They seem like they are focused on absolutely everything except the things that matter,' another said. 'A giant, naked woman blocking the proud, iconic Ferry Building is a perfect metaphor for San Francisco these days,' said Republican John Dennis.
Time Out
02-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Time Out
This massive sculpture brings eerie beauty to the foot of Market Street
If you haven't noticed the massive woman in front of the Ferry Building on Market Street in San Francisco, take time to make the trek. We recommend going at night when her eerie lighting cycles through blue and purple. This incredible artwork— R-Evolution, a representation of a woman standing 48 feet tall—makes anyone passing by have to acknowledge her power and vitality as she stands poised, arms open and ready to spring (or maybe that's just how we see it!). R-Evolution was first seen on the Black Rock Desert of Nevada at Burning Man 2015, and a foiled plan would have originally had her comparing heights with the Dewey Monument in Union Square. (That 85-foot statue in front of Macy's is Winged Victory atop her column, reportedly modeled after Alma Spreckels, who gave us the Legion of Honor museum. But we digress!) However, fears that the statue's weight would bring her down into the parking garage below Union Square prompted her venue change to the Embarcadero. Here's a rendering of how she would have looked at Union Square. R-Evolution is part of a triad of sculptures called The Bliss Project by Marco Cochrane and depicts 'a woman, Deja Solis, expressing her humanity,' according to the press release. R-Evolution began as a hand-sculpted three-quarters life-sized clay figure. Using a medieval-era enlargement tool called a pantograph, Cochrane transformed that into a 15-foot clay version, and then again used the pantograph to triple the sculpture to her final metal form. The finished sculpture is composed of steel rod and tubing, with two layers of geodesic triangles (which required 55,000 individual welds) covered by a stainless-steel mesh. Because of the statue's construction, she is partially transparent, which creates the sense that she is both majestically strong and grounded to the earth, but also ethereal. Cochrane, who began sculpting in his 20s, was born to American artists in Venice, Italy, in 1962 and raised in Northern California during that era of change. 'As a result, Marco learned respect for oneness, balance and the imperative to make the world a better place,' reports the press release. 'In particular, he identified with the female struggle with oppression and saw feminine energy and power as critical to the world's balance.'
