You may have noticed we’re in the midst of a plague. The city’s being overrun (although ‘run’ is probably a bit ambitious!) by gigantic neon snails. But before you reach for an industrial-sized bag of snail bait – the enormous molluscs are an art installation, here for Art & About Sydney 2013.
The brightly coloured beasts are a creation of international artistic collective Cracking Art Group. The group comprises of six artists from Italy, Belgium and France, notorious for scattering huge plastic animals in surprising places across cities around the world – in a cry for ecological awareness. Among other creatures, they placed crocodiles in Miami (for ArtBasel) turtles in Venice (for the Venice Biennale), penguins in Prague and rabbits in Paris, to name just a few.
The group’s name (cracking) is a subtle nod to the process which breaks the hydrocarbons of crude oil into what eventually become plastic. With Snailovation, the artists challenge us take in our surroundings in a different way, as well as inspiring us to seriously consider the role of recycling and its environmental impact.
The snails are made of special recycled plastic and despite weighing more than 100kgs each, will be broken down and recycled when the festival ends.
You’ll spot the sluggish installation at Hyde Park, Martin Place, Customs House Square and Sydney Park until 20 October.
Follow the trail armed with our downloadable map and read more about Snailovation on our Art and About Sydney website.
