When Pink Floyd shot the cover for their 1977 album Animals, the elaborate idea was to float a forty-foot helium pig over the Battersea Power Station, take a few shots of the spectacle and be done with it. The shoot turned out to be an amazing publicity stunt when the pig broke free, and caused chaos over London, causing flights from Heathrow to be cancelled as it sailed majestically through the flight-path and eventually onto a farm in Kent.
Perhaps inspired by all this cityscape chaos, architect and subversive pop artist Jeffrey Roberts is launching ‘Flying Pigs On Parade’ where he moors four hovering pigs inspired by Pink Floyd’s design over Trump’s name on the Chicago Trump Tower. The idea is to block the President’s looming presence over the city, and probably to go viral through articles like this.
“In 1977 Pink Floyd rendered their musical interpretation of the allegory into the concept album Animals in response to social-political conditions in late-70’s Britain,” Roberts writes. “Like Orwell’s book, the interpretive messages of Animals have unfortunately become highly relevant again.
“The art folly has been created to provide visual relief to the citizens of Chicago by interrupting the view of the ostentatious Trump Tower Chicago sign. The design follows rigorous rationale in providing layers of meaning but ultimately allows for interpretation by individual viewers.
“Ultimately, this is a very rational design and is in direct contrast to the chaotic nature and bizarre antics of our current leadership.”
Roger Waters owns the rights to the pig image, and happily signed off on the project – not too surprising, considering his recently released musical protests.
