Unsettling ‘Drowning Girl’ Statue Draws Murky Sentiment In Spain
Video screenshot via BBK
A beat skipped in the hearts of passersby at the River Nervión in Bilbao, Spain, last week as the face of a young girl emerged from its waters.
This wasn’t a drowning incident, but at the rate of the climate deteriorating, give it a number of years and it could very well be.
The discomfiting lifelike figure was created by Mexican hyperrealist sculptor Rubén Orozco for a campaign about sustainability by charity BBK Foundation, under Spanish bank Kutxabank.
Entitled Bihar (Tomorrow), the 264-pound fiberglass sculpture stirs feelings of anxiety as tides rise, creating the impression of the girl “drowning” as a direct effect of climate change.
Video screenshot via BBK
According to BBK, her face bears “the expression of an entire generation to come” as they await the sort of decisions their predecessors make “if we continue to bet on unsustainable models.”
It’s up to this generation to save her. “[People’s] actions can sink us or keep us afloat,” Orozco told Spanish news outlet Nius.
Onlookers were predictably unsettled by the vision. “At first it gave me a feeling of stress, when more of the face was out of the water, but now, to me, she communicates sadness, a lot of sadness,” one person described, according to Reuters. They added that the girl seemed indifferent about succumbing to the waters, “as if she is letting herself drown.”
[via Reuters, images via various sources]
Also check out these recent news
