Giant Homeless Sculpture You Can’t Ignore Seeks Refuge In London
Every day, commuters pass by the unsheltered without giving them a glance. It’s uncomfortable to look, let alone spare a thought for them. But to quote the saying, the elephant in the room needs to be addressed, and the elephant in this instance arrives in the form of a massive sculpture as tall as the double-decker buses in London.
Alex is one homeless character that’s nearly impossible to miss. Towering over passersby by the busy King’s Cross station with a height of a little over 14 feet and weighing 5,511 pounds, Alex is an imposing figurehead for the escalating housing crisis. The figure’s face, in fact, was created via AI mapping to incorporate the profiles of 17 people facing homelessness.
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Representing a diverse group of individuals whose realities don’t include a roof over their heads, Alex is androgynous and ethnically ambiguous. The stirring sculpture was commissioned by national charity Crisis and created by artist and prosthetic expert Sophie de Oliveira Barata and artist Helen Lansdown, with assistance from communications agency adam&eveDDB, artist-led production agency Creative Giants, and design company Millimetre.
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It’s a threat that locals can no longer turn away from. In the face of rising inflation and housing prices, more than 300,000 households are now at risk of entering homelessness in 2023, Crisis estimates.
Above serving as a reminder, the sculpture aims to incite action too. Installed with it is a description of how many people may soon be affected by the homeless problem, as well as QR codes to direct the public to a donation page.
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The Crown royals Imelda Staunton and Jonathan Pryce, who are ambassadors to the nonprofit, unveiled the sculpture when it sprung up outside King’s Cross Station on December 5.
“Homelessness can’t be ignored any longer,” explains Crisis. “Homelessness can be overwhelming. It’s uncomfortable to confront. Sometimes the more we see homelessness, the more we want to look away. But ignoring homelessness won’t help us to end it.”
The charity adds: “We want people to understand and talk about it. To care about it. To act. Because only by engaging with the issue, can we make a change.”
Following King’s Cross station, Alex will be moved to Birmingham on December 8, where it will sit unsheltered until December 12.
[via Creative Review and The Art Newspaper, images via Crisis]
