What a sight. Members of the anarchist collective INDECLINE commissioned and placed five naked statues of Donald Trump across the United States in protest of the Republican presidential nominee’s political views.
The statues, which have found homes in Seattle, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and New York City, are part of a project called “The Emperor Has No Balls” — a not-so-subtle nod to Hans Christian Andersen’s storybook tale, The Emperor’s New Clothes, about an overconfident leader with no wardrobe.
While the mogul’s likenesses are stripped of their clothing, the figures are also missing an integral part of the male anatomy. A spokesman for INDECLINE opened up to The Washington Post about the inspiration behind the Trump sculptures on Thursday, August 18.
“Like it or not, Trump is a larger-than-life figure in world culture at the moment,” the spokesman told the newspaper. “Looking back in history, that’s how those figures were memorialized and idolized in their time — with statues.”
A Las Vegas–based artist named Ginger crafted the statues of Trump. The sculptor, who specializes in life-size replicas of monsters, told the Post about his creative process when making the mold for the statues of the ex–Celebrity Apprentice host, 70.
“When the guys approached me, it was all because of my monster-making abilities,” he said, referring to INDECLINE’s request, which was sent to him back in April. “Trump is just yet another monster, so it was absolutely in my wheelhouse to be able to create these monstrosities.”
Asked about the hardest part of re-creating Trump’s characteristic look, Ginger revealed that the former reality star’s mouth was difficult to mimic. “He has a very distinct little mouth — the way his chin meets the jowl, it had to look right,” he said, adding that the politician often has a “constipated look.”
The Sin City resident also joked about the research required for such a task. “If somebody were to look at my browser history, it would be a little disturbing,” Ginger said. “Turns out there’s not too many Google results for ‘saggy old man butt.’”
Though Ginger once thought he might vote for Trump this coming November, he quickly decided that the real estate tycoon wasn’t fit to rule a country. “Starting on the project and looking at his face day in and day out when I’d come home, I began to build up some resentment,” he told the Post. “The straw that broke the camel’s back was when he made fun of the disabled reporter from The New York Times.”
“I have family members who are physically and mentally handicapped and who need different types of care,” Ginger added to the Post. “When I saw what he did, I was in such a rage.”
The statue placed in NYC’s Union Square was recently removed. “Parks and Rec just took the statue away,” an onlooker told Us Weekly on Thursday. “The crowd was booing and cheering. Bystanders definitely got video of the people picking it up and hauling it away.”
Watch the making of “The Emperor Has No Balls” above.
