The Inflatable Head of Columbus (2006) parodies a failed Christopher Columbus monument in Puerto Rico. The statue, designed by Russian artist Zurab Tsereteli, was rejected by several U.S. cities before arriving in Cataño, Puerto Rico, costing the towns millions of dollars in shipping alone. However, finances collapsed, the Mayor of Cataño (Edwin “el Amolao” Sierra) resigned for psychological reasons and the controversial project was never erected.
Today, Columbus lies fragmented in thousands of pieces of bronze, deteriorating in an outdoor lot next to the Bacardi Factory in Cataño… perhaps the only justice in the story.
The only recognizable feature of the statue had been the giant Head.
To commemorate the 500-year anniversary of the Death of Christopher Columbus (May 20, 2006), I installed an inflatable replica in the Plaza Colón (Columbus Plaza) of Old San Juan, Puerto Rico.
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