Weird and Offbeat Sites – Cat on a Bike Sculpture in Brussels
Walking out of Brussels famous Galeries Royales St Hubert, you’ll be greeted with a pretty unusual site. It’s so weird and wonderful, that you’ll it tough not to say “WTF?” out loud more than once.
Weird and Offbeat Sites – Cat on a Bike Sculpture in Brussels
Yes, what you see is real. Very real. It’s a cat, in tight spandex shorts complete with a clingy hot pink tank top, on a bike.
Created by Alain Séchas, this sculpture entitled “La Cycliste” cost the city of Brussels about 100,000 € back in 2005.
What do you think? Do you think this piece of art was worth the investment? Does it make you say “WTF” out loud more than once?
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@James – Yeah, it’s kinda lame but funny nonetheless! And yes, good point – better to spend 100,000 euros on something like this than war, olympics etc.
How can a CAT on a BIKE look so lame?
Of course it’s not worth 100,000 EUR but taxpayer’s money is wasted on worse than this: wars, bank ballouts, Olympics etc.
Let me know if you want to have a depressing conversation about politics some time!
Each big Australian city just got a bunch of these kinds of weird (read: ugly) works of art, each worth a million dollars. I think it’s disgusting, especially when infrastructure (like internet) is lacking.
@Andrea – Ha ha! I guess people the world over have a bizarre sense of humor. For sure it’s a shame to spend so much on such frivolous things when more important infrastructure is needed, especially Internet! 🙂
That is insane about the cost. How did you find that out?
I like the city things where a common statue shape is picked and businesses sponsor artists to decorate theirs. I have seen Cows in New York City, wolves near my hometown in NC and Rhinos in Dortmund at one point.
@Andrew – Came up when I did some Internet research! I like themes like that too … Toronto did a campaign with moose one year which was quite cute.
The only thing more wrong than a cat with boobs are anatomy correct dolls. In fact it looks a little disturbing.
@Federico – Yes, it is pretty disturbing when you think about it that way! 🙂
I thought that thing was pretty weird too, but I never would’ve guessed how expensive it was! It was in such a random place on the sidewalk too. Definitely better ways of spending money.
@Ali – It is definitely weird but pretty funny!
Does it really matter? A lot of locals and visitors love it. I normally head for La Mort Subite in the background which is one of many renowned watering places. What did you think of the Brusselicious Art in parc de Bruxelles?
@John – I think it does matter and that money should be spent on more important things. It’s weird, hilarious and all but I don’t think it’s worth the spend at all.
I didn’t see the art park but would love to on my next visit! 🙂
Imaginative I suppose but not worth the money.
I agree! Definitely a WTF cat 😛
Very creative and attention getting, but I agree with Nathalie, definitely not worth the money.
@Nathalie – Agree 100%.
@Samuel – Ha! WTF cat will rival OMG cat. 🙂
@Laurel – Yeah, I just keep thinking all of the things that could have been done with that 100,000 euros … you know like feed the hungry.
@Cheryl Saying that the money could be spent on more important things holds true for most things. It brings a smile many other faces who stumble across it. How much is that worth? But this is an ancient debate that began with the very first piece of public art being erected. Art means something different to each individual. I’m sure there were many detractors who said that the money would have been better spent on giving them a tax cut.
The Brusselicious Art is in a similar vein to the Cow Parades or the Buddy Bears in Berlin. There are four main objects used as a canvas:
Brussels sprout
Chocolate
Beer
Mussel
It runs until the 23 September 2012. Some of the pieces will be purchased and will possibly be available for viewing at their owner’s premises after that date.
@John – Well, hope that we can agree to disagree. Too bad I’ll miss out on seeing the art as there’s no way, I’ll make it back to Brussels before Sept 23. WIll be interesting to see if anyone buys them and keeps them on exhibition in the city … hopefully, it will work out.
@David – Thanks for your comment. I wish I wasn’t missed out on BXXL! 🙂
I read this with interest as I’ve been taking a lot of photos of the various sculptures I see dotted around Brussels (including this one, though I haven’t posted those yet). The comments about the Brusselicious ones (actually BXXL I think) especially, as they are all based on the same small set of physical shapes, with different decorations.
I’ve also seen a number of ‘cow like’ ones dotted around here and there, as seen elsewhere (like Liverpool too) but don’t know any more about them yet 🙂
Overall I just add it to the ‘surreal’ impressions I get of the city… bagpipes, morris dancers you name it, it happens here!