The 30 Foot Finger

The 30 Foot Finger

By Jack Nolan

David Cerny is known for his outlandish art. From the babies to the peeing men, it’s pretty much all outside of most people’s realm of normal. Understanding his creative process, and how he thought these things up would be fascinating. His mind must work in really different ways, processing abstract thoughts and observations.

Cerny’s latest piece is titled ‘The Finger’ and is a 30 foot hand on the Vltava River. The only finger present is the middle one, shooting and awkward distance up. It’s longer than it should be in a relative comparison to a persons hand. Maybe most oddly of all it’s traits is that it’s purple-- an unmistakable, and quite unique purple. 

While floating in the middle of the river, it is situated so that it points directly towards the Prague Castle, home of current president Milos Zeman. Cerny himself says that the monument is itself a “scream of alarm’ towards the current state of politics in the Czech Republic. It came at a relevant time too—just one day before the opening of the general election. 

The finger’s enormity really brings in to perspective how large of a statement it is. Just a few feet short of the Charles Bridge, it is one of the tallest objects on the river.  Rich and unique purple stands out against virtually everything else on the river. Purple is also known as the color of good judgment or royalty—which accompanied with the symbolic gesture of the finger could lead to some intriguing insight about the subtle messages. 

Cerny says that, while he’s happy with his work, he knows many aren’t. He was shot down by people on Facebook calling him a ‘capitalist pig’ and other names of the sort. To me, it hasn’t done its job if it doesn’t get some type of angry criticism.