A sculpture of a man carrying a Monopoly board and a dog that had been put up by Bristol's mystery guerrilla sculptor was dragged down the road and burned on this weekend's bonfire on Turbo Island.
The street artist known only as 'Getting Up To Stuff' erected the sculpture on the first Monday of April at the People's Republic of Stokes Croft headquarters in Jamaica Street, but it lasted less than a week. The guerrilla artist shared the fate of the sculpture, the latest they've done in a long line of mystery sculptures that have appeared in the city, on Sunday on their Instagram account.
Under the caption 'some you win, some you lose', the picture showed the sculpture in pieces on the bonfire that is regularly lit on Turbo Island, the legendary triangular space on the corner of Stokes Croft and Jamaica Street. Whoever was responsible had pulled the cement statue from its position on top of PRSC's blanket store and dragged it along Jamaica Street to put it on the weekend's bonfire.
Read more: New sculpture off Stokes Croft shows man carrying Monopoly board
The work was at least the fourth sculpture from the artist to be installed in public places in Bristol in the past few years. Previously there has been a sculpture of an old woman with a hammer on Victoria Street, a person being comforted by a teddy bear for World Suicide Prevention Day on Jacob's Wells Road, and a statue of 'loo lady' Victoria Hughes at her toilets on the Downs.
Also posting footage of the sculpture on Instagram today, the artist wrote: "Monopoly: the game you win when everything is unaffordable." People commended the "superb" piece in the comments, with many saying the location was fitting.
In its own comment, People's Republic of Stokes Croft (PRSC) added: "What a thing to come in to this morning! Fits so well with the People's Art Fair opening Thursday too." The fair is part of its Stokes Croft Land Trust campaign to buy properties to retain them for community and cultural use into the future.
The statues in more detail
The sculpture of Victoria Hughes, who was a toilet attendant for 33 years on Durdham Downs in Bristol and looked after sex workers in the area, was actually Bristol's first statue of a woman who was not Queen Victoria. It appeared in August last year close to the blue plaque that bears her name.
Back in April 2018, a 10-foot statue of an old lady with a hammer was put up overnight and chained to two bike racks, just outside of the Victoria Street offices of Age UK Bristol. 'OAP' was scrawled onto the front of the statue, along with the name 'Ruth' on the back. The artist revealed, in September 2021, on Instagram that Ruth was adopted by Age UK "as a symbol of the resilience, strength and courage that so many demonstrate in their later years".
And in September 2020, another grey sculpture of a man being comforted by a teddy bear (later revealed to be called 'Bear With Me') was installed overnight in time for World Suicide Prevention Day. It can still be seen on Jacob's Wells Road.
It seems that Getting up to Stuff had been making progress on the latest sculpture since at least February this year as, on the 12th of the month, the account shared a close-up video of some of the man's (and dog's) features. When a fan asked what material they were made of, the artist replied: "They’re made of dreams and magic - and cement."
Want our best stories with fewer ads and alerts when the biggest news stories drop? Download our app on iPhone or Android.
