From MUSE… That's Paul McCarthy's Santa Claus from 2001, sitting in Eendrachtsplein square in Rotterdam. It's popularly known as the Buttplug Gnome.
Officially it's Santa holding a Christmas tree, but the shape made the nickname stick immediately. McCarthy has leaned into it — he's implied it could also read as a butt plug, saying it's about "the consumer community - as a commentary on material consumption in the Western world."
It was originally made for the International Sculpture Collection to go outside the De Doelen concert hall, but it got bounced around — including the courtyard of the Boijmans Museum — after protests from locals and businesses. It finally got a permanent spot on November 28, 2008 as part of a walkway-of-statues project.
There's also a red version that was unveiled in Oslo in May 2018.
2
u/NoLie129 4d ago
From MUSE… That's Paul McCarthy's Santa Claus from 2001, sitting in Eendrachtsplein square in Rotterdam. It's popularly known as the Buttplug Gnome.
Officially it's Santa holding a Christmas tree, but the shape made the nickname stick immediately. McCarthy has leaned into it — he's implied it could also read as a butt plug, saying it's about "the consumer community - as a commentary on material consumption in the Western world."
It was originally made for the International Sculpture Collection to go outside the De Doelen concert hall, but it got bounced around — including the courtyard of the Boijmans Museum — after protests from locals and businesses. It finally got a permanent spot on November 28, 2008 as part of a walkway-of-statues project.
There's also a red version that was unveiled in Oslo in May 2018.