The Invisible Man Monument was erected in Yekaterinburg relatively recently, in 1999, and has already managed to become one of the most memorable among other attractions of the city.
This monument in honor of the main character of the novel by the English writer Herbert Wells "The Invisible Man", by the way, is the first and only (though not quite the only one, but more on that below) is located at the main entrance to the Regional Scientific Library at the city: Yekaterinburg, Belinsky street, house 15. The nearest metro station is "Ploshchad 1905 goda".
What does it look like
This rather modest, at first glance, but very witty monument was dedicated to the festival of literary provinces of Russia "Cultural Heroes of the 21st Century". The project was sponsored by Mark Gelman, director of the library and the Moscow Art Gallery of Modern Art.
The monument looks very simple - like a bronze flat square plate with two prints of bare feet. On top of the plate you can read the handwritten inscription: "The world's first monument to the Invisible Man, the hero of the novel" Herbert Wells. "
By the footprints, by the way, it can be seen that they belong to different people, since one of them is the 43rd, and the second is the 41st size. They actually belong to two different people: the author of the idea of the monument to the Russian writer Yevgeny Kasimov (left foot print) and the artist Alexander Shaburov, he is one of the members of the then-created art group "Blue Noses". The latter created a sketch of the monument, found sponsors and immortalized his right foot.
"Why are the legs different in size?" - the guests of the city ask those who come to see. The writer and artist would probably answer this way:
A hero is a hero, but he also wanted to perpetuate himself ...
In winter, a plate with prints is covered with snow, and in summer it hides in the grass of the lawn, so you can’t notice it from afar. But this also has its own meaning. So the Invisible Man was hiding from everyone.
Idea
Evgeny Kasimov later explained that the monument was invented in just a week. And in fact, he is dedicated not so much to the main character of Wells’s novel as to one of the most important problems of our time - the “tragedy of loneliness and incomprehensibility” of man. No matter how paradoxical this may sound, nothing contributes to the disunity of people in our world, like gadgets, the Internet and the "individual minks" that are in it - pages of social networks. The types of communication that are available to us via e-mail, instant messengers and Skype completely destroyed the warm atmosphere of friendly meetings that was prevalent before. Not to mention the epistolary tradition, it has practically disappeared in our time.
And here, as Nadezhda Tsypina, director of the Regional Scientific Library named after Belinsky:
In our life, less and less material remains. We are much less likely to meet friends. We read real books much less often, practically do not write real, good letters. And this monument, like never before, reflects the essence of our time.
It was in this vein that the creators of the monument understood this tragic and romantic hero of the English science fiction at the same time. The invisible man reflects, in their opinion, the essence of the global problem of our time.
Reviews
The monument to the hero of the book "The Invisible Man" in Yekaterinburg evokes the most controversial reviews. It is understandable, it is very simple not to notice it and pass by. But this view is not very consistent with our ideas about the monument in general. By the way, Yekaterinburg residents do not recommend visiting the monument in winter when there is snow on the roads. City utilities do not have time to clear the streets, not to mention the stove. Therefore, at this time, which is quite likely, you simply will not find it, even if you look.
In general, the monument to the Invisible Man is witty and unusual. Such works of art are, of course, exclusively a sign of the new era. Such "signs" have a right to exist, and they already have their place in the history of the city. However, there are directly opposite, indignant reviews.
Well, everyone has the right to their own opinion. And will you like such an Invisible Man? You will be in Yekaterinburg - go see.
And in St. Petersburg
“Monument that is not” is another, as it were, Invisible Man. Actually, from the monument in the Northern capital there is only a pedestal and an inscription on it, which notifies that it is a monument to the Invisible Man. But this is an unofficial monument, it was named so thanks to local jokers. Which almost repeated the creative technique of Yekaterinburg.
The fact is that at the end of the century before last a monument to Alexander II was erected on this site. During the years of Soviet power, as usual, he was "overthrown." They say they threw right into the nearby Fontanka. However, this is not entirely reliable. Later, on the same pedestal, a monument to Lenin appeared, which, which may seem incredible, once simply disappeared. Where the whereabouts of this artifact is still unknown. Well, then it’s simple: not wanting to spend money on a new statue, the city authorities simply followed the wit of the local wits, who had already christened the empty pedestal the “Monument to the Invisible Man”.
This miracle is located in the courtyard of the Psychoneurological Dispensary No. 7, at the address: 132. Fontanka River Embankment, 132. The nearest metro station is Technological Institute.
By the way, in Penza they went further: they said that they have a monument to the Invisible Man, but they can’t see it. Invisibility!
Well, since it is impossible to contemplate an invisible man, the corresponding “monument” is invisible ...
So said the author of the project, or rather, a hoax-raffle translator Yuri Stoma.
There is such a monument to the Invisible Man in Yekaterinburg (the address is indicated at the beginning of the article) and not only there.