Monumento al Ahogado
Encyclopedia
Monumento al Ahogado is a sculpture of five finger
s partially submerged in sand, located on Parada 1 at Brava Beach in Punta del Este
, a popular resort town in Uruguay
. It is colloquially referred to as either Monumento los Dedos (Monument of the Fingers) or La Mano (The Hand). In English, its popular name is The Hand.
It is a famous sculpture that has become a symbol for Punta del Este since its completion in February 1982, and in turn has become one of Uruguay's most recognizable landmarks.
an artist Mario Irarrázabal during the summer of 1982, while he was attending the first annual International Meeting of Modern Sculpture in the Open Air in Punta del Este. There were nine sculptors and he was the youngest one. There was a fight for the places assigned on a public square, and he decided to go to make his sculpture on the beach. He was inspired to make a sculpture of a hand "drowning" as a warning to swimmers, as the waters at La Barra up the beach had rougher waves which were better for surfing only, while the other way, waters at Solanas were much more suited for swimming practice and windsurfing activities.
While Irarrázabal had the entire summer to complete the project, he managed to finish in the first six days, despite facing minor delays due to the strong southeast wind which is common in Punta del Este. The concrete and plastic fingers were reinforced with steel bars, metal mesh, and a degradation-resistant solvent covering the plastic on the outside.
Throughout that summer, sculptors from around the world worked on their creations at the beach, but only Irarrázabal's continues to sit on the beach today. It gained Irarrázabal worldwide acclaim and is popularized by tourist photographs and reproductions on postcards. He later made near or exact replicas of the sculpture for the city of Madrid
(in 1987), in the Atacama Desert
in Chile (1992), and in Venice
(1995).
The hand has not left its original spot, and has remained largely untouched, save for minor graffiti on the palm side of the fingers which was written in 2005.
Finger
A finger is a limb of the human body and a type of digit, an organ of manipulation and sensation found in the hands of humans and other primates....
s partially submerged in sand, located on Parada 1 at Brava Beach in Punta del Este
Punta del Este
Punta del Este is a resort town on the Atlantic Coast in the Maldonado Department of southeastern Uruguay. It is located on the intersection of Route 10 with Route 39, directly southeast of the department capital Maldonado and about east of Montevideo...
, a popular resort town in Uruguay
Uruguay
Uruguay ,officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay,sometimes the Eastern Republic of Uruguay; ) is a country in the southeastern part of South America. It is home to some 3.5 million people, of whom 1.8 million live in the capital Montevideo and its metropolitan area...
. It is colloquially referred to as either Monumento los Dedos (Monument of the Fingers) or La Mano (The Hand). In English, its popular name is The Hand.
It is a famous sculpture that has become a symbol for Punta del Este since its completion in February 1982, and in turn has become one of Uruguay's most recognizable landmarks.
History
The sculpture was made by ChileChile
Chile ,officially the Republic of Chile , is a country in South America occupying a long, narrow coastal strip between the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific Ocean to the west. It borders Peru to the north, Bolivia to the northeast, Argentina to the east, and the Drake Passage in the far...
an artist Mario Irarrázabal during the summer of 1982, while he was attending the first annual International Meeting of Modern Sculpture in the Open Air in Punta del Este. There were nine sculptors and he was the youngest one. There was a fight for the places assigned on a public square, and he decided to go to make his sculpture on the beach. He was inspired to make a sculpture of a hand "drowning" as a warning to swimmers, as the waters at La Barra up the beach had rougher waves which were better for surfing only, while the other way, waters at Solanas were much more suited for swimming practice and windsurfing activities.
While Irarrázabal had the entire summer to complete the project, he managed to finish in the first six days, despite facing minor delays due to the strong southeast wind which is common in Punta del Este. The concrete and plastic fingers were reinforced with steel bars, metal mesh, and a degradation-resistant solvent covering the plastic on the outside.
Throughout that summer, sculptors from around the world worked on their creations at the beach, but only Irarrázabal's continues to sit on the beach today. It gained Irarrázabal worldwide acclaim and is popularized by tourist photographs and reproductions on postcards. He later made near or exact replicas of the sculpture for the city of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
(in 1987), in the Atacama Desert
Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, covering a strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. It is, according to NASA, National Geographic and many other publications, the driest desert in the world...
in Chile (1992), and in Venice
Venice
Venice is a city in northern Italy which is renowned for the beauty of its setting, its architecture and its artworks. It is the capital of the Veneto region...
(1995).
The hand has not left its original spot, and has remained largely untouched, save for minor graffiti on the palm side of the fingers which was written in 2005.
See also
- The Awakening, a sculpture that also features hands emerging from the ground
- Mano del DesiertoMano del DesiertoThe Mano de Desierto is a large-scale sculpture of a hand located in the Atacama Desert in Chile, 75 km to the south of the city of Antofagasta, on the Panamerican Highway...
, a giant hand in the Atacama desertAtacama DesertThe Atacama Desert is a plateau in South America, covering a strip of land on the Pacific coast, west of the Andes mountains. It is, according to NASA, National Geographic and many other publications, the driest desert in the world...