I Got the Size Wrong (12 Photos)

Same work, two distances

Every work below gets two photos. The first is taken close, with nothing nearby to measure it against. The second steps back, and the size you guessed turns out to be wrong, sometimes by a lot.

---

👶 “Babies” — By David Černý in Prague, Czech Republic 🇨🇿

At this distance it could be a toy stuck to a wall. From the street it is one of ten crawling babies on the 216-meter Žižkov Television Tower, each about 3.4 meters long. They went up in 2000 as a temporary piece and stayed for good in 2001 because people liked them.

💡 Tower Fact: The babies on the tower today are identical copies, mounted in March 2019. The originals came down in 2017 and went back to the artist; both photos here show the original set.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsBabiesDavid Černý · 2000 · Žižkov TV Tower, PragueTen babies on the towerCopies installed in 2019Copies about 350 kg1The babies first went up in May 2000, as a temporary installation for Prague’s year as a European City of Culture.České Radiokomunikace2In 2017 the originals came down for repair; copies went up in spring 2019, and the originals were reportedly returned to Černý.Expats.cz2000MayFirst installed · CRA200719 OctPhoto · Wikimedia Commons201318 OctPhoto · Wikimedia Commons20172 OctTaken down for repair · CRA201922 MarCopies announced · e15201925 MarFirst copy back · ČTK201929 MarBack on the tower · Expats.cz202512 MarOn the tower · Seznam ZprávyRead the full file →

🔗 Follow David Černý on Instagram

📷 Photos and cover crop: Balou46 (close-up, CC BY-SA 3.0) and Rosa Menkman (wide, CC BY 2.0) / Wikimedia Commons

---

🤿 “Diver” — By Mihály Kolodko in Budapest, Hungary 🇭🇺

A deep-sea diver in a heavy helmet, gripping a key. Then the street appears: he sits on top of a stone post shaped like a fire hydrant at the corner of Dohány and Osvát streets, easy to walk past. Kolodko added him in 2019.

💡 Legend Fact: The key points to the New York Café nearby. Writer Ferenc Molnár is said to have thrown the café’s key into the river so it could never close. The diver looks like he just fished it out.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDiverMihály Kolodko · 2019 · Dohány utca, BudapestBúvár (Diver)Commissioned by District VIIBronze (Köztérkép)1The diver sits on a stone fire hydrant holding a key, as if he had just salvaged it from the water.We Love Budapest2According to legend, Ferenc Molnár threw the New York Café’s key into the Danube; Mozgó Világ says the diver brought it back.Mozgó Világ201928 AugUnveiling photos · Köztérkép201929 AugNew work · We Love Budapest2020Essay · Mozgó Világ20227 MarGuide · Xpatloop2023SepPhoto · Wikimedia CommonsRead the full file →

🔗 Follow Mihály Kolodko on Instagram

📷 Photos: Globetrotter19 (close-up, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Globetrotter19 (wide, CC BY-SA 4.0) / Wikimedia Commons

---

😌 “Dream” — By Jaume Plensa in St Helens, England 🇬🇧

A calm face with closed eyes, nothing else in frame. The people at its base give it away: Dream is 20 meters (66 feet) tall and weighs 500 tonnes. It stands on the former Sutton Manor colliery, where ex-miners helped commission it before it was unveiled in 2009.

💡 Project Fact: Dream came out of Channel 4’s Big Art Project, which St Helens joined in 2008. The project was backed by the Art Fund and Arts Council England, and the sculpture cost £1.88 million in total.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsDreamJaume Plensa · 2009 · Sutton Manor, St Helens20 m (66 ft) tallBig Art Project commission500 tonnes1Local ex-miners and St Helens Council commissioned Dream through Channel 4’s Big Art Project.Art Fund2It is cast from 90 concrete pieces over 14 tiers, with dolomite aggregate giving the white finish.St Helens Council200922 AprUnveiled · ArtsJournal200923 AprNearly finished · Geograph20098 AugVisitors at its base · Geograph20138 FebPhoto · Geograph20191 AugPhoto · Wikimedia Commons20213 JanPhoto · Geograph202315 AprNewest photo · Geograph20262 FebCouncil page updatedRead the full file →

🔗 Follow Jaume Plensa on Instagram

📷 Photos: Teresa Grau Ros (close-up, CC BY-SA 2.0) and pam fray (wide, CC BY-SA 2.0) / Wikimedia Commons

---

🧍 “Man Hanging Out” — By David Černý in Prague, Czech Republic 🇨🇿

A man in a suit, holding on with one hand. From the cobblestones he is a small dark shape high above Husova street in the Old Town, and most people walk right under him. The figure is Sigmund Freud, made by Černý in 1996.

💡 Mix-up Fact: When the sculpture was shown in Grand Rapids, Michigan, in 2007, passersby called the authorities, and firefighters went to the roof before finding the beam that holds him.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMan Hanging OutDavid Černý · 1996 · PragueFibreglass, 220 cmHusova street, Old TownOn Husova since 19971Černý says he made it in 1996, when everyone talked about the end of the century and the role of the intellectual.David Černý2In Grand Rapids, Michigan, in December 2007, passers-by reportedly called the authorities, fearing the statue was a suicide attempt.UPI1997InstalledOn Husova since 1997 · artist20076 DecGrand Rapids alarm · UPI201122 JanJarek Andrzejewski photo · file date20133 SepŠJů photo · file date20241 DecNurtenge photo · camera date202528 AugVasuVR photo · file dateRead the full file →

🔗 Follow David Černý on Instagram

📷 Photos: Jarek Andrzejewski (close-up, CC BY-SA 3.0) and ŠJů (wide, CC BY-SA 3.0) / Wikimedia Commons

---

🕷️ “Maman” — By Louise Bourgeois in Bilbao, Spain 🇪🇸

Seen from below it is all legs, sky and a sac of marble eggs. From the side the visitors under it look tiny: Maman is about 9 meters tall, made of bronze, stainless steel and marble, and stands outside the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao.

💡 Origin Fact: Bourgeois first made Maman for the opening of Tate Modern’s Turbine Hall in London in 2000. The title means “Mom,” and the spider is a tribute to her mother, a weaver who repaired tapestries.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsMamanLouise Bourgeois · 1999 · BilbaoBronze, marble, steelAlmost 9 metres tallEdition 2/6 (Guggenheim)1Bourgeois called the spider “an ode to my mother”; her mother was a weaver who ran the family’s tapestry restoration workshop.Tate2The museum describes the legs as at once a cage and a protective lair for the sac of eggs under the spider.Guggenheim Bilbao2001CastBronze cast · Guggenheim200811 JanBilbao cast listed · Tate200911 AprJean-Pierre Dalbéra photo · camera date201810 Sepjulesvernex2 photo · camera date202420 JulGiorgio Galeotti photo · camera date20264 AugAndrey Romanenko photo · camera dateRead the full file →

📷 Photos: Jules Verne Times Two / julesvernex2.com (close-up, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Jean-Pierre Dalbéra (wide, CC BY 2.0) / Wikimedia Commons

---

🚀 Moon Rover Mini Statue — By Mihály Kolodko in Budapest, Hungary 🇭🇺

An astronaut waves from a lunar rover crossing a pale, bumpy surface. Pull back and the “moon” is a round stone bollard beside a parked car on Hold Street. Kolodko set it up in September 2019.

💡 Name Fact: Hold means “moon” in Hungarian. When Kolodko moved his family from Ukraine to Budapest in 2016, their first apartment was on this street, and he liked the name too much to leave it alone.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsHoldjáróMihály Kolodko · 2019 · BudapestHold utca 12, District VBronze (Köztérkép)On a concrete bollard1Kolodko told Fidelio his family first lived on Hold utca after moving to Budapest in 2016, and the street inspired him.Fidelio2The statue shows an astronaut sitting in a lunar rover, waving at passers-by from a concrete half-sphere.We Love Budapest201927 SepSet up · Köztérkép201930 SepNew statue · We Love Budapest20227 MarOn its bollard · XpatLoop2023JunGlobetrotter19 photo · file date202313 JulPhoto story · RFE/RL202610 AugPhoto uploaded · KöztérképRead the full file →

🔗 Follow Mihály Kolodko on Instagram

📷 Photos: Globetrotter19 (close-up, cropped, CC BY-SA 3.0) and Globetrotter19 (wide, CC BY-SA 3.0) / Wikimedia Commons