OK everyone, apparently we can all relax. “The Big Mango of Bowen” which disappeared overnight has been found. The ‘spotted’ fruit was found at the back of the Bowen Tourist Information Office. A little off-kilter and more horizontal than vertical, the “Big Mango” is safe and sound – and there is no suggestion of a ransom! According to a News.com.au article published earlier today, the disappearance was part of a publicity stunt set up by the fast-food chicken outlet Nando’s who have said that more about this stunt will be revealed this Friday – can hardly wait!

For those of you who are interested in knowing more about this ‘monument’, the “Big Mango” stands on the Bruce Highway in northern Queensland not far from Australia’s mango producing capital of Bowen. Built as a tourist attraction in 2002, it weighs 10 tonnes and stands 3-storey’s high. I apologize if there is some blurriness in my image, but at the time, on holiday a couple of years ago I wanted to stop to take a photo, but my despondent driver had other ideas and lead-footed the hire-car to get past it as quickly as we could.

Regardless of whether you like this sort of work, there are numerous local and international tourists who have included this and other “Big Things” on their Australian bucket list. The “Big Things” is a term which loosely encompasses and interprets what is basically a  large collection of over 150 large-scale  sculptures or structures, which are most often found on the major highways around Australia.  Others to check out on your road-trip include:

• The Big Prawn; the Dog on the Tuckerbox; the Big Banana; the Big Pineapple; the Trout; the Giant Murray Cod; The Big Guitar; the Big Penguin; get the big picture?
• I have previously presented two of these “Big Items” under my category of “Questionable Art” – sub-category “The Bad“. They are funny; they are kitsch –  but nevertheless, kids love them. As for the rest of us, you will no doubt decide to either, “love ’em, or leave ’em”; and as far as I am concerned – “it’s a biggy” – “I wish to stay neutral, so I opt to sit on the big paling fence“!

That reminds me of an old Dr. Seuss riddle – “What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence”? …”time to get a new fence”.

Another “Big joke”… Hey ho!

Website | About | Facebook | Twitter

“Is It Art?”