Roger Waters of Pink Floyd fame has been outspoken about his feelings toward President Donald Trump. On Inauguration Day, Waters posted a full video of his controversial performance in Mexico City on October 1st. For this performance, during “Pigs (Three Different Ones)” off of 1977’s Animals, images of Trump giving the Nazi salute and surrounded by members of the KKK were projected on the huge screen behind the band. To close out the performance, Waters stated “Trump Eres Un Pendejo,” or “Trump, you’re an asshole,” to the massive crowd. Also during the performance, 300,000 inflatable pigs were released onto the crowd. This imagery of Pink Floyd’s flying pigs has become somewhat of a symbol of political resistance for Waters. Today, the symbolism continues with the news that four giant, inflatable Pink Floyd-inspired flying pigs will block out the President’s name on the Trump Tower in Chicago for a day this summer.
The project is headed by architect Jeffrey Roberts, who announced the art project in November of last year. However, now the details are falling into place. Because Waters holds the rights to the image of the flying pig, Roberts had to get the legendary musician to sign off on his installation, and it seems, predictably, that Roger Waters was more than okay with giving the green light. Each of the flying pig inflatables that will obscure Trump’s name will be about 30 feet by 15 feet, and will be attached to barges on the river to set them in place. Once they pigs are done with their day in Chicago, the installation will continue around the country to other cities that Trump has buildings in.
Roberts told Consequence of Sound that “The art folly has been created to provide visual relief to the citizens of Chicago by interrupting the view of the ostentatious Trump Tower Chicago sign. . . . The design follows rigorous rationale in providing layers of meaning but ultimately allows for interpretation by individual viewers. . . . Ultimately, this is a very rational design and is in direct contrast to the chaotic nature and bizarre antics of our current leadership.” You can check out Roberts’ artistic renderings of what the installation will look like when its live below.
