WHY PEOPLE CAN’T FLY

Gernot Huber sculpture park, Tenerife, Spain
From October 17, 2024, the 6-meter-high sculpture “Why people can’t fly” is permanently on view in the Gernot Huber Foundation sculpture park in Granadilla, Tenerife, Spain.

“Sometimes art stops you in your tracks and makes you rethink reality.”

You really can’t pass by this sculpture and not stop: the gigantic figure of a man flipped upside-down, who’s trying to float up into the air but can’t because the weight of his problems is dragging him down. And we all live in a new reality—it’s not just this man who’s turned upside-down, it’s the entire world.

“Why People Can’t Fly” was made in 3 versions: 3, 6 and 10- meter-high, each in absolutely different technique.
The first was a 3-meter-high sculpture which was created for The Prince Albert II Foundation’s Gala for the Global Ocean charity auction in 2018. A 10-meter-high version — was first showcased in public space during the 2019 Venice Biennale. After that, it was sent to the Burning Man festival in Black Rock City, Nevada.
Only the 6-meter version, which is now installed in the Gernot Huber Foundation sculpture park on Tenerife is created in Vasily Klyukin’s unique technique and made of polycarbonate plates, steel and acrylic.

There’s no need to approach the sculpture to understand the meaning the artist is trying to relay — every person who sees it will have a different perception, and a complete change in the understanding of the usual and the mundane. They will have their own reasons for why the man can’t fly and why he’s upside-down.

Please check the sculpture park website for visitors’ information.
https://www.gernot-huber-stiftung.de/index_en.html
From October 17, 2024