Living statue

From ArticleWorld

A living statute is a piece of performance art in which a mime will stand motionless whilst being made to look like a statue or famous monument. The visual effect of being moulded from stone is created through extensive make up and realistic clothing, but is also reliant on the skills of the artist to remain still so as to maintain the illusion.

Living statues have become an increasingly popular version of traditional mime and performance arts in general. It has become a popular form of street art that can be seen in cities all over the globe. Living statues can earn money through street performances and it is seen as another form of busking or another form of street entertainment paid for through public generosity. Its popularity has increased sufficiently to have an international competition commissioned in the Dutch City of Arnhem. Similarly the town of Laguna Beach, California in the US also has a show entitled Pageant to the Masters, in which local amateur enthusiasts create artistic representations of classical pieces in the form of a living statue.

The living statue has also become a popular method of surprising the general public, both on television and as improvised street art. Hidden camera shows use the living statue to startle people, this is done by creating the lifelike statue and unleashing it with a variety of startling moves to surprise and terrify unsuspecting passers-by.

Living statue is also a term adopted by the science fiction fraternity and is used to described human or human like beings who are somehow immobilised by a foe and cast into an inanimate structure not dissimilar to a statue. This can be seen in science fiction books like Michael Moorcock’s The Queen of Swords in which the heroes encounter a frozen army who were conquered by an evil goddess and cast in stone.