In my travels for looking for art of all kinds
and stories that put a tingle in my spine,
I found this...
"100 years later, Denmark's Little Mermaid Gets a New Gentleman Friend"
Seems to be that in Denmark,
there is quite a "celebrity"
that has been bringing tourists
to her side for over
100 years.
In 1913, Carl Jacobsen of Carlsberg breweries
presented the city of Copenhagen with
The Little Mermaid Statue.
(She was placed at a test site in 1912)
Sculptor Edvard Erichsen was commissioned to create a statue of dancer Ellen Price
who appeared in the "The Little Mermaid"- Fini Henriques' ballet in 1909.
Much like the Disney story - The Little Mermaid,
the story behind Copenhagen's Little Mermaid is very similar but with a different ending.
In Christian Andersen's poem she gives her tongue to a witch in trade,
to become human so that she could join
her love and live on land.
The Mermaid never actually marries her prince and this
statue represents her living as a mute, unable to walk without pain &
sitting on the waters edge reminiscing over
her childhood / loss of her life as a mermaid.
~ She gave it all up for love ~
It is quite a sad story, and many people visit her to see her aching presence.
It has become one of the most coveted tourist sites.
Seeing I love the Disney movie The Little Mermaid,
this story really interested me.
When you add to it that she now has an admirer from afar.
That is really cool to me!
"100 years later, Denmark's Little Mermaid Gets a New Gentleman Friend"
(Daily Traveler)
It seems there has been another commissioned piece to add to the story.
A modern sculpture of a boy whom is being placed in Elsinore's harbor to pine after her!
His name is Han.
They call him her "secret admirer".
He is made of polished stainless steel
&
once an hour he will blink for a split second.
This modern sculpture has an internal hydraulic system
that will enable him to appear human.
Adding to the story is amazing but also
adding such a high tech touch
to the boy is very clever!
An artist duo - Elmgreen & Dragset
are the masterminds behind Han.
Hans will appear June 2, 2012 for all to see.
I hope I get to see them both one day.
Until then, I am adding them to my bucket list.
