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It’s Donald Trump like he’s never been seen before.
Residents of five major American cities woke up on Thursday to find large naked statues of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump standing in public places.
According to the The Washington Post, the project -- called “The Emperor Has No B---s” -- was put on by a group called INDECLINE. The statues were placed in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Cleveland and Seattle.
A spokesman for the group said the naked Trumps were inspired in part by the Hans Christian Anderson story about an overly self-assured leader who fails to realise his new suit is in fact his birthday suit. The intent was to create a mocking tribute to the “modern day Emperor of Fascism and Bigotry.”
“When the guys approached me, it was all because of my monster-making abilities,” the artist who goes by the nickname Ginger told The Washington Post.
“Trump is just yet another monster, so it was absolutely in my wheelhouse to be able to create these monstrosities.”
According to the Post, he spent 25 hours weekly since receiving the commission in April.
The artist told the Daily Beast that the process of creating the sculpture consisted of two stages.
The first was sculpting the original, 317 kg model in specialty clay using a six-foot-two “hired model with similar proportions” to Trump. After the prototype was complete, Ginger made a giant silicone mould so that he could create identical replicas.
In all, the project required 136 kg of Monster Makers Oil Clay, 181 kg concrete and rebar, 181 kg Walter E Disney Clay (for the mould), 3.78 litres of smooth cast 300 (liquid resin), and 37 litres of Foam It, costing around $6,000 (Rs 4,01,498).
According to the INDECLINE spokesperson, the statues all went up without a hitch using “insult teams with hard hats and neon construction vests.”
A report in NBC News quoted a statement by the group as saying that the hope behind putting up the statues is that Trump “is never installed in the most powerful political and military position in the world”.
“It is through these sculptures that we leave behind the physical and metaphorical embodiment of the ghastly soul of one of America’s most infamous and reviled politicians,” the group said in a statement.
The spokesperson also told The Daily Beast that the New York City piece, which was erected in Union Square, was taken down “about half an hour after The Washington Post went up because the article was “making them look bad and feel like they should go do their job.”
The New York City Parks Department told the report, “NYC Parks stands firmly against any unpermitted erection in city parks, no matter how small”.
Amused and surprised passers-by flocked to take pictures with the statue showing a stern-faced Trump with trademark flock of bright yellow hair and hands folded over a bulging belly.
Trump’s campaign declined to comment on the statues.
-- With inputs from PTI