FOR SALE
£14,500
You can submit an offer to purchase El Bravo below
El Bravo was designed as a placemaking piece of public art. In the interest of community benefit, a subsidized rate or special concession may be considered for registered charities, municipal spaces, sculpture parks, or venues where El Bravo will be permanently on display for the general public. With this in mind, offers that reflect a desire to display the piece for public benefit will be considered
ANIMA II
Bravery | Fury | Strength
I chose the Spanish Toro Bravo (“Brave Bull”) fighting bulls as the subject for my second sculpture in the Anima series. With El Bravo, I chose to highlight the strength and fury of these powerful creatures, literally bred and forced to do battle with us – an interaction which might echo a trend in our relationship with the wider natural world. El Bravo means “the brave” or “the wild” in Spanish
Always beginning with a CAD drawing to accurately design the framework and capture the overall shape of a sculpture, I enlarged the shoulders and gave the bull an exaggerated front-leaning stance as if about to charge. I built the frame in reclaimed timber & Oak and then constructed the sculpture using angular, geometric planes. Finishing off the Douglas Fir cladding using the traditional Japanese Shou Sugi Ban (charring) technique, El Bravo has been naturally sealed and weather-protected for long-term outdoor display in the UK climate. The process has also helped to emphasize the deep, natural grain of the timber to mirror the bull’s dynamic anatomy. The horns are finished with a contrasting, weathered paint-wash and faint blended charring on the tips. The head freely moves in the wind (it could be hooked up to a motor to constantly move if desired). The tail is segmented and can be moved into any position.
MATERIALS: Reclaimed timber & Oak frame, Shou Sugi Ban Douglas Fir cladding
DIMENSIONS: 1.25m (shoulder to shoulder) x 2.5m (ground to shoulder) x 5m (tail to horn)
LOGISTICS: 250 – 500kg. Can come apart into four sections for transport if required. Freestanding on flat ground but can be further anchored into turf or bolted to a pad if desired.
WARRANTY: Cladding: 2 years. Frame: 10 years. Due to the shou sugi ban treatment the cladding is expected to last outdoors well in excess of 10 years but damage may occur if climbed on. New sections can be easily remade and swapped in if damaged.
El Bravo is #2 in Zac’s Anima series.
The word “Anima” has its most ancient roots in Latin and originally meant “breath” or “wind”. Over time though, it also came to mean “soul” or “life” and we derive many words – including “animal” – from it today. With this series of sculptures, Zac aspires to breathe a little anima into his animal subjects, creating totemic symbols that distil particular characteristics from each sculpture. The Anima series is both a celebration of the natural world and a reflection of our relationship to it.