Citizens of Plzeň-Lochotín have decided that they want a statue of a pink rabbit

Plzeň – The statue of the giant pink rabbit that devours a small pale headless human body will remain in its place at the largest housing estate in Plzeň, Lochotín. Of the 15,800 votes, 58 percent were in favor of its preservation and 42 percent against. The final results of the internet voting were published today on the Facebook profile of the Plzeň 1 district.

The three-ton rabbit by Adam Trbuška, then a student at the Plzeň Faculty of Design and Art, has been at the intersection of the wide Karlovarská and Studentská streets for five years. The five-meter concrete statue near the tram stop, which has glowing eyes thanks to solar power, consistently evokes strong emotions, both negative and positive responses. The contract for the loan, which the district has with the faculty and renews annually, will expire on July 15. The district promised to ask citizens for their opinion, but not every year.

People made a decision about the statue in a poll two years ago, when 56 percent were in favor. Some firmly reject the rabbit, while others like it. Some mothers especially complained on social networks that the rabbit scares children, while others claimed that the children loved it.

The statue, named Panoptikum, is Trbuška's bachelor's thesis. It is his reaction to contemporary society and the consumer lifestyle. "The goal of my work was to create a monument, a memorial of the present depicting the state of society as I perceive it. A satirical work, depicting a person trapped in a systematic mechanism. Absolutely powerless, sick, and devoted. Everyone contributes to feeding this monster, and what’s worse, we feed it nothing but ourselves and care for it lovingly," the author told ČTK at the end of 2015.

Thanks to the pink paint, the rabbit's white teeth, eyes, and tail stand out, as well as the pale human figure with helplessly drooping limbs. The author was inspired by the painting Saturn Devouring One of His Sons, created in 1823 by the Spanish painter and engraver of Romanticism, Francisco Goya.