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Documented artwork / illuminated inflatable figurative installation

Fantastic Planet

Amanda Parer

Giant humanoid figures appear to investigate the spaces around them. Inspired by the film of the same name, the series alters the relationship between human viewers and their surroundings.

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Documented work. Current availability, ownership and installation requirements must be confirmed with the artist.

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Verified artwork image for Fantastic Planet
Verified artwork imageImage: odu.edu ↗Copyright © Old Dominion University • Updated 2025 (as credited at source)Photo: Nicholas Clark/ODU (as credited at source)

At a glance

Year / version
Not documented
Materials
Not documented
Documented setting
outdoor
Dimensions
Down There: 14 metres tall, according to the artist’s 2019 Scopitone interview.
Dimensions apply to
One named figure within the Fantastic Planet family; not the size of every figure or the 2023 ODU installation.
Availability
Unconfirmed

Places & versions

Installation history

Historical presentations. A past installation does not establish the current location or suitability for a new site.

  1. October 13–15, 2023

    West 43rd Street, Old Dominion University, Norfolk, Virginia

    Site
    West 43rd Street outside Barry Art Museum
    Event
    Fantastic Planet public arts festival
    Setting
    outdoor
    Start date
    2023-10-13
    End date
    2023-10-15
    Date meaning
    planned

    Installation details checked 2026-10-17.

    Installation source

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Research notes for project planning

How this work was made and presented

Artist’s account of Fantastic Planet

Scale reverses who seems to belong

Amanda Parer describes Fantastic Planet’s enormous humanoid figures as visitors exploring an unfamiliar world. The work takes inspiration from René Laloux’s 1973 film, in which the relationship between humans and much larger beings is unsettled. The public installation uses scale to make ordinary surroundings seem newly strange. For a host, that suggests evaluating the figures in relation to recognizable architecture and daily activity: a rooftop, plaza edge or entrance can become part of the encounter through which viewers judge their own position in the scene.

Amanda Parer — Fantastic Planet ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10

For your project brief

Which familiar feature of the site would make the reversal of scale most legible?

Big Art Partners planning prompt

Downtown Mesa presentation, reported May 2018

A dispersed exhibition needs a weather plan

Mesa’s May 2018 arts advisory board minutes describe six Fantastic Planet figures across downtown sites, including rooftops and the Mesa Arts Center. Visitors used a map to walk between them. The same account records two temporary deflations during high winds before the exhibition was removed in May. This is a particularly useful host precedent because it connects the visitor route with an actual operating interruption. A similar presentation could plan its distributed wayfinding, weather decisions and public updates together before announcing the installation experience.

City of Mesa — Arts and Culture Advisory Board minutes, May 2018 ↗ · Reviewed 2026-10-10

For your project brief

How will the team communicate a temporary deflation across a multi-site visitor route?

Big Art Partners planning prompt
Light art installations ↗Outdoor sculpture & installations ↗

Plan the next step

How to plan an outdoor sculpture loan ↗How to prepare a site brief for large-scale public art ↗

Sources