Easter is months away.
But that didn’t prevent this bunny family from hopping into town on Thursday.
The Pittsburgh Cultural Trust inflated a large 50-foot animal with floppy ears and three smaller similar creatures as part of its Highmark First Night Pittsburgh event, which is happening from 6 p.m. to midnight on Friday.
The biggest rabbit is located on 8th Street and Penn Avenue. Three others –10 feet to 12 feet tall can be found at the Trust Oasis at 133 7th St.
“These rabbits will be beautiful at night because they glow,” said Sarah Aziz, director of festival management and First Night for the cultural trust. “The installation is both approachable and whimsical.”
The rabbits are part of an art installation called “Intrude.” The largest is the “Mama” or “Bunzilla” and also called “Intrude XXL.”
The Parer Studio created them as an opportunity to juxtapose the rabbit’s fairytale-like innocence with the great destruction and imbalance they are causing in Australia.
It took about 40 minutes to inflate the largest one. They will on display through Jan. 28 — the day of the cultural trust’s Winter Gallery Crawl.
The rabbits will be deflated nightly and reinflated in the morning to protect them.
This is not the first time Pittsburgh has been home to a large inflatable. The Steel City welcomed a 40-foot rubber duck to the rivers near Point State Park in 2013 and the 92-foot-tall Vincent van Gogh floating head balloon in Schenley Park earlier this month.
Aziz said people will be able to get close to the rabbits, touch them and take photos with them.
Art often has a deeper meaning, Aziz said. For this installation, the visual humor of the piece lures audiences into the artwork only to reveal the more serious environmental messages which form the basis of the work, according to artist Amanda Parer.
“For Australians the rabbit is both a symbol of cuteness reminding us of our childhood and a symbol of destruction,” Parer told the cultural trust. “In ‘Intrude,’ the rabbit is a metaphor for our mismanagement of the natural world. Soon after Intrude’s premiere in Sydney, the phone started to ring from around the world. I was a little nervous regarding how the artwork’s back story would be received outside of Australia, but as I traveled, found that it provided a starting point for more localized environmental issues to be discussed. “
Parer began with making the rabbits out of clay, which were digitally scanned. From the 3D images, she created 21-foot versions made of a parachute like material. She consulted with lighting designers, engineers, and technicians.
Go behind the scenes on #Intrude, coming this Friday for @Highmark #FirstNightPGH! We chatted with the artist Amanda Parer and learned about the inspiration behind the bunnies, if they have names, the creation process, and much more! Read ➡ https://t.co/NhfQBTWSDO @parerstudio pic.twitter.com/7tn9n74hDB
— Pittsburgh Cultural Trust (@CulturalTrust) December 27, 2021
They will make their Pittsburgh debut on First Night, Aziz said.
This year, 90% of First Night activities and events are outside, Aziz said. The cultural district encompasses 14 blocks so there will be plenty of space, she said.
For inside happenings, the cultural trust will require proof of covid-19 vaccinations and masks. Masks are also recommended for anything inside. No food or beverages will be served inside.
First Night will include entertainment, including headliner The Byron Nash Trio on the Highmark Stage. The evening will have more than 30 attractions, such as the parade of giant puppets, acrobats, ice-carving and fire shows, acrobats, and, of course, fireworks.
Last year, First Night was held virtually because of the pandemic.
“We want everyone to come out and to be able to be out here safely,” Aziz said. “It’s about celebrating the new year with the community.”
Aziz said seeing the rabbits being inflated reminded her of being in New York when they blow up the balloons for the annual Thanksgiving Day parade.
The bunnies don’t have names, Parer said.
But visitors often have names for them, she said.
“My favorite part was watching the public interact with them,” she said. “There is often a lot of hugging and I even found lipstick kiss marks on them!”
