L.O.V.E. Milan, Italy. May 2015.
Milan has a sense of humor. This is one of the more fascinating sculptures in the city that one should not miss. Located in the middle of Piazza Affari, it is hidden in the business district of the city. The sculpture was created in 2010 by Maurizio Cattelan, placed in the piazza, and was only supposed to stay in the square for a couple of weeks, yet here it stands seven years later. The Milanese government decided to keep it up indefinitely. So what is Cattelan's sculpture flipping off? Well, that's the best part; the hand is placed right in front of the "Borsa" a.k.a. Italian stock exchange. While Cattelan has never explicitly said what the message of his work is, it is safe to assume that it is a big "f*ck you" bankers. It is widely accepted to be a harsh commentary on the European economic crisis that plagued Europe in 2008 and hit Italy especially hard. If the gesture itself and the placement are not explicit enough, Cattelan titled his piece L.O.V.E., an acronym for Libertà, Odio, Vendetta, Eternità (Freedom, Hate, Vengeance, Eternity). Irony at its best.