Giant Band-Aid - St. Petersburg, FL - Ginormous Everyday Objects on Waymarking.com

"The materials used in Rosenquist's USF Children's Research Institute sculpture represent the complexity of the commission and the structural need to resist the harsh sub-tropical weather, particularly the sun. The surface of the sculpture is fabricated in polyester resin with an interior of foamcore made out of polyeurethene and an aluminum honeycomb. This technique is employed in the fabrication of boats and airplanes. The fabrication of the structure was undertaken by Richard Stauffer, a boat maker working in Aripeka, Florida near Rosenquist's studio. The paint Rosenquist used to apply the design is a high-gloss Dupont Imron which is a polyeurethene paint (two part chemical cure). In this way, Rosenquist's design was bonded to the fiberglass structure of the sculpture in such as way as to protect the image from the weather for the maximum amount of time. The fiberglass surface is supported by a welded aluminum frame that also provides the bracket, which fixes it to the facade of the building.

The prominent location of the sculpture high up on the facade of the building makes it visible to both pedestrian and driver alike. In this way, it performs a signage function, signaling the location of the University of South Florida Children's Research Institute, a research facility which works cooperatively with All Children's Hospital.

In the development of the project, Rosenquist first considered the idea of an arm holding out a bandage. His idea was always to celebrate the research and treatment of children's illnesses. Little by little, the more literal idea of an arm was distilled to the image of an ordinary adhesive bandage, as a symbol of the healing of minor bruises and abrasions in childhood. Still, the slightly angled position of the sculpture echoed the original idea of first aid provided by a benevolent helping hand. The simplicity of the image stood in for the complexity of the research. That the sculpture breaks the line of the top of the building suggests that it is a symbol of help as an uplifting and altruistic force. Rosenquist was interested in the beige color of the brickwork on the facade. In this way the bandage is applied to the "skin" of the building, which becomes metaphoric of the human skin of children, another symbol of health care. A rainbow pattern suggests that the need for research in the care of children is a universal concern for all ethnicities. And here Rosenquist points to the international and multi-cultural dimension of the research conducted in this facility. This concern echoes some of the imagery used in the aforementioned Paris mural dedicated to the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Man. Other designs include more abstract celestial images and an archaic cipher-like alphabet, all deployed in a playful manner. The idea is that healing connects with larger social and community concerns.

Rosenquist's It Heals Up works according not only to the designs painted on it, but according to the principle of scale and enlargement. An adhesive bandage is a small, ordinary object found in any home and used for the treatment of minor abrasions. Here the ordinary small object is transformed into the public monument. It is a universally recognizable and readable image and object. There is no opaque intention, and it is a clear and transparent statement. This approach is rooted in the Pop Art position of Rosenquist's early years."