For my redesign of The Charging Bull, I decided to expand on my first Idea from class. In my first idea, I kept the bull’s original figure, but I made him transparent and put money in his body. I also placed him on wall street instead of Bowling Green Park. For my new design I kept him in Bowling Green park and stayed the same with the transparency and money, however, I removed his body entirely and made it just a set of balls. The Charging Bull was originally made to show the strength and perseverance of the American people, but over time has come to symbolize capitalism, greed, and America’s obsession with money. The bull has become a tourist attraction, complete with keychains and mini models galore, feeding into capitalism. When people visit the bull, they rub his balls for good luck and fortune, and this is just one way of showing how greedy and self-centered a lot of Americans are. People wait in long lines just to rub him and get a piece of his fortune, completely unaware and unconcerned with the history of the monument or even why it exists. They are just focused on personal gain. I chose to make the entire sculpture the bull’s balls to shed light on peoples behavior and make them think about their actions and selfishness. I decided to place money in the balls because people usually rub them to get good luck, specifically related to financial situations, and by having the money on display it forces people to realize exactly what they are doing. My whole goal with this monument is to make people realize what is happening in America, and even if it doesn’t cause change, it will at least wake people up and make them aware of what is going on all the time.
