Put your hands together for these funky fingers, which seem to be emerging from Playa Brava’s golden sand. For some reason they really grabbed my attention, but I can’t put my finger on why!
This world-famous work of art is also known as Los Dedos (The Fingers), or Hombre Emergiendo a la vida (Man Emerging into Life). If your Spanish is a bit rusty, you can just call it The Hand.
The dashing digits were installed by Chilean artist Mario Irarrázabal during the summer of 1982, and represent a swimmer drowning in Uruguay’s ocean. So, not quite as light-hearted as the Big Fish or Choco Frigideira! They formed part of Punta del Este’s fist-annual International Meeting of Modern Sculpture in the Open Air, and ended up on the beach because there simply wasn’t space elsewhere.
Mario really knuckled down and completed his work in just six days. After thumbing his nose at the competition, I assume he spent the rest of summer guzzling mate and dancing in the town’s many nightclubs.
Made from concrete and plastic (not high fiverglass), the three-metre marvels have been reinforced with steel bars. As you can see, Mario nailed it!
The other exhibits have, sadly, been lost to time. La Mano, however, proved so popular that it was recreated in Madrid, Venice and Chile’s Atacama Desert. Mario didn’t palm the job off to other, either – he did it single-handedly.
You can find more giant hands in Sacramento, USA, and there’s also a similar, unauthorised reproduction in Puerto Natales. Sounds like the Argentinians were giving Uruguay the finger with that one!
I would’ve offered to give La Mano a manicure, but I couldn’t find 15 litres of nail polish 🙊
