The Shaq statue is Amrany’s most ambitious, most nerve-racking piece yet, but he’s hard at work on his next project—a 50-foot tall likeness of Johnny Cash to be erected in Folsom, California.
“We did Napoleon Dynamite for 20th Century Fox [in 2014],” he says. “We’re working with cities like Folsom. We’re working with memorial organizations, tributes for different cases, and, of course, with the sport.”
Part of why Amrany is so in-demand is the vaunted place statues hold in the cultural psyche. Sure, the dangling Shaq statue is terrifying to me, but for most fans, these works of art inspire awe and respect. It’s, as Amrany suggested, an opportunity for average people to reach out and interact with something they deem greater than themselves. Sure, it’s also a bit of idol worship, but that’s just part of the human condition. We crave heroes, figures of esteem responsible for feats beyond our wildest dreams.
Some people might disagree, but the sports statue is an intrinsic part of a franchise’s identity and means something to the average fan who throws down hundreds of dollars to be a part of the action. When the real people are gone, like Chick Hearn, these statues give us the chance to remember what we loved about them.
In a way, my own nervous feelings about Shaq squashing me are how I will choose to remember his playing days. He was a fearsome, unstoppable scoring machine whose size and speed were unmatched. Amrany’s job is to sort out how to make a statue as memorable as the subject it’s based on.
“I think that what makes something memorable is if in 200 years, people look back and say it was the right thing to do for its time.”
If you’re reading this 200 years in the future, shoot us a tweet and let us know.