U-M prof’s HOT AIR exhibit celebrates fall of communism

Thirty six years ago Anca Trandafirescu’s family fled communist-controlled Romanian when she was six years old. Today the assistant professor of architecture at the University of Michigan has returned an artistic hero.Trandafirescu is the designer and fabricator who made the HOT AIR exhibit happen in Timisoara, Romania. The giant inflatable head exhibit celebrated the fall of communism 20 years ago by placing a giant inflatable head laying on its side in Victory Plaza where the revolution began.”It looks like what a fallen statue would look like when a regime is toppled,” Trandafirescu says. “Like when revolutionaries topple the statues of the old regime and drag them out of the square.”The exhibit measured 12 meters long and five meter high. The face was not of anyone in particular, although some compared it to Lenin’s face. It remained in the square from Nov. 3-7 to mark the revolution. It’s called HOT AIR because heat was rationed in those days and it was unusually warm during the revolution.”It helped people stay outside longer,” Trandafirescu says.The exhibit was funded with $6,700 in grants, including $3,200 from the University of Michigan. The head is in transit back to the U.S. and will go on display over the next few years to commemorate the fall of communism in Romania.Source: Anca Trandafirescu, assistant professor of architecture at the University of MichiganWriter: Jon Zemke