Hello, it’s a giant inflatable sculpture of Lionel Richie’s Head.
An interactive artwork that drew praise from the likes of Stefan Sagmeister, Rob da Bank and even Lionel Richie himself.
Inspired by the Lionel Richie internet meme phenomenon and in particular, the Hello music video where a blind girl sculpts his head, Hungry Castle created a fully immersive and surreal experience par excellence. One by one, people crawled through the cranial nerve tunnel to go deep inside Lionel Richie’s subconscious and listen to Lionel’s inner thoughts and voice. ‘Hello, is it me you’re looking for?’
Hungry Castle built this supernatural sculpture through Kickstarter crowdfunding and in the process collaborated with sculptor Alex Sans Massó, graffiti artist Stefano Phen and inflatable designers Dropscom. Lionel Richie’s Head was officially launched at the UK music festival Bestival in September 2013. 60,000 people bypassed Elton John and Snoop Dogg to queue up and get inside Lionel Richie’s Head. After donating £1000 to the campaign, Australians Adam Strachan and Christian White became the first ever people on the planet to spend a night inside Lionel Richie’s Head.
This unique installation obtained newsworthy attention from The Huffington Post, The Guardian, The BBC, USA Today, and so many more! After an immense public response to the sculpture at Bestival, the Lionel Richie Head World Tour began exhibiting in prestigious galleries such as ADC in New York. To this day, the possibility remains that irony will be completed and Lionel Richie will go inside Lionel Richie’s Head.