SKYWHALE. It's a portmanteau that makes little sense unless you've the seen the mammary-endowed work of artist Patricia Piccinini. Much like the Matrix, it needs to be seen to be believed.
The floating leviathan made headlines at the weekend after it found a mate, Skywhalepapa, that debuted in the national capital in the early hours of Sunday.
Some unkind people might say that large mammals full of hot air abound in those parts, but that wouldn't be very nice.
Unlike others of its ilk, though, the Skywhale inspired scenes of pure awe as devotees of the aerial animals turned out to see its debut in the skies over the National Gallery of Australia.
"This is about taking art to the people - you can literally look up in the sky and see the skywhales flying by," director Nick Mitzevich, a Hunter native and former Newcastle Art Gallery director, said.
"Audiences don't need to go to a gallery to see the skywhales - this is art that is accessible and democratic."
Piccinini is known for her hyper-real sculptures. The ACT government commissioned Skywhale in 2013 as part of Canberra's centenary celebrations. The $172,000 cost was decried by some as a waste of money, but thousands of Canberrans turned out to see the artwork flying over the city and it has toured the world in the years since.
Mr Mitzevich said the Skywhales will take to the skies of Canberra three times together before heading off on a two-year national tour. They may also then float off to international destinations.
That brought back memories of the much-hyped visit Skywhale made to the Hunter in 2014, where conditions helped build suspense for four hours.
The visit coincided withan exhibition of Piccinini's incredibly lifelike yet fantastical sculpted creatures. The well-endowed whale was never fully inflated, but perhaps it is testament to the scale and majesty of the 34-metre long, 23-metre high beast that onlookers in the Hunter didn't seem to mind.
''I don't mind that she took her time,'' one onlooker, Emma Brennan, said. at the time. ''It's perfect lighting for it now, right on dusk.
''There are more people here now to enjoy it. When we got here at 5pm there was only a thousand or so, but now there is a really big crowd."
Ah, big crowds. Those were the days.
Hopefully the skywhales will make it to Newcastle with a bit more success when they get to travel next.
Piccinini said Skywhalepapa, like its partner, conveyed the concepts of nurturing, caring, nature and evolution. It can be seen carrying nine babies, ranging from newborns to toddlers.
Conversely, her brutish-looking creation Graham was designed to survive a car crash. The big guy had a large thick skull, is lacking a neck, and has sacks of air on his chest to act like car airbags.
He was part of a 2016 Victorian Transport Accident Commission campaign for road safety.
