India’s Statue of Unity has been the world’s tallest statute for several years now, but it could have competition from an unlikely source.
US-based VC Marc Andreessen has bought an island off the coast of San Francisco to build a statue that’ll be 5 times taller than the Statue of Unity. Andreessen announced on X that he was the “mystery buyer” of Red Rock island, a craggy 5.8 acre island near San Francisco which was estimated to be worth $25 million (Rs. 200 crore). Andreessen took to X to ask for designs for a “1000 yard” statue of Greek God Apollo that he intends to build on the island.
“I’m proud to announce I’m soliciting designs for a 1,000-yard-tall gleaming mirrored sculpture of Apollo,” he posted. At 1000 yards tall, it will be five times as tall as India’s statue of Unity, which is currently the world’s tallest statue at 200 yards tall.
After Andreessen’s post, designs for the statue began streaming in on X, and featured Apollo with San Francisco’s iconic Golden Gate bridge in the background. Apollo is one of the most prominent gods in Greek and Roman mythology, and is the god of archery, music and dance, truth and prophecy, healing and diseases, the Sun and light, poetry, and more.
Andreessen is obvious fabulously wealthy, having co-founded Netscape and then run the extremely successful VC firm Andreessen Horowitz. He’s worth nearly $2 billion, so spending $25 million on an island isn’t something that he can’t afford. But the choice of the Greek god Apollo seems intentional, and a stand against the woke ideology that’s taken over Silicon Valley. San Francisco, as a result of new-age woke ideas and policies, has been grappling with crime and homelessness to such a degree that several of its residents and companies have moved elsewhere, and the city risks losing its pre-eminent place as the center of the world’s tech industry. Andreessen has often spoken out against woke culture, and having a giant statue of a god from a civilization that’s the fount of the Western World would drive home that point. In an era where when modern art is becoming increasingly bizarre and absurdist, having a statute of a Greek god visible from San Francisco’s shores could uplift the city’s spirits, and help push back against post-modernist dogma. But it’s just a shame that if Andreessen’s plan does come to fruition, it’ll end up eclipsing India’s Statue of Unity’s claim to fame as the world’s tallest statue.