Man With Head In Railings Artwork (Which Later Disappears!)

Early morning passers by were left confused on Tuesday morning when they saw what seemed to be a man with his head caught in the railings.

However upon further inspection they discovered it was a sculpture by local artist, Mark Roberts.

The 26-year-old artist, who uses the name Markrobla has been putting the sculptures around Wrexham to see how people react to them.

Over the past few weeks three of Mark’s sculptures have appeared in the town; a man with his head in a bin on Queen’s Square and a homeless man in a hammock on Island Green.

“I thought it was interesting that people just stopped to take photos of the man with his head trapped in a bin, it was quite cold.” said Mark.

“There were people kicking a football at the guy in a hammock and tried to get him out. It was very odd seeing people doing that to what was meant to be a guy in a hammock.”

This more recent sculpture had his head trapped in the railings outside the Oriel and across the way from the Army Careers. Unlike his previous two sculptures this one used writing, and had PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) written across it’s back.

Dressed as a WW2 solider, Mark said he used ‘site specific art’ to make an impact.

“The idea for the piece came from a conversation I had with a guy who Post Traumatic Stress Disorder”, said Mark,

“He said it was like having his head stuck in railings. The whole point of the piece was to inspire conversation on PTSD.”

The most recent sculpture was put up at 6:00am. However when Wrexham.com met up with Mark in the morning to discuss the sculpture, it had been taken! We’re currently unsure who took it!

The sculptures, which take around a week to complete, are made through a technique called ‘Tape casting’. This involves using tape to create a mould / body before filling it with paper to create the sculpture.

Over the coming weeks Mark plans to place more sculptures in various locations in the town centre.

Mark said: “I want each piece to be different. The man with his head in the bin was looking for food due to the recession. The homeless man in the hammock represented a place where he could sleep.

“It ties in with Existentialism and the abandonment of the body.”

For more on Mark’s artwork then visit: markrobla.tumblr.com