Giant panda scales Chengdu mall

Lawrence Argent is known for his massive public art installations. Photo provided to China Daily

China's 'smog art' movement

Crying their hearts out

Argent says the installment must have a connection with human behavior.

But how can Argent make the panda visible so that it is attractive and fulfills its purpose - encouraging consumers to enter the mall? He knew the seventh floor had a different aspect where he could make something that was partially hidden. "You want people to come in and get entertained through the building," Argent explains.

People move through the space, and that is what the artist calls "the interaction between people and public projects".

Argent says he also tries to convey a double meaning - he not only aims to provoke thoughts about our own existence through his work, he also wants people to reflect on the growing prosperity of the city.

The giant panda sculpture reminds people that we should not neglect the care of giant pandas amid rapid commercial development, the artist says.

Based in Denver, Colorado, Argent is a household name in the United States with his massive public art installations I See What You Mean and Leap.

I See What You Mean is a giant blue bear peeping into a convention center in Denver.

"I wanted to create a relationship between us and nature, as well as the idea that people think of what art is. The consensus is that Colorado is not very progressive in art, so I wanted to play with the idea of that assumption," Argent says.

"My work is all about what we think we know. Undermining that 'what we know' into a new possibility is my goal. How many times do we assume something and that assumption is incorrect? So the difficulty of my art pieces is about bringing that complexity to life," Argent says.