Prospector features an inflatable sculpture, for the Time Park parking lot in downtown Denver on Grant Street, across from the Colorado State Capital.

Prospector is the artist’s first major outdoor sculpture in Denver. The 40-foot sculpture is a monochromatic blue inflatable inspired by the Disney Toy Story 2 prospector, Stinky Pete. For Person, the character draws many references from Denver—from its gold mining history to the speculation of current tech economies and real estate booms, and particularly the connection with the era of digital commerce.

The character itself echoes the rich histories of westward expansion, manifest destiny, technology, and the classic story of the American entrepreneurial spirit. In this work, Person likens the historic miner character to the modern digital entrepreneur like the artist himself, wielding 3D printers, and coding skills.

This work has been conceived and produced specifically for this pop up exhibition. Its placement, next to the newly refurbished gold dome on the Colorado State Capital, calls out Denver’s history, but the inflatable also harkens to the inflatables used in outdoor commercial lots to attract customers to car or hot tub sales. This tension in the historic content of the work and the cheap, commercial, and temporary inflatable form are the tensions that make this work important to current discourse about the economy and values of society.