A 43-foot-tall spider and a 46-foot tall minotaur roamed the streets of Toulouse, France last week. And no, that’s not a writer’s hallucination, but rather, an elaborate performance by theatrical puppet collective La Machine.
The show, called “The Guardian of the Temple” ran for four days starting November 1, during which the minotaur slept in the city square and the spider descended from a roof. The movements of the creatures are highly elaborate, controlled by over a dozen people. Even the eyes and ears have a designated puppeteer.
The giants are made of wood and metal and took a total of two years to complete.
The performance aimed to unite the town in an immersive experience and marked the opening of a new exposition centre “Halle de la Machine” which will house the minotaur, the spider and other of La Machine’s robot-like creations.