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HOTTEA creates a Prince-inspired pop-up installation outside of Paisley Park

Photos by Lucy Hawthorne for MPR
Photos by Lucy Hawthorne for MPR

by Sylvia Jennings

April 30, 2020

Minneapolis-based visual artist Eric Rieger, known as HOTTEA, has created an installation located on the bike path right outside of Paisley Park. The artist is known for creating installations by suspending or stringing yarn of various colors; this installation comprises 4,200 purple strands, each knotted twice, that move with the breeze and create an almost holographic sensation.

HOTTEA was not commissioned to make this piece, and installed it independently. He encourages others to go out and see it while they are still able to. Of course, the artist reminds potential visitors to prioritize the safety of themselves and others while viewing it. "Please keep a safe distance and enjoy the memory of Prince and all the passion and joy he brought to this world." HOTTEA wrote on Instagram.

"It's definitely a sad time in our world today," HOTTEA wrote on the fourth anniversary of Prince's passing, "but music has the ability to capture moments in our life. When I think of Prince I think of the time he changed his name to a symbol. It was all over the news in the '90s. I admired how unique and bold he was, I wanted to be like that."

HOTTEA has been commissioned to create installations for events ranging from New York Fashion Week to the Superbowl in 2018, which took place in Minneapolis. His pop-up Prince tribute joins several local murals: one just off Hennepin Avenue in South Minneapolis, one in downtown Minneapolis, one in Chanhassen, and one in Henderson (where the “that ain’t Lake Minnetonka” scene was filmed for Purple Rain). A temporary mural went up last summer on the Midtown Greenway.

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Clean Water Land & Legacy Amendment
This activity is made possible in part by the Minnesota Legacy Amendment’s Arts & Cultural Heritage Fund.