Philip Colbert’s Death of Marat Lobster

By Ilaria Bevan

Neo-Pop Surrealist artist and St. Andrews University alumnus, Philip Colbert, has transformed St. Salvator’s Quadrangle into an artist’s playground with his fun inflatable lobster. 

Dressed in a royal blue suit with cartoon egg details, the enormous lobster pops against the surrounding cool-toned stone buildings and the brilliant grass, now adorned with white spray-painted hearts. Overall the lobster heightens this already uplifting scene. 

Philip Colbert’s inflatable lobster installation in St Salvator’s Quad. Photo taken from St Andrews’ Global Office Twitter page.

Back in March, this inflatable lobster, as well as three bronze companions, were meant to decorate Sallies Quad and the library respectively. These stunts would have been the opening act for his exhibition “Philip Colbert: The Death of Marat & the Birth of the Lobster” to be shown at the Wardlaw Museum. 

Whilst our friendly inflatable lobster has lost his three bronze friends due to restrictions in Scotland, he will stand proud in Sallies Quad from Wednesday 21st October to Friday 23rd October. It is part of the university’s Can-Do initiative to help students to experiment with what we can do to add to student experience, despite restrictions. This friendly addition to our community certainly ‘can do’ just that.