KAWS Sends a 30-Meter Robot COMPANION to West Lake

A 30-meter-long COMPANION recently reclined beside Hangzhou’s West Lake, trading its familiar soft anatomy for the segmented armor of a futuristic robot. The temporary installation was the latest stop in KAWS:HOLIDAY, the public-art tour created by KAWS and AllRightsReserved.

Installed at “Orioles Singing in the Willows,” one of the celebrated Ten Scenes of West Lake, the giant figure lay on the grass with its X-marked face tilted toward the sky. The pose connected the work to the Mid-Autumn tradition of moon gazing while its mechanical redesign nodded to Hangzhou’s identity as a technology center.

Osmanthus Yellow

The COMPANION’s warm yellow skin drew from the osmanthus, Hangzhou’s official flower, which perfumes the city in autumn. Against gray-blue mist, tiled roofs, willow branches, and distant mountains, the color made the figure feel at once conspicuous and strangely settled into the landscape.

That contrast carried the installation: a globally recognizable pop figure presented within a setting shaped by centuries of poetry, painting, garden design, and seasonal ritual. Seen from above, the sculpture read like a visitor who had stretched out beside the water to look at the moon.

A Traveling COMPANION

Since 2018, KAWS:HOLIDAY has placed monumental COMPANION figures in landscapes and urban landmarks around the world, including Seoul, Hong Kong, Tokyo, Singapore, Melbourne, Shanghai, and Bangkok. Each edition reworks the character in response to its setting.

The Hangzhou installation was organized by AllRightsReserved with local partner WESTLAKE 66 and was on view from September 24 through 27, 2026. Follow KAWS on Instagram for future projects.

All images: KAWS via @kaws. Source: Trendland.