Wait

The sculpture is a legless creature of gray color with the head of a northern elephant seal , the body of a giant larva and the hands of a man sitting on a chair in the waiting room ^{[6] [7]} .

Initially installed in front of the children's hospital in Leiden ^[8] . As of February 2017, the sculpture has been moved inside the the University of Leiden to a hall with more than 10 other sculptures ^{[9] [10]} . On February 19, 2017, the sculpture is located at the entrance to the Leiden University Medical Center ^[11] .

The Leiden University Hospital provided Margrit van Brevort with a grant for the creation of sculpture ^[2] for the annual competition held by the Sculpture Foundation in Leiden. The theme of the 2016 contest was biological sciences ^[12] .

The artist has long thought about the subject of the future sculpture, as she did not want to depict something related to medicine or disease ^[7] . She drew attention to the people who sit in line to the doctor in anticipation of the diagnosis, and decided to dedicate his sculpture to patients ^{[7] [2]} . According to Margrit van Brevort, she wanted to show with her sculpture that “patients simply have to wait for their fate with the hope of the best” ^[7] . In addition, the artist set herself the task of making this waiting patient attractive and sweet, so that he was comfortable and could make him laugh ^[7] .

According to the artist ^[7] , “my character is a kind of failed experiment, he is waiting and hoping to become better. He is like a big sweet ball of flesh that I want to hug. ” The sculpture is made of plastic and epoxy resin, which when mixed form a substance resembling clay - it feels hard and rough to the touch ^[12] .

In 2016, the sculpture became the most photographed attraction of Leiden ^[13] .

In January 2017, after posting a photo of the sculpture on the site of Picabu ^{[2] [14]} , it became a popular meme in RuNet under the name “Waiting” ^{[15] [5] [16] [17] [18]} , in Ukrainian and Belarusian Internet segment under the names "Zhdun", "Pochekun" ^{[19] [4] [20]} .

On February 24, 2017, People’s Deputy of Ukraine Borislav Bereza brought the figure “Zhduna” to the sessional hall of the Verkhovna Rada , which, before the beginning of the meeting and speeches by members of the Cabinet of Ministers, was put on the parliamentary rostrum ^[21] . The deputy called Zhduna a symbol of the expectations of Ukrainian society ^[22] .

Russian political scientist and journalist Dmitry Travin called Zhduna a national symbol of Russia. In his opinion, Russian Zhdun is sad, lazy and sluggish, but at the same time sympathetic and optimistic: he “hung his nose and folded his hands on his tummy” in anticipation of changes for the better, since “the country has long reigned stagnant and there are no conditions for political, neither for civil nor for investment activity ” ^[23] . A similar opinion was expressed by sociologist Alexei Roshchin, who noted that the image of дуdun, with all its attractiveness, also reflects the hidden displeasure of people: “This is a sign of universal impoverishment, both intellectual and spiritual, since nothing interesting happens in Russia” ^[24] .

The Dutch edition of Mare noted that “in Russia, where a person is powerless against bureaucracy , endless waiting is an important part of everyday life,” and in conditions where “social problems cannot be resolved by a legitimate parliament, an independent judiciary or demonstrations,” Internet satire remains the only way expressing dissatisfaction with the authorities, which led to the popularity of the meme ^[3] . Isabelle Mandro, a reporter for Le Monde, associates the popularity of the image with both memories of Soviet times, "when it was necessary to take turns in front of grocery stores or wait for months furniture from early morning" , and with the failures of Russian reforms ^[25] .

The publication of “ Igromania ” in the article about Zhduna told about the influence of the character on pop culture and on the audience of video game fans.

In the wake of Zdun’s popularity, toys, figurines, bean bags and large meme sculptures began to be sold on the Internet ^[27] . It was also sold as a gift for Valentine's Day , on February 23 and March 8 ^[28] .

In the city of Chita , a copy of the sculpture was installed on the retro site of the park. Officers' houses ^[29] . A similar copy is also available at the top of the Russian mountain resort Rosa Khutor .

In July 2017, it became known that the Russian company CD Land had bought the rights to use the brand Zhdun from Margrit van Brevort. CD Land plans to resell the brand to other companies that will produce toys, dishes and stationery with Zdun. Also planned are filming the animated series with this hero and a blog on his behalf ^[30] .

On August 28, 2018, CD Land sued Megafon 8.6 million rubles for illegal use of Zhdun's image ^[31] .

For the first time in literature, “waiting” appears in Nestan Dubovitsky's gestalt novel Ultranormalnost . According to the popular version, under this pseudonym, the assistant to the President of the Russian Federation, Vladislav Surkov, writes ^[32] .

• Watto
• Stupid fox

• Chebyshev, F. A. Semantics of Waiting and Means of Its Expression in the Russian Language : Diss. ... Cand. filol. Sciences: 10.02.01 / Chebyshev F. A.; Vyatka State University. - Kirov: [b. I.], 2017.
• Homunculus loxodontus (English) . margrietvanbreevoort.nl . The appeal date is February 10, 2017.
• Isabelle Mandro. Waiting, a fetish of patience and a symbol of Russia, which can no longer wait / Jdoun, mascotte de la patience et symbole d'une Russie qui n'en peut plus d'attendre (Unidentified) . Le Monde . www.inopressa.ru (March 2, 2017). The appeal date is March 4, 2017.
• Waiting among us: what is the phenomenon of the Internet meme / Kommersant-FM
• Dmitry Travin . Not only Russian waiting ( Neopr .) . Vedomosti (March 8, 2017). The appeal date is March 12, 2017.