For almost a decade, a 30-foot spider has terrorized downtown areas across the globe, burrowing in for months at a time and then rushing off to cast fear over a new city. This massive bronze sculpture, titled "Maman," descended on London this week for a season-long exhibition of French artist Louise Bourgeois's new work.

OK, objection #1: Don't invite a massive metal arachnid into your city!

Objection #2 is not that Ms. Bourgeois made a 30-foot spider (it is impressive), but rather why she made it. "Maman, in fact, is associated with the artist's own mother," reads the Guggenheim website. To Bourgeois, spiders are motherly figures – protectors of their young and a positive force. Ha!

This summer, I saw a smaller spider from the same series at Boston's ICA. The 11-foot version took up the entire room, forcing you to walk under its bulbous abdomen in order to see the rest of the gallery. An unwitting child skipped toward its lair, not knowing what lurked around the corner. Once the monster came into view, she froze in horror. It took her mom several minutes to coax the poor girl into the room.

These sculptures have no subconscious maternity – unless we're talking about Grendel's mother.

Anyway, if you "get it," the Bourgeois exhibit opens tomorrow at London's Tate Modern. You might want to leave the children at home.

(Credit: Wikipedia via thaths's Flickr account)