23 August 2022 - THE 'BIG EDGE' - LAS VEGAS

 

THE 'BIG EDGE'

 - LAS VEGAS -

G'day folks,

A giant open-air sculpture made of over 200 full-sized boats. 

Right off the Strip in Las Vegas, Nevada, amidst luxury casinos and towering neon lights, lies something completely out of place. Although bodies of water in the Mojave Desert are hard to come by, Las Vegas holds a collection of over 200 full-sized boats in the middle of the dry land and towering glass skyscrapers that make up Vegas’ CityCenter plaza.

Nancy Rubins’ “Big Edge” sculpture combines over 200 aluminum canoes, kayaks, rowboats, and sailboats, each weighing between 60 and 125 pounds, into one flowering cluster of art. Built in 2009 and still standing today, Big Edge stands at a length of 75 feet and brightens up the day of every visitor to the CityCenter.

 

Described as a “bouquet” and a “big metal flower,” Big Edge is the epitome of Nancy Rubins’ sculpture art, which specializes in clustering airplane parts, water heaters, and other industrial consumer goods into blooming bundles. Big Edge has also been described as “gravity-defying,” as thousands of pounds of stainless steel are used to make the sculpture appear as if it’s hovering above the ground.

Although Rubins claims that Big Edge has no explicit meaning, its “boats on dry land” concept does draw attention to the troubling difficulties of building a verdant, lush metropolis in the center of an arid desert.

 

8 July 2022 - LA MONA - GIANT NUDE WOMAN OF TIJUANA

 

LA MONA 

- GIANT NUDE 

WOMAN OF TIJUANA -

G'day folks,

This giant nude woman of Tijuana is also the artist's home. 

‘Give me enough rebar and an oxyacetylene torch and I’ll line the border with giant nude Amazons.’ - Armando Muñoz Garcia

In 1987 a scruffy part-time art student approached Tijuana city officials with a simple plan: He wanted to build a humongous naked woman in the middle of the city to mark the 1989 Tijuana centennial. Unsurprisingly, they declined the offer.

 

The refusal did little to dissuade artist Armando Garcia. Armando simply relocated the work to his neighborhood, an overlooked ghetto of Tijuana, and began building. Though discouraged by his professors and with little support from his classmates, the art student kept building and in 1991 he had completed his vision. Standing more than five stories tall, rising from hovels and a trash dump, stands 18 tons of fully nude woman, her arm upraised with a pinky pointing to the sky. A sly gesture noting location of Tijuana on a map of Mexico.

The huge woman, officially named “Tijuana III Millennium” by Garcia but known locally as “La Mona” or “the doll,” is a perky nude, based on one of Garcia’s ex-girlfriends. In recent years as the sculpture has begun to age and Garcia’s ex-girlfriend has started coming around demanding a make-over.

For Garcia the giant nude is more than just his claim to fame. It was, for a long time, his home. Garcia lived inside the woman with his wife. Their bedroom is in the woman’s breasts, the study is in her head, the kitchen in her stomach, and the bathrooms are anatomically appropriately located in her behind.

 

Garcia has since moved to a new house, this one also in the shape of a giant woman but only from the waist up. He currently still uses La Mona as a work space.

 

20 May 2022 - INTERNET ANTENNAS OF CHRIST THE KING - POLAND

 

INTERNET ANTENNAS OF 

CHRIST THE KING 

- POLAND  - 

G'day folks,

This towering statue of Jesus provided internet to the surrounding area. 

The Christ the King statue in Świebodzin, western Poland, is considered by some to be the tallest statue of Jesus in the world. It also once had internet antennas on its head, a feature that remains something of a mystery.

Poland’s Christ the King statue was completed in 2010, at a cost of around $1.5 million. Upon its inauguration, some 15,000 Christian pilgrims and tourists came to see the monumental unveiling.

The statue itself is 108 feet tall, but if you include the mound it sits on and the golden crown on its head, its total height is 167 feet. This would make it the tallest statue of Christ in the world, surpassing Cristo de la Concordia in Cochabamba, Bolivia (133 feet) and Rio de Janeiro’s Christ the Redeemer (125 feet).

The statue was financed entirely through donations from the town’s 21,000 residents, along with other outside advocates of the project. Not all residents were happy, however, quietly and often anonymously arguing that the money would have been far better spent on new schools, hospitals, or roads. Many were wary of speaking out in fear of provoking the wrath of the church in what is a very Catholic town in a particularly devout country.

More controversy arose 10 years after the statue’s completion. In 2018, the Polish tabloid Fakt 24 noticed that antennas had been installed on top of Jesus’s head, tucked inside his 9.8-foot-tall golden crown. The agency sent up a drone for a better look at the equipment and confirmed that the antennas were for broadcasting an internet signal.

 

Still, no one seemed to want to provide a clear answer regarding the statue’s divine broadcasting abilities. Reporters contacted the Divine Mercy Parish, the religious body that oversees the statue, asking if they had rented out Jesus’s head. A spokesperson denied all knowledge and stated that Christ’s crown was not being leased to anyone.

The same reporters then found a source at an unnamed internet provider, who claimed that the antennas were placed there by request of the parish. According to the report, the source stated that the local church needed the network for a video surveillance system, and that the agreement was completely legal. The source also said that the signal was being relayed to other clients in the area.

Beyond that, it remained a mystery. Was the head of Christ the King being monetized in the pursuit of better wi-fi? Was it not profane to place antennas on the head of Jesus Christ? Opinions vary, but one thing is for certain: The towering statue is an ideal spot for an antenna array, providing an unobstructed view across the landscape and far-reaching internet coverage.

Unfortunately, all that is a thing of the past. The local bishop, when he learned about the antennas, ordered their removal because many faithful found them offensive. They were removed on May 9, 2018.

Clancy's comment: I'd have thought this was a resourceful use of a statue. 

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10 May 2022 - STATUE OF DETECTIVE COLUMBO IN BUDAPEST

 

STATUE OF DETECTIVE COLUMBO

 IN BUDAPEST

G'day folks,

Thanks to a tenuous familial connection, Budapest’s Falk Miksa Street is now home to a life-size bronze reproduction of Peter Falk as America’s favorite soft-spoken detective in the rumpled coat, Columbo.

Installed in 2014 at an estimated cost of $63,000, the bronze lieutenant was part of an overall rejuvenation project in the area, although exactly why the figure was chosen is a bit of a mystery. According to organizers, actor Peter Falk may have been related to the 19th-century Hungarian political figure, Miksa Falk, after whom the street is named, although they also admit that this connection has yet to be proven. The American Falk is known to have had Hungarian roots on one side of his family, although it has never been linked to Miksa Falk’s family. Some have also questioned the timing of the statue’s installation given that Peter Falk passed away in 2011, meaning that it is unlikely to commemorate his passing either. Many believe that it was unveiled in time to garner votes in an upcoming election, although this seems to be a strange way to go about it. 

 

Just one more thing… At the foot of the metal lieutenant’s feet is a bronze basset hound modeled after a local dog named Franzi, who even showed up for the unveiling. This is of course supposed to be Columbo’s droopy-faced pet, “Dog.” Unfortunately, the dog does not seem to provide any further clues to the decision-making process behind the statue’s bizarre existence. Maybe if Columbo were still alive, he’d be able to solve the case.

There is also a little bronze squirrel with a gun right behind Colombo. Why is it there and what it means is a bit of a mystery. 

Clancy's comment: 'Uh, pardon me, ma'am, but I couldn't help noticing that there's a Columbo statue in the middle of Budapest. Oh ... there's one more thing ... '

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18 April 2022 - TALLEST STATUE OF BUDDHA IN JAPAN - SHOWA DAIBUTSU

 

TALLEST STATUE OF 

BUDDHA IN JAPAN

 - SHOWA DAIBUTSU  -

 

G'day folks,

Welcome to the tallest bronze seated statue of the Buddha in Japan. 

Located in Aomori, at the Seiryuji (Blue-Green Dragon) Temple is a colossal likeness of Dainichi Nyorai completed in 1984. This particular Buddha, known primarily as Vairocana in the sanskrit, is the principal deity of the esoteric Shingon sect of Buddhism. This particular Daibutsu is the tallest seated bronze statue of the Buddha in Japan, taller even than the famous Daibutsu of Nara.

 

Shingon Temples hold light ceremonies during the Bon Festival, in mid-August, to help those in a liminal state between life and death successfully transmigrate. Often, during this time, parents of a recently departed child will pray for the pacification of their own souls, and for that of the child’s. The Seiryuji Temple is no different in this respect, holding grand light ceremonies for the entirety of the Bon Festival.

Clancy's comment: Trust me. This is big, but I have seen bigger statues in SE Asia.

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19 February 2022 - CLINTON 12 STATUE - TENNESSEE

 

CLINTON 12 STATUE

 - TENNESSEE -

G'day folks,

A bronze sculpture honors the 12 black students who attended the first integrated public high school in the segregated South. 

High on top of a hill overlooking the small East Tennessee town of Clinton, 12 bronzed statues of high school students stand in front of an old school building. They are symbols of courage and conviction in an age of racial strife.

In August of 1956, 12 black students walked down the hill from this school into an all-white public high school for their first day of classes. This marked the first integration of a public high school in the segregated South.

The groundbreaking event came in the wake of the landmark Supreme Court decision of Brown vs. Board of Education. The integration of Clinton High School is often overshadowed by what happened in places like Little Rock, Arkansas a year later. The events here made national news at the time, but were mostly “forgotten” until  2006 when a documentary on the “Clinton 12” was released and the Green McAdoo Cultural Center opened its doors.

For the most part, the situation in 1956 remained calm and peaceful. However, outside agitators made a scene and the National Guard tanks eventually rolled across the Clinch River bridge to help keep the situation from turning violent. Today, the story of the Clinton 12 is told in the old Green McAdoo School, the place where these students attended elementary school. Black students in Clinton could not attend high school in the county and had to travel to the nearest public black high school 30 miles away in Knoxville.

 

When you step inside the museum there are school desks set up in rows. You can take a seat and soak in your surroundings, getting a good idea what it must have been like to go to school there. Continuing through the museum, large displays explain what happened when John Kasper came to Clinton and the trouble he caused. You also learn how the actions of a Baptist Minister and a high school football captain each worked to make the Clinton 12 feel welcome in their new surroundings.

Probably the most moving section focuses on the bombing of the high school (now Clinton Middle School).  Luckily, it happened after-hours and no one was injured or killed, but it did force an already stressed student body to have to pack up and move until a new school was built. A historical marker now stands in front of Clinton Middle School, marking the historic events of the time.  

The story of the Clinton 12 is also told in a special Disney Channel production made for Black History Month. It features actor Cameron Boyce telling the story of his grandmother, JoAnn Boyce, who was one of the original 12 students.

Clancy's comment: Twelve courageous students.

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14 February 2022 - 'LA LECON' - THE LESSON

 

'LA LECON'

 - THE LESSON -

G'day folks,

Immortalized in bronze, this frazzled student will be glued to his screen for centuries. 

It’s hard to use a keyboard in a blizzard. But even on the grisliest of winter days, there’s always at least one student lost in a laptop near the grand entrance gates of McGill University in Montreal.

With a fruit-branded notebook, fast food strewn at his feet, and one shoelace undone, the bronze sculpture titled “La Leçon” (“The Lesson”) is a heavy-handed lampoon of student life. It’s the creation of artist Cédric Loth, who has also worked as a creative director and cartoonist. The sculpture is littered with little jokes, from the laptop’s pear-shaped logo (in French, “poire” means “a gullible person”) to the squirrel swiping a hamburger bun. The distressed student’s slick haircut seems to droop in despair. As if his day couldn’t get any worse, his browser window bears the news “Steve Jobs est mort” (Steve Jobs is dead)!

 Placing such a crass caricature across from the entrance of one of Canada’s most prestigious universities might be seen as a prank. Indeed, since its unveiling in 2012, the statue has occasionally been counterattacked by vandals. Someone tried to saw off one of its fingers, and his browser window was once replaced by an error message warning “too much time on social media!”

 

With its tiny trackpad and generous array of ports, the student’s laptop already seems a little dated. You have to wonder how this disheveled bronze buffoon will be seen a hundred years from now, when he could very well still be failing upwards at the corner of Sherbrooke and McGill College Avenue.

Clancy's comment: These statues always enchant me. As you will see below, here are  some I've photographed in SE Asia.

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1 January 2022 - DECEBAL'S HEAD - ROMANIA

 

DECEBAL'S HEAD

 - ROMANIA -

G'day folks,

 A giant portrait of an ancient king looms over the river.

This 40-meter-tall bearded stone face overlooking the Danube River looks like something straight from Middle Earth. In reality, it’s the recent creation of a Romanian businessman.

Decebal (Decebalus the Brave One) was the last king of Dacia. He was also one of the mightiest rulers of this ancient kingdom. After reuniting fragmented Dacian tribes, he fought three wars against two Roman emperors before finally succumbing to the power of Rome in 106.

  

The national identity of modern Romania is still firmly rooted in its ancient Dacian heritage. This monumental stone portrait of Decebal is the brainchild of Iosif Constantin Dragan, a businessman and historian. It’s situated on the Romanian side of Danube, right opposite the Tabula Traiana, a memorial to the Roman conquest of Dacia. At 40 meters, it is is the tallest rock sculpture in Europe and took 10 years (from 1994 to 2004) for a team of 12 sculptors to complete.

Inscription on the statue is, somewhat ironically, written in Latin—the language introduced to Romania by Decebal’s enemies. It reads “DECEBALUS REX - DRAGAN FECIT” (“King Decebal - Made by Dragan”).

 

Clancy's comment: That is a massive statue.

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18 December 2019 - EDGAR HERNANDEZ - LITTLE BOY ZERO

EDGAR HERNANDEZ

 - LITTLE BOY ZERO -

G'day folks,

Welcome to some facts about the first victim of swine flu.

Many little boys dream of the day that a statue will be erected in their home town celebrating their life’s defining achievement. But unlike Edgar Hernandez, five year old resident of the Mexican state of Velacruz, they don’t usually get one.

In 2009, the boy, from the poor village of La Gloria, became “Patient Zero”, the first known person to catch H1N1, the deadly swine flu virus. While the strong and healthy boy survived the virus, 14,000 people worldwide were not so lucky.

The statue is based on the famous Mannequin Pis in Belgium, but fortunately for young Edgar’s future dignity, he remains fully clothed. In his right hand, he clutches a toad, representing one of the seven deadly plagues wreaked upon the Pharoah and his people. Edgar’s mother, Maria del Carmen Hernandez Perez, insists that her son likes the statue. Meanwhile, the state government is working hard to promote the statue, which it hopes will become a major draw for the rural town.

It is too early to tell how Edgar will feel about his fame when he grows up, but sculptor Bernardo Luis Lopez Artasanchez may hope it fares better than one of his previous works. In 2007, a statue of former president Vicente Fox was torn down by an angry mob.

Clancy's comment: Go, Edgar!

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