The source of a recently-broken curse, the tallest statue to adorn the top of any building surmounts the tallest masonry building in the world. A bit of perspective. Too much perspective? [more inside]
posted by Robin Kestrel on Nov 29, 2008 - 33 comments

A Serbian village erecting a statue to reggae superstar Bob Marley? Sure, why not? A Bosnian town with a statue of kung-fu legend Bruce Lee? Hell, yeah! And how 'bout, say, a Serbian monument to Rocky? Er, well.. ok. But the British Museum displaying what they say is the largest gold statue built since ancient Egypt, of... Kate Moss? Um... I dunno. I prefer the Russian monument to the enema.
posted by flapjax at midnite on Aug 28, 2008 - 32 comments

Lightning strikes world's largest Jesus. Masonry + nature + photography = awesome.
posted by XQUZYPHYR on Feb 12, 2008 - 86 comments

Peter B. Kaplan is a New York Photographer who made his name by climbing to high locations and taking amazing super-wide angle shots since the 70's -- most notably, the Statue of Liberty restoration project. He recently had to stop after 40 years because he started suffering from vertigo. After laying off ginkgo biloba, Kaplan’s vertigo and fear of heights has apparently disappeared.
posted by Dave Faris on Jun 25, 2007 - 4 comments

"...it looks like the dad's selling the tickets, the boy's complaining about something, and the mom and girl are extremely disinterested." If you liked Ted Bates, you'll love the Portland Sea Dogs. Quoth King Kaufman: "The hilarious part of the controversy is the statue itself, which is funnier than Spinal Tap's Stonehenge. It's that bad."
posted by staggernation on Apr 10, 2007 - 54 comments

If you work at Langley and you need a break from actual intelligence gathering, you can always try to crack the code to the sculpture right outside the cafeteria window. Kryptos is a sculpture by James Sanborn located on the CIA grounds which contains a four-part coded message: sections 1-3 have been solved (with Sanborn admitting he made a typo in section 2). Perhaps you'd like to join Elonka (and the hive mind) in having a go at section 4.
posted by goodnewsfortheinsane on Dec 3, 2006 - 14 comments

He is the world's tallest cast iron statue. He has a long and sometimes troubled history. His enormous bare buttocks have offended local prudes and religious leaders for decades. He was disassembled in 1999 for refurbishing, but now once again, from atop his lofty mountain perch, this pagan colossus reigns over Birmingham, Alabama, the virtual buckle of the Bible Belt. Behold, Vulcan!
posted by flapjax at midnite on Sep 2, 2006 - 26 comments

A statue of Tommie Smith and John Carlos was recently unveiled at San Jose State University. Smith and Carlos were (in)famous for their raised fist protest on the medal podium at the 1968 Olympics, for which they paid a heavy price.
posted by rocket88 on Oct 26, 2005 - 50 comments

21 story tall statue of an American Indian to tower over the central US. Builders believe it will be as significant a monument as the St. Louis Arch, Seattle Space Needle, Mt. Rushmore.
posted by jmccorm on Jul 24, 2005 - 46 comments

Happy Birthday David! Today is the 500th anniversary of the statue's unveiling.
posted by azul on Sep 8, 2004 - 13 comments

The Memory Hole: doctored photo? 'On 9 April 2003, the front page of the London Evening Standard (circulation: 400,000) contained a blurry image supposedly showing a throng of Iraqis in Baghdad celebrating the toppling of Saddam Hussein. What we are really looking at is an incredibly ham-fisted attempt at photo manipulation. ' Opinions?
posted by plep on May 5, 2003 - 30 comments

Ever feel a need to molest a statue? Some people seem to enjoy the statues they encounter a little too much. A lot of pictures showing people groping and sucking unsuspecting statues.
posted by sebas on Feb 19, 2003 - 18 comments

Man Beheads (statue of) Margaret Thatcher. His "sense of 'satirical humour' left him no choice but to carry out the attack" on the £150,000 Maggie as 'artistic expression and [his] right to interact with this broken world.' Jury fails to convict and a retrial is scheduled. Perhaps there is a creative solution to replacing the head?
posted by Shane on Dec 18, 2002 - 17 comments

Tumbling Woman A statue of a falling woman designed as a memorial to those who jumped or fell to their death from the World Trade Center was abruptly draped in cloth and curtained off Wednesday because of complaints that it was too disturbing. It's all right if you don't want to discuss it here and now. I was also in NYC and saw the towers on that day.
posted by neu on Sep 18, 2002 - 70 comments

In other news, Humpty Dumpty put back together again.
posted by rushmc on Apr 9, 2002 - 22 comments

Speaking of religion causing nightmares, these just don't feel 'right'. Maybe it's the idea of 'reinforcing' the idea that Jesus is your friend, in all activities. Last i checked, forced friendships don't work well. And sandals aren't conductive to track and field.
posted by jcterminal on Mar 16, 2002 - 17 comments

Is historical revisionism acceptable in the name of "inclusiveness" (or "political correctness" to be less polite)? (More inside)
posted by Steven Den Beste on Jan 11, 2002 - 107 comments

Death rears its ugly head on all those who try to carve a bust of Dan Quayle.
posted by zedzebedia on Sep 4, 2001 - 6 comments

Talk About Your Graven Images! Look out, Golden Calf - you've got competition! Now up for sale on eBay, a two-foot-tall, 100+ pound solid gold statue of Mickey Mouse. "The manufacturer of 'Celebration Mickey', The Great Western Mint, adds 'Never in the history of art has a work of such enormous size been cast in pure gold. We are proud to be able to present this piece with expectations that art lovers and cultural historians yet unborn will look back upon this 1,500 troy ounce casting of pure gold and marvel at the technical prowess that it exhibits.'" Wow. I thought I heard all the theories, but it never dawned on me that Mickey Mouse was the Antichrist.
posted by tpoh.org on Sep 1, 2001 - 9 comments

Gee, stupid me. I thought it was a pretty good statue, myself. Seems someone with a laser beam and time on his hands has worked out that the statue of David squints. Wow. Thanks a lot, mister! I can rest a lot easier knowing that. Why, I might have been misled into believing it was some kind of masterpiece or something. What, he couldn't find anything more useless to do with his sabbatical?
posted by Ezrael on Jun 9, 2000 - 11 comments