20 of: Unusual Public Art

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Public art these days is more than a bronze statue of a person from history or a fountain.

Here are some of the more unusual, ranging from odd to bizarre and weird.
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13 metre (42 feet) toy rabbit by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman in Örebro, Sweden, 2011. According to one review, “the installation explores the notion of scale and urban perspective by providing a new focal point in the open square.”

Hoffman is a Dutch artist, born in 1977, noted for his playful urban works and giant animal installations.

Here are some another examples of his work:

Fat Monkey made from 10,000 Flip Flops (thongs, in Oz).

A giant bunny propped against a military bunker in Taiwan. It is called “Moon Rabbit” and is based on the East Asian folklore about a rabbit that lives on the moon.

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Surreal 3D by Krystian Czaplicki,

Krystian Czaplicki is a Polish artist known for his minimalist street installations and geometric shapes attached to buildings.

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“Long Term parking, sculpture by Armand Fernandez, 1982

Commonly known by the name Arman, this is one Arman’s largest accumulation sculptures and is permanently exhibited at Chateau de Monteel in France. It is 18 metres (60 feet) high. An equally impressive work created in 1995 for the Lebanese government and displayed in Beirut, honors 50 years of military service. The work, titled "Hope For Peace", is a 32m/105 ft monument comprised of 83 tanks and military vehicles:

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Miina Äkkijyrkkä (1949 - ) is a Finnish artist known for her paintings, drawings and sculptures. She is also a protector of Finncattle, the native Finnish dairy breed. This commitment to cows has led to her creation of giant cows from recycled car parts.

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Fountain of the Virtues, created by Benedikt Wurzelbauer in 1589, Nuremberg, Germany

According to the local tourism bureau, this statue comprises six allegories of the three theological and the three cardinal virtues, on a round platform with the seventh virtue crowning the whole structure: Faith with a cross and a chalice, Love with two children, Hope with an anchor, Courage with a lion, Moderation with a jug, and Patience with a lamb. The seventh virtue, Justice, stands on the top of the pillar with blindfolded eyes, a sword and a crane as a symbol of alertness.

Nothing unusual about that, right? Only that the water coming from the six lower virtue figures is coming from their breasts, resembling super lactating mothers:

Interestingly #1:

Allied bombing raids in WW2 destroyed most of the surrounding buildings but did not touch the Fountain of the Virtues, making it a symbol of a resurgent Germany.

Interestingly #2:

statues of lactating women are common in Germany and Italy:

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Statue of a naked woman in heels riding a giant rooster whilst holding a giant fork, Havana, Cuba, 2013

No one seems to know what the sculpture is called or what it is intended to symbolise.

That’s it in the centre of the Plaza Vieja.

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Often referred to as the “Bend Over Statues”, these two giant statues are located in Prague and depict 2 men bent over. There are ladders leading to large holes in their backsides that let you stick your head inside where you can watch a video portraying former Czech President Vaclav Klaus and Milan Knížák (head of the National Gallery) spoon-feeding each other to the tune of the Queen hit song “We are the Champions”. No one knows what they are supposed to mean or represent.

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Bruce Munro (1959 - ) is an English artist primarily concerned with the medium of light, best known for producing large immersive site-specific installations, often by massing components in the thousands.

In June 2010, Munro with 140 helpers created an inland sea on Long Knoll field in Wiltshire, using 600,000 recycled compact disks, donated from around the world. The project was inspired by Munro’s memory of the play of light on water one afternoon in the 1980s, as he dreamed beside a beach in Sydney, missing his family a half a world away.

In 2012 Munro again used reflected light through CDs in Waterlilies, 2012.

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Not much is known about this piece of public sculpture that is a homage to Star Wars, except that it is in Europe somewhere. Here is the original on which the sculpture is based . . .

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Another unknown, a sculpture with gabion river stone. Gabions are those wire baskets you see used for retaining walls alongside highways. 

Reminds me of Marvel's The Thing . . .

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What is interesting about this statue, found in Los Angeles, is the parts that have been made shiny by being touched and rubbed, much like the statue of Il Porcelino outside Sydney Hospital in Macquarie Street (legend has it that rubbing these parts brings good luck):