Sculpture is an impressive kind of art which can tell a lot about the history and traditions of the country. However, personally I find most of the sculptures representing national leaders or famous artists a little bit boring. While visiting different countries I have no desire to make one more photo me standing in front of some solid bronze man. However, there are sculptures and monuments which will impress even the most tempted connoisseurs. I made a top of the weirdest sculptures and included them in my must-visit list.
In Prague, Czech Republic, there is an interesting monument devoted to Franz Kafka. As this author was not afraid to plunge the readers into the world of surreal absurdity there is no wonder that his sculpture is strangely surreal as well. The creator of this bronze figure, Jaroslav Rona says that the novels of Kafka inspired him to make a headless and feetless figure of a man with Kafka himself sitting on its shoulders. A similar image can be found in one of Kafka’s early works which is called “Description of a Struggle”.
An interesting sculpture of Sigmund Freud is also situated in Prague and presents the farther of psycho-analysis hanging by his hand as if trying to decide whether to jump down or not. The author of this statue is David Cerny who wanted to express the Freud’s fear of death in this interesting manner. The hanging statue became extremely popular and now can be found in London, Chicago and Berlin as well. Another interesting fact about this object of art is that it was often mistaken for a suicide attempt and attracted the police forces to a place where it hangs.
Monuments are devoted not only to famous personalities, but to the modern lifestyle as well. For instance, there is a traffic light tree in London which is a symbol of bustling life of the megalopolis. It was created by a French sculptor Pierre Vivant. This tree has 75 sets of light which constantly change their color as if to reflect never ending rhyme of big cities.
There are also musical sculptures which reflect the author’s idea not only through their appearance, but through their sound as well. One of the most vivid examples of such sculptures is the monument devoted to Jean Sibelius in Helsinki, Finland. The monument was designed by Eila Hiltunen and consists of more than 600 steel pipes which produce eerie sounds when the wind is blowing.
