Sculptures are an important form of public art which have morphed significantly over the centuries. They can be created from almost anything and often include found objects which were not designed for artistic purposes. Some sculptures are built from stone and are meant to be as permanent as possible. Others are made to be purposefully short-lived. Then there’s almost a cult of alien-type sculptures which may prove interesting in the future when present day art as is viewed as a historic glimpse into the human race. Here’s 40 modern-day sculptures, ranging from cool to creepy.
Marc Da Cunha Lopes – SKLT
(image credits:Format Mag)
Sculptures can be thought provoking but also manipulated in photography. Photographer Marc Da Cunha Lopes presented a photo series titled SKLT. The images are three-dimensional skeletons of massive creatures within semi-industrial abandoned buildings. The work represents the nature of archaeology combined with how we as humans leave our landscapes “riddled with skeletons of many different sorts.”
Metal: Terminator & Alien Queen
(image credits:yumimodal,TechEBlog)
Scaring people, it’s not just for Halloween. In fact, metal sculptures of terminators and aliens can be found in numerous countries from tiny to huge. The life-sized terminator would either be a conversation starter or scare your neighbors. The Alien Queen sculpture weighs in at about 1,200 pounds. 90% of this Alien comes from recycled motorcycle parts. If you think she’s frightening, you should meet her mate.
Alien King
(image credits:robosteel)
The Alien King sculpture contains over 4,000 unique parts including pieces of a car, a boat, a dishwasher, a motorbike, a television and other recycled steel. Aliens are vicious, primal, horrifying creatures. They “live in a hive, follow a queen to the death, and simply hunt to survive.” The Alien King and the Predator stand over 7 1/2 feet tall.
Star Wars and Aliens
(image credits:hombrelobo)
Recycled and repurposed parts have long been used for Steampunk style sculptures. Star Wars stormtrooper, Boba Fett, and another alien were spotted in the Al Jabber gallery at Dubai’s Mall of Emirates.
Metal Junk To Art
(image credits:chilloutpoint)
Joe Pogan makes animal sculptures from “found metal” objects. He hides interesting objects in his welded art sculptures. Pogan stated, “The stranger the piece of metal the better, since the end goal is an eye-catching, fascinating amalgamation of metal with odd nooks and crannies you can explore for hours.”
San Francisco Toothpick Sculpture
(image credits:wired,dornob)
Scott Weaver spent over 30 years working on constructing San Francisco from toothpicks. His sculpture took 3,000 hours, more than 100,000 toothpicks, and cases of Elmer’s glue to build his 9 foot tall city. It has 15 feet of internal tracks to roll ping-pong balls starting at various entrances and all winding their way to the bottom. Weaver turned down a $40,000 offer from Ripley’s Believe It or Not for his rendition of downtown San Francisco.
Underwater Sculptures
(image credits:weburbanist)
Artificial reefs are disguised as sculptures in the oceans. Jason de Caires Taylor’s underwater sculptures literally come to life. In Grenada, West Indies, 26 life-sized figures await divers to view them in their underwater playground. The Vicissitudes were cast from children with diverse ethnic backgrounds now living 14 feet below the surface.
Harbin Ice Sculptures
(image credits:Boston Big Picture)
In Harbin, China, massive ice sculptures were illuminated from both the inside and outside at the 26th annual International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival. The ice was harvested from the frozen surface of the Songhua River and then turned into large scale, temporary sculptures.
Shi Jinsogn
(image credits:Chambers Fine Art,offbeatism)
Shi Jinsong creates razor-sharp baby accessories. His stainless steel sculptures are part of his Na Zha Baby Boutique exhibition. The sadistic tricycle, cradle, rocking horse, stroller and walker are only the sharp tip of his artistic creations.
Large Lego Sculptures
(image credits:brickartist)
Nathan Sawaya creates his sculptures out of Lego bricks. These 3-dimensional sculptures range from portraits, large scale replicas and smaller scale Lego brick art. Sawaya suggests a Lego project can be a big as your imagination and your wallet.
Cards
(image credits:Venetian Macao House of Cards)
Bryan Berg builds his sculptures from playing cards. He has stacked cards in the U.S., Canada, across Europe, and Asia. This Harvard trained architect broke the Guinness World Record for the World’s Tallest House of Freestanding Playing Cards in 1992 at the age of seventeen. His latest record-holding sculpture is over 25 feet tall.
Creepy & Disturbing Sculptures
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Then there’s really creepy, strange sculptures. These by Olivier De Sagazan give voice to the unspeakable. One person’s art is another person’s nightmare. His disturbing sculptures depict the perforation of the body by a foreign element, weapons, and instruments of torture.
Eternal Love
(image credits:a-pic.co.tv)
In Victoria, Australia, there is a sculpture at Mt Macedon Cemetery to depict a wife’s eternal love for her husband. In 1930, this was considered risqué. Yet when Laurence Matheson died, his wife commissioned this sculpture as an expression of her undying love for him.
