Visiting monuments and attractions is part of the compulsory cultural program of any tourist. Typically, monuments are erected in honor of some political or public figure or historical event. But there are quite unusual monuments in the world - funny, strange, and even at first glance, defying the laws of gravity.
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The Knotted Gun. A monument in the form of a revolver, the barrel of which is tied in a knot, is located in New York. Its author is the Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reutersward, and it was installed in memory of the death of John Lennon.
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Mustangs of Las Colinas. A group of running bronze mustangs, slightly larger than life-size, is installed in one of the squares of the city of Irving in Texas. The sculptural composition perfectly conveys the dynamics of the running of wild horses rushing through the water. At the feet of the animals there are special small fountains that simulate water splashes.
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“Travelers”. A group of unusual figures of people, seemingly dissolving into air, was installed in Marseille, France, on the shores of the Mediterranean Sea. Their author is the sculptor, Bruno Catalano. The central part of the figures is practically absent and it is not clear how exactly their top is held in the air, as if denying the law of universal gravitation.
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Monument to Nelson Mandela in South Africa. 50 steel columns are installed in such a way that they form the face of Nelson Mandela, the famous South African politician and activist for the rights of indigenous people. At the same time, the face can only be seen from a certain angle - if you stand differently, it will be just an unremarkable “fence” made of steel pipes.
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Children jumping into the water decorate the riverside in Singapore. Five teenagers made of bronze seem to be alive - some are rapidly flying into the water, some are sitting on the shore, dangling their legs, some are throwing off their clothes as they go to quickly find themselves in the water. The author of the sculpture, which was called “Bathers”, is Chong Fah Chong.
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The “Metamorphosis” fountain with a constantly changing shape of a human head is located in Charlotte, North Carolina. The head is made of metal plates coated with a reflective layer. Each of the plates can rotate in different directions, the rotation is controlled remotely via the Internet. A stream of water always comes out of the mirror head's mouth.
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“Hippopotamuses” in Taipei, Taiwan. A small herd of hippos seems to be “swimming” in the stone pavement, sticking their heads and backs up. The fact that the hippos are cast in bronze in life-size adds to the realism of the sculptural group.
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A giant tap in the Swiss city of Winterthur seems to contradict the laws of nature: not only does it seem to hang in the air, but the water that flows from it comes from nowhere. In fact, a narrow water pipe comes out of the “spout” of the faucet, through which water is supplied to the faucet. Then the same water rushes back out in a wide, powerful stream. Due to the pressure of the water, the pipe is not visible, hence the illusion that water comes into the tap from nowhere, while the tap itself is hanging in the air.
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Another sculpture that seems to defy gravity is an elephant balancing on its own trunk. The statue, entitled “Peculiarities of Gravity for the Elephant”, is located in the Fontainebleau Castle in Paris. The elephant symbolizes the scientific statement that at a distance of 18 thousand kilometers from the Earth, the force of gravity is so small that an elephant can easily stand on the tip of its own trunk. The author of the sculpture is the French artist, Daniel Freeman.
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A comic monument to a policeman and a worker climbing out of a manhole is located in Brussels, Belgium. In the story, a worker climbing out of a hatch grabs the leg of a policeman walking by, causing him to practically fall. The author of the composition is sculptor Tom Frantzen.
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The “Unknown Official” monument was erected on one of the streets of the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik. From below, he is an ordinary man in a suit and with a briefcase in his hand, but the upper part of his body, together with his head, is a rough block of stone. The monument by Magnus Thomasson seems to symbolize the faceless mass of officials of all countries and peoples.
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Sydney, Australia has the “Stairway to Heaven”. The structure made of shiny metal stands on the very shore of the sea and seems to actually lead to the sky, especially if you look at it from a certain direction.
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In imitation of the famous Stonehenge in Nebraska, American artist Jim Reinders created “Carhenge”. Instead of the stone slabs from which Stonehenge was built, old cars were used - two were dug into the ground, and a third was placed on top.
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