Eerie underwater sculpture finished in Caribbean

by Sean McLachlan on


If you go diving off Isla Mujeres near Cancun, Mexico, you’ll see more than the usual coral reefs and colorful tropical fish. You’ll see a ghostly crowd of people standing on the bottom of the sea.

Silent Evolution is the creation of Jason de Caires Taylor, who specializes in underwater sculptures cast from real people. Taylor uses inert, PH-neutral concrete that doesn’t pollute the water. The figures attract sea life and become platforms for coral and other marine creatures. With coral reefs on the decline around the world, a little extra help from artists can come in handy. Check out the gallery below to see how life begins to grow on the figures, transforming them from realistic replicas of living people into something alien and a bit spooky.

Taylor took eight months to install the sculptures in a big crowd of talking, walking, and thinking people. The exhibition encourages repeat visits to see how “sea change” transforms the art into a living ecozone.

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Sigmund Freud is not suicidal even though he’s hanging from a building

by Jamie Rhein on

There’s a life-size statue of Sigmund Freud hanging high above the ground outside the Trade Center Building in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He’s created quite a stir. Good Samaritan types saw the statue hanging by one hand from a pole 7-stories up and thought it was a real man in distress. After they called the police and the truth was discovered, there must have been a sigh of relief. “Oh, it’s just Freud.”

This statue of Freud by Czech sculptor David Cerney has been hanging around in a variety of spots for a year or more. Most recently, Freud was hanging in out in Chicago. Before that, he was hanging from a pole in Prague. Freud will be in Grand Rapids, possibly accumulating more than a dusting of snow, until the spring thaw.

As for Cerney, here’s an intriguing interview with him in the Compass Prague. He moved back to the Czech Republic since the Americans he met in New York City were a bit too friendly. That’s not something you hear that much. (Actually, this is my interpretation of what he said. I may be off the mark.) [via New York Times]