"When you're smashing statues, save the pedestals. They come in handy."
-Stanislaw Lem
— KA Semenova (@SemenovaKA) June 11, 2020
Hahahahaha islamaphobes looking to find Islamic statues to pull down ahaha hahahahaha good luck, lads
— Nadia Kamil (@NadiaKamil) June 9, 2020
Barring universal conversion to Islam (which is vanishingly unlikely, for reasons) the making of what Terry Prachett referred to as ‘I Can See Your House From Here’ monuments will not perish from human society. That granted, what shall we put up in our public spaces to valorize our strength? Well…
The Make Way for Ducklings statue public gardens Boston, MA
in my home cityhttps://t.co/imFRKhlIng
— BostonStrong2020 (@tlkiawol_1994) June 11, 2020
Nancy Schon’s monument stands across from the Boston Common and not far from the State House. The mother duck is, by design, nicely sized for a toddler to sit on her back. There’s a ‘Make Way for Ducklings’ spring celebration every year, where people bring their kids dressed up as ducks, and the ducks get dressed up for local events, too. There are probably purists who are offended by the objectively pro-cop bias of the original book (a friendly policeman holds up traffic to permit the duck family to cross a busy street), but the ducks themselves are blessedly non-partisan.
I have fond memories of the Central Park Alice in Wonderland and Balto statues, which also have a noble history as climbing structures for small children.
Maybe we should stick to using animal or kiddylit statues for our commemorative sculptures, for a generation or two?
The only statue I will lay down my life to defend is this statue in honor of lab rats at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics in Novosibirsk, Russia. pic.twitter.com/pSLswlvTTw
— Tentin Quarantino (@agraybee) June 10, 2020
Tombili was a local celebrity cat from Istanbul famous for his very relaxed posture. When he passed, locals erected a statue in his honor. https://t.co/vVqpyIIe7c pic.twitter.com/BJCIoKdn30
— Sam Sykes (@SamSykesSwears) June 10, 2020
Thursday Evening Open Thread: MonumentalPost + Comments (158)