Ante's 5,000th Post Extravaganza Part 2: Fascinating! Informative! Not Uninteresting!

Continuing from my earlier thread...

President's Park

One of two similar parks featuring massive busts of US presidents created by Houston artist David Adickes, President's Park in Williamsburg, Virginia was a 10 acre park and indoor museum operated by Everette H."Haley" Newman III, an entrepreneur specializing in roadside attractions. The artist was inspired after a visit to Mount Rushmore and set about creating his own presidential monuments. The first sculptures were delivered in 2000 and the park officially opened in 2004. The park however, wasn't profitable (hard to believe considering all those "Visit Colonial Williamsburg, Virgina!" commercials) and it closed in 2010.

In 2012, the park's creditors put it up for auction but the auction was ended without explanation. The 43, 20' sculptures of Presidents Washington to George W. Bush have since been moved to a nearby farm where they now sit, falling into ruin. There is appears to be an active effort to obtain funding to restore the park.

President's Park just before it was closed down. Image from williamsburgvirginiaguide.com:



Now a few images of the sculptures in their current condition. The first two from David Ogden's (abadonedearth) really fascinating Instagram feed which I cannot recommend enough. The second comes from a set at M. Barkley Photography.

(larger)
I'm guessing this isn't supposed to reflect Lincoln's fatal wound. (larger)
(larger)

According to Wikipedia, the artist attempted to operate a similar park himself near Deadwood, South Dakota that also went under. Those sculptures have been split up and can now be found alone or in small groups at various area RV parks, campgrounds and motels. What a shame but at least some of them will hopefully be maintained! Another site with a decent gallery of these busts can be found here.

Next up! From the very big we now move on to the very small. The very very small. Extraordinarily small in fact.

Master of Miniatures

Russian artist Nikolai Aldunin is often referred to as the "Master of Miniatures" and with good reason — Aldunin specialized in highly detailed, microscopic works of art. His work was done using a microscope and reportedly, he timed his motions to fall between beats of his heart to minimize the shaking of his hands. If you Google him, you'll find several articles featuring images of his work and his Wikipedia page and while most refer to him in the present tense (even recent ones) and his Wikipedia page has no death date, the Russian sites say that he died in September of 2009 at the age of 53.

The pictures speak for themselves (also, I'm getting tired lol).

designboom





mymodernmet.com

This T-34 tank is made of 257 individuals pieces of gold and diamonds. It rests on an apple seed. The AK-47 is made of nearly 40 individual pieces of gold and the stock reportedly took two weeks alone as he broke it during the first attempt and was forced to start it all over.

There's actually something of a scene of miniature artists. Another one of note is miniature photographer Tatsuya Tanak. His work isn't quite microscopic (and I believe he is using model railroad figures) but his dioramas are still teeny tiny and hugely awesome and apparently, he makes one a day (hence the calendar) and has been for years. You can view his work on Instagram, at his website, miniature-calendar.com and also here.

Here's an example:



Well that's it folks! I hope you found these things as interesting as I did!

a reply to: theantediluvian

Of course it is fascinating, And you have a dedicated song here ats thread

a reply to: theantediluvian
Congratulations on getting over 5,00 posts. How do you feel? Worn out? Anywho, cool pics. That Lincoln one was eerie, with the back of the head blown out.

a reply to: theantediluvian

Oh good grief, I was tired and I left out the links to the tank pictures!

originally posted by: reldra
a reply to: theantediluvian

Of course it is fascinating, And you have a dedicated song here ats thread

Lol thanks, love it! And yes, I am a he.

originally posted by: Skid Mark
a reply to: theantediluvian
Congratulations on getting over 5,00 posts. How do you feel? Worn out? Anywho, cool pics. That Lincoln one was eerie, with the back of the head blown out.

Not too bad actually. We'll see how I'm doing in another 5,000 posts or after the presidential election, whichever comes first.