Jan 14, 2009: Playground
 

Tom Otterness is an artist, with his art installed in cities around America and Europe.
He creates the most marvelous sculptures, of whimsical animals and strange, but not scary, characters.


Now if you love your children, you take them to a playground.

If you really love your children, you buy all the pieces and build them a playground in the back yard.

But if you really, really love your children, you commission Tom Otterness to build them a fantasmagorical playground in the back yard.

http://cellar.org/2009/playground1.jpg

This dream playground, in all it's bronze glory, even comes with built in playmates... no, not Dad's kind of playmates... child appropriate playmates.

http://cellar.org/2009/playground2.jpg

This appears to be the only private commission on his website.

I don't have to think too hard as to 'why' it's the only one..

Very cool! I haven't seen too many people who do huge sculptures like that in bronze.

There was an artist who lived next to my Aunt in Connecticut who did LARGE abstract sculptures. Apparently he was very well known in the "art" community. I took my ex up with me once and asked permission to go on his property so she could look at some of his work. He allowed it and we went and she took some pictures. Some of them were several stories high. Then, he sent her a signed book of his work when we got back to PA. Her art professor went NUTS! She was jealous of her student...

Very cool.

My grandpa, who worked for Hobart Brothers (Kitchenaid) used steel and welded it to sculpt a man and a dog on a leash. I wish I had a pic. It was in his backyard and the man and the dog were "flexible." It moved in the wind and when nudged. As kids we were fascinated with that thing.

He was the mayor of a tiny town. I was in that town a few years ago and saw his old house but I don't know if the sculpture was still in the back or not. Would love to have it.

Otterness playground
 

There's a park on the west side of Manhattan that has a lot of his sculptures. I love it there.

Hmmmmmmm.
Very talented. Obviously.
Whimsical.... yes.

Creepy?
Sorry. It would come to life. I know it would.
And don't think it's smiling because it likes your children.
It's anticipation. It likes the taste of your children.

And the little helpers are there to unlock doors and creepy crawl your house before the main event.

You should have fleshed this out and sold this rather than posting it, SG. I'd bet this is a bankable script idea in hollywood.

It does look decidedly...full. :worried:

I don't know if I want to teach my children that is it fun to play in the lap of a giant man.

Second having the "little playmate" sculptures on the hard bronze playground look like things to hook, catch, and basically hurt the little kids unlucky enough to play on it.

Ender's Game...

I forgot

Great work. The landscape is very impressive, also.