Tiny cement sculptures hidden across Europe | Hacker News Reader

Tiny cement sculptures hidden across Europe

theguardian.com

51 pointsTomte12 comments

Sounds similar to Wrocław's dwarfs. 350 figures of 20cm bronze dwarfs are spread across the city of Wrocław in Poland.

http://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20171017-the-truth-behind-wr...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw%27s_dwarfs

> The Orange Alternative a Polish anti-communist underground movement, started in Wrocław [..] in the 1980s. Its main purpose was to offer a wider group of citizens an alternative way of opposition against the authoritarian regime by means of a peaceful protest that used absurd and nonsensical elements. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_Alternative

Fascinating. This is a great idea. Too much of modern counter-protests against politic ideologies is rooted in violence and property destruction these days. This is a far more effective approach.

Two recent studies back this up:

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23780231188031...

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2911177

Reminds me of the tiny shrines I sometimes see on the streets in Japan. Like they're there for faithful mice or something.

Making the world more weird and wonderful. Thanks!

I wonder if they are actually cement, or concrete...

Reminded me of "Life Underground" in NYC's Union Square subway station. These little guys make me happy whenever I see them and I keep finding new ones even after years of passing through:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Underground

Reminds me of some tiny paintings I’ve seen in London — painted on chewing gum that got completely flattened onto the pavement.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Wilson_(artist)

>His sculptures, about 15cm in height, often represent a social stereotype as a critical observation on capitalism, power and bureaucracy.

Ahh the good ol artist commenting on capitalism.

Reminds me how I got hate for getting my wife a new non stick cooking pan for christmas, and some college hipster commented it was sexist.

Grow up, be an adult, and realize- We just wanted to cook eggs. And my wife asked for it for christmas.

That said, super impressed by his abilities-

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqxd_jjBfkQ/

How is your anecdote at all pertinent?

I suppose the person to whom you’re responding is struggling to process some aspects of their identity.

He is just struggling to understand how simple some peoples' worldview is.

> Ahh the good ol artist commenting on capitalism.

> Reminds me how I got hate for getting my wife a new non stick cooking pan for christmas, and some college hipster commented it was sexist.

Reads to me like the OP believes that "artist commenting on capitalism" is a bit of a trope, and / or the commentary is typically facile and doesn't hold up to reality (as analogous to the case of "a cooking pan for christmas is sexist" versus "wife asks for a cooking pan for christmas").

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