Who Speaks for Crazy Horse? | Hacker News Reader

Who Speaks for Crazy Horse?

newyorker.com

19 pointsallthebest6 comments

If you are ever in the Black Hills, I suggest skipping Crazy Horse. You can see it from the road and the museum is nothing special. I’ve been there twice, once in 2003 and once in 2017. Absolutely 0 visible work has been made on the sculpture, despite two blasts per year.

My hypothesis is that the sculptor was completely unqualified to sculpt a mountain, and that physics are preventing the outstretched hand from ever being completed. The people running Crazy Horse realize this, but there is too much money so they need to keep up the charade.

>physics are preventing the outstretched hand from ever being completed

I believe the arm is designed to be supported by the horse's head, while appearing to be free.

>sculptor was completely unqualified to sculpt a mountain

Fair enough.

I wouldn't say it will never be completed, but perhaps the main thing separating this from, say, Mount Rushmore is the subject matter. That one choice means all the difference in the money and resources devoted to finishing the project. If you want to honor presidents, there is an order of magnitude more money and resources that may become available.

> I believe the arm is designed to be supported by the horse's head, while appearing to be free.

There's still a big gap between the shoulder and hand where the blasted stone will need to support itself. Also the finger is a thin bit of stone.

> I wouldn't say it will never be completed, but perhaps the main thing separating this from, say, Mount Rushmore is the subject matter.

Interestingly Mount Rushmore was also never completed. The design also included the presidents upper torsos.

>a big gap between the shoulder and hand where the blasted stone will need to support itself

And there are various examples in nature of stone arches with a span supported on two sides. It's not as though stone is incapable of spans, it is the geometry of a span. This is a straight span, not an arch, so the distance that can be spanned is maybe shorter than an arch with similar proportions.

And bear in mind this is granite, not sandstone, which has twice the compression strength and tensile strength. The thickness of the granite arm, relative to the span, is a factor. Also the integrity of the granite in the arm after blasting. Also the supporting elements, are they able to be pushed apart (an important failure mode) - seems unlikely here.

>Mount Rushmore was also never completed. The design also included the presidents upper torsos.

That is very interesting! And a good point, they limited scope.

To the fellow saying skip the tour, I say, let people see it and draw their own conclusions. Surely that is appropriate in this circumstance.

What's the point of advice if you ignore it every time so you can come to your own conclusions?

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