I stumbled upon pictures of ice sculptures that are just incredible.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Hokey Smokes! It seems a shame that so much effort and artistry goes into a product so ephemeral. Although, I suppose that is a big part of the appeal. Still, I'm glad that Michelangelo worked in marble and not in ice.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
I've seen the Parthenon of ice at Sapporo a couple of years back. Now that was something to see.
Yet it was only one of many sculptures which were just as large.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
Speaking of ephemeral works, Tante have you heard of Buddhist butter sculptures?
It's forbidden to take photographs of them as well, I believe.
Posted by Tante Shvester (Member # 8202) on :
Yeah, I have heard of the Tibetan butter sculptures, although I've never seen one.
I have seen some awesome sand castles, though.
Posted by Euripides (Member # 9315) on :
Posted by Launchywiggin (Member # 9116) on :
pretty pictures.
I really...like...ice.
Posted by The Pixiest (Member # 1863) on :
Two things
1> Massive props to Tante for using one of my favorite words "ephemeral"
2> These sculptures are really really really really really gorgeous. Why can't they make real, perminate sculpture that is this beautiful instead of welding rusty peices of metal together and pretending it's art?
Come to Minnesota! We have ice sculptures at the winter carnival and butter sculptures at the state fair!
Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Okay, those dueling tampons suck. And I'm totally with you on welded pieces of rusty metal not being art. Totally.
Eljay, those were totally cool. Thanks for sharing. I've never seen butter sculptures before - very interesting.
I only lived in one city that had ice sculptures in the winter, and that was pretty cool walking around looking at the sculptures up close and personal.
Did I mention I miss snow? (Only cuz it's so freakin' hot here all the live long day...)
Posted by Dagonee (Member # 5818) on :
Ice Sculptures are permanent in Minnesota, aren't they? Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Posted by B34N (Member # 9597) on :
Whoa, the scale on some of those is incredible almost life size buildings and what not. Amazing!
[ December 15, 2006, 10:41 PM: Message edited by: B34N ]
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Almost life size buildings? We also have ice palaces at some of out carnivals that are huge, actual palace sized. The 2004 one you could walk through. They don't do them every year, though, 'cause they're really expensive.
Here's a link to a page that has some of the older ones, and here's a shot of the 2004 one. Check out the close up of the blocks that's the next picture, too.
quid, glad you liked them! They do a butter sculpture of Princess Kay of the Milky Way (a local dairy pagent) at the fair each year, along with a couple of others. The poor princess has to sit in a cooler during the carving, and there's a window so you can walk by and watch.
Which, um, I never have.
Dags: Posted by quidscribis (Member # 5124) on :
Eljay, those are great! I loved how they lit them. Fantastic!
I'd hate to be the poor princess who has to sit in a cooler. Yikes!
Posted by B34N (Member # 9597) on :
It's like the ice hotel or whatever it was in that Bond flick. Cool...
Posted by Satlin (Member # 1593) on :
You mean, you can't do that?
Posted by Earendil18 (Member # 3180) on :
That dragon sculpture looks wicked! Do they keep spraying it to keep it from melting?
Posted by ElJay (Member # 6358) on :
Melting? In January and February in Minnesota, melting usually isn't an issue. Although the year from those pictures, it was unusually warm, and they had to knock the sculptures down early. (They always knock them down at the end of the carnival, so they won't be a hazard as they melt. The palaces, too.)
The sculpture contest has single-block and multi-block divisions, which is why some are so little and some are so huge and there aren't really any in-between. I actually work in one of the buildings in the background, maybe this year I'll go out and start taking pictures when they dump off the ice blocks through the carving.
There's also snow slides, and a maze, and torchlight parades and all sorts of activities. But my favorite part of the carnival is that the food vendors set up along the edges of that park, so I get mini-donuts for lunch!
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