Do you find any sculpture truly impressive these days?

I recently saw some fairly large landscape sculptures of contorted high rise buildings while driving in Southampton. These make a statement. I also read about a new large sculpture in Paris and found that the amount of time and craftsmanship involved seemed to exceed the value of any perceived message.
  
When it comes to sensational landscape sculpture, Paris has a reputation. Believe it or not, the erector-set-esque Eifel Tower was scandalous when it was first unveiled in 1889, “a hulking metallic bullseye that drew scathing critiques, controversy, and millions of tourists.”
  
Now there’s the new sculpture sensation in Paris. According to recent photos, a slouching, glimmering chrome Terminaor T.Rex skeletal beast has risen on the banks of the Seine River to claim recognition. Artist Philippe Pasqua’s website states, “From the beginning, his art made a great impression and challenged the certainties of those who rubbed shoulders with him,”

My certainties have only been slightly challenged. I’ve seen photos of the giant salamander scaling a building. And I’ve seen the new giant Terminator T-Rex sculpture. But scale and intense labor can't make up for metaphysical or philosophical depth in my book. So sue me. I wouldn't say that I don't appreciate fine sculptural craftsmanship. But as far as any intended wow factor is concerned, I'm just not feeling it. 

Perhaps I'm artistically jaded. But at this point, it would probably take giant action figures of Godzilla and Mothra battling it out on the Sienne before I would be caught off guard and impressed, at least in a satirical, comic sense. As far as metaphysical statements are concerned, they seem to be few and far between these days.

What about you. Have you seen any powerful metaphysical statements in sculpture lately? If a sculptor was aiming to impress you, what would it take before you would be impressed?

Tags: landscape sculpture, art trends

Originally posted at Warren's Nursery under title, T.Rex Landscape Sculpture Challenges Paris