western australia

Is this the best the sculptor could come up with?

@JudyEv (382326)

Rockingham, Australia

May 17, 2022 7:16pm CST

We went on a bus tour a few days ago and had a fish-and-chip lunch at the port of Fremantle in Western Australia. While we didn’t eat at Cicerello’s, I took this photo of a ‘sculpture’ that is supposed to honour coast guard members. It looks for all the world like a man urinating and I felt quite offended by it. It’s not small and is really quite ‘in your face’ as you cross the road there. Maybe I’m being a bit prudish but I felt that, with a little more thought, something much more appropriate could have been created.

26 people like this

27 responses

@much2say (57760)

• Los Angeles, California

18 May 22

I just really don't see how that honors coast guard members

. The body gesture, the color, the design . . . very strange, all of it in fact!

4 people like this

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@much2say (57760)

• Los Angeles, California

18 May 22

@JudyEv I showed it to my husband . . . he didn't get it either. I showed my son . . . he gave me a confused look.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

@much2say Probably all the young people think nothing of it - or are under too much peer pressure to say so.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I don't like it at all. And it's so huge!

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@RubyHawk (99367)

• Atlanta, Georgia

18 May 22

Is it the gold colored statue at the top. If that’s it I think they could have come up with something better.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

Yes, it's the gold man. I could have cropped the photo more but sometimes it's nice to see what's around whatever the central feature is.

1 person likes this

@RubyHawk (99367)

• Atlanta, Georgia

19 May 22

@JudyEv I can’t imagine why they would put a thing like that to honor coast guard members..

1 person likes this

@lady1993 (27221)

• Philippines

18 May 22

it would have been fine if it was for anything else, but a sculpture to honor coast guards? Definitely a no.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I'm glad a few agree with me. The creator is a well-known sculptor but hopefully this isn't his best work.

1 person likes this

@TheHorse (238338)

• Walnut Creek, California

18 May 22

Had I come up with that, could I too be labeled a "sculptor"?

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I guess so. He did a great statue of Bon Scott which is nearby but it's a more conventional bronze. At least I guess it's bronze.

@Dena91 (17039)

• United States

18 May 22

It is a strange sculpture indeed. I would have thought that whoever wanted it would have gotten together with the person making it and agreed on a suitable piece.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I guess maybe the Shire or Chamber of Commerce commissioned it and maybe they are stuck with it. I just think it's awful.

1 person likes this

@erictsuma (9725)

• Mombasa, Kenya

18 May 22

Yes you're right , but maybe the sculpture conveyed a good meassage you knew know

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

Perhaps there is a back story that we don't know about.

1 person likes this

@erictsuma (9725)

• Mombasa, Kenya

19 May 22

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@AmbiePam (120969)

• United States

18 May 22

I never would have guessed it was made to honor anyone.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I guess once it was done, whoever commissioned it was stuck with it.

1 person likes this

@jobelbojel (36796)

• Philippines

18 May 22

The statue should have a meaning. But I would ask why it was built.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I guess it was commissioned by someone but I don't like it.

@FourWalls (86778)

• United States

18 May 22

I agree with you. I would have said, without you telling what it was supposed to be, that it was a place for Legos or video gaming. It looks like a sick video villain. Yes, a sick video villain who’s urinating, at that.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

You don't need much imagination to make you think he's urinating. Who needs to see it? It's just gross but it's just been freshly painted apparently. Maybe I've passed by it before and not noticed it but it's in your face now.

1 person likes this

@wolfgirl569 (135881)

• Marion, Ohio

18 May 22

It truly dont look right at all.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I agree. You'd think they could have come up with something a bit better.

1 person likes this

@Morleyhunt (21741)

• Canada

18 May 22

O my….that’s just a tad inappropriate.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

That's what I thought. I think it is in very poor taste.

1 person likes this

Anindita Sengupta

@aninditasen (18198)

• Raurkela, India

18 May 22

Yes, something decent should have been created.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

Tastes vary, don't they, from person to person and from country to country.

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

22 May 22

@aninditasen Me either.

1 person likes this

Anindita Sengupta

@aninditasen (18198)

• Raurkela, India

19 May 22

@JudyEv Yes, it does. Well at least I can't appreciate such bizarre sculpture.

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@BloggerDi (3121)

• United States

18 May 22

I agree. It's offensive, weird and I don't know how or why anyone would be "honoured" by it.

2 people like this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

It's pretty gross to me. And it's in a really prominent place.

1 person likes this

@porwest (112864)

• United States

18 May 22

Nah. Lighten up a bit. It's whimsical and I am sure many people get a kick out of it. lol

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

Fair enough. It's still there so there can't have been much of a backlash against it.

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

22 May 22

@porwest You could be right about the Thinker.

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@porwest (112864)

• United States

22 May 22

@JudyEv I mean, and I only speak for myself, I generally think with my clothes on still. lol

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@LadyDuck (502653)

• Italy

18 May 22

Oh my goodness, this statue is really ugly and I agree it looks like the man is urinating.

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@LadyDuck (502653)

• Italy

18 May 22

@JudyEv It is inappropriate and not even attractive, I fully agree with you.

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I like to think I am quite open-minded but why anyone would think this is okay and even attractive is beyond me.

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@Ronrybs (21492)

• London, England

18 May 22

Makes you wonder if he blames the Coast Guard for something in the artist's past. This is a piece of modern art that has gone over my head!

1 person likes this

@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

The mind boggles. The same guy did a great sculpture of Bon Scott which is in the same precinct. Maybe whoever commissioned it had something like that in mind. Image courtesy BPUltimate98, CC BY-SA 4.0 , via Wikimedia Commons

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

@Ronrybs Me either. But he is a Fremantle boy and it's hard to miss his statue.

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@Ronrybs (21492)

• London, England

19 May 22

@JudyEv Had to look up who Bon Scott was. As you may have guessed, not really a fan of AC/DC

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@Hannihar (130150)

• Israel

18 May 22

@JudyEv You saw it close and up front so you can tell us what you think. You do not like it that is fine. I just see the picture and have not seen it up close so I cannot judge it at all. My observation is that he is very angry.

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

Yes, he does look a bit aggressive.

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@Hannihar (130150)

• Israel

19 May 22

@JudyEv You are so right that he does look a bit aggressive.

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@arunima25 (93194)

• Bangalore, India

18 May 22

I didn't like it a bit. I mean there could have been a better and more appropriate one to honour the coast guards. Is the sculptor a well known one?? Some works of well known artists might be overrated and still not upto mark.

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

He is a high-profile artist in our country. You can see a much better example under Rob Rybs response.

1 person likes this

@arunima25 (93194)

• Bangalore, India

21 May 22

@JudyEv I saw your interactions down. That piece in the picture is a great art from the same artist.

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@CarolDM (203396)

• Nashville, Tennessee

18 May 22

Oh my goodness, it does look like that. I am sure it wasn't planned to have that look!

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

19 May 22

Anything goes nowadays. Maybe it's like the King's New Clothes and no-one wanted to say anything.

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@CarolDM (203396)

• Nashville, Tennessee

19 May 22

@JudyEv That is a good one.

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Nocturnal Writer

@Nakitakona (59987)

• Philippines

18 May 22

As I see it in the it's odd. It's unsightly for a public to see a sculpture of man seemingly urinating. For some it's art but for not it's bad.

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@JudyEv (382326)

• Rockingham, Australia

18 May 22

I think it's awful. I'd hate to be taking friends around the site and have to go past this.

1 person likes this

Nocturnal Writer

@Nakitakona (59987)

• Philippines

19 May 22

@JudyEv You did it right for I know they aren't comfortable with such unsightly sculpture.

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