The Strange Lovecraftian Statuary of Puerto Vallarta
By John Brownlee February 26, 2007 1:30:30 PM
Reader Preston sent us a wonderful email about the strange Lovecraftian statuary overlooking R'lyeh by the sea of Puerto Vallarta. His email is so enthusiastic it would be a shame to do anything except turn this post entirely over to his delectable ravings...
Preston writes... "Two Christmases ago (2005), my family and I travelled to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico to exchange the gray, wet misery of a Pacific Northwest winter for a polluted, humid and stinky (though warm) two weeks amongst the foolish and idle rich.
PV is actually very nice, by and large, though for whatever reason it did not agree with my constitution. One day I strolled the lengthy beach-front boardwalk (the "Malecón") in an effort to adjust and take in local color. I was pleased with the non-touristy things, mostly disgusted with the tourist-targeted nonsense, and greatly impressed and surprised with the copious amounts of statuary dotted along its length. And then I reached a particular installation, and was simply flabbergasted... Known as "La Rotunda del Mar" ("The Circle of the Sea" in my poor, poor Spanish), this installation by artist Alejandro Colunga features creatures/beings straight out of Innsmouth and Lovecraft's imaginings. Fabulous!
The whimsical sea inspired high back chairs are the work of Guadalajara native Alejandro Colunga. This installation made its debut on the Malecón in 1997. One chair is crowned by an octopus and another by what may be a seahorse. One of the original chairs surrendered to the forces of Hurricane Kenna and was replaced with a stunning replacement that appropriately pays homage to the strength of the sea. Colungna studied various subjects in the university, but he is a self-taught artist. Stop and have a seat on one of the whimsical chairs inspired by the sea. You will often see performance artists in the area and the public enjoying the mystical seating created by "La Rotunda del Mar." Besides the Malecón you can find Colunga's work throughout Mexico, the US, Europe and South America.
citation: http://blog.wired.com/tableofmalcontents/2007/02/the_strange_lov.html
1 comment:
I think sitting in that chair would give me nightmares.
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