Tuesday, July 31, 2012

De aardappelmannetjes

I found a fun piece of art the other day. Next to the train station in Zoetermeer (in the Netherlands) is a stone statue that is called 'De Aardappelmannetjes', which can be translated as 'the potato guys':




This statue is made by Joost van den Toorn, a Dutch artist and was installed in 2008. It is made with 3 huge boulders from Denmark, is more than 8 meters in height (about 26 feet) and the eyes, nose and mouths are made of gold leaf.

16 comments:

  1. MarleenJuly 31, 2012 at 4:23 PM

    Wat ziet dat er leuk uit, en enorm groot ook trouwens!

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    1. NelliesAugust 1, 2012 at 3:06 AM

      Ja, het is enorm, zeker als je er naast staat!

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  2. John @ Beans and I on the LooseJuly 31, 2012 at 5:33 PM

    I wonder if they are connected in some way or just balanced?

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    1. NelliesAugust 1, 2012 at 3:01 AM

      I can't really find any details about how they are connected (i'm sure they are). I did find that the statue is anchored underground, to make sure it won't tumble over ;).

      Delete
  3. leanne can blogJuly 31, 2012 at 5:47 PM

    You have an amazing knack of finding really interesting statues. Love this one!

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    1. NelliesAugust 1, 2012 at 3:04 AM

      Thanks Leanne :-). The fun thing is that this statue was already there when I still lived in Holland and I think I must have passed it once or twice, but I never noticed it....

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  4. CaTJuly 31, 2012 at 10:15 PM

    how weird is that!
    any particular reason its there?

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    1. NelliesAugust 1, 2012 at 3:05 AM

      Funny, eh? The city of Zoetermeer bought it years ago, to cheer up area :-)

      Delete
  5. Rose ~ from OzAugust 1, 2012 at 3:54 AM

    Cool statue Nellies, oooh but look at all those bikes!!

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    1. NelliesAugust 1, 2012 at 3:58 AM

      They are probably not allowed to park their bikes there :-) And this is just a small amount of bikes, there are many more in the bike parking area :-) Too bad I didn't photograph that! Maybe next time...

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  6. Mr PaulAugust 1, 2012 at 4:00 AM

    How brilliant, I love it. Public art can be amusing and lighten your day too.

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  7. biebkriebelsAugust 1, 2012 at 5:54 AM

    Nou dat is wel bijzonder, hoe kom je op het idee om een aardappel als inspiratie te gebruiken.
    Was je gisteren trouwens in Amsterdam? Hubby SC hoorde iemand in het voorbijgaan over 100% reisgidsen praten...

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  8. Pierre BOYERAugust 1, 2012 at 9:35 AM

    Strange meeting...
    :-)
    Best regards from Paris,

    Pierre

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  9. AndyAugust 2, 2012 at 6:09 AM

    I bet the artist fees were not as much fun as his work.

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    1. NelliesAugust 2, 2012 at 6:40 AM

      I think I read somewhere that the City of Zoetermeer paid him 100.000 euros for work.

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  10. Sarah M.August 2, 2012 at 11:59 PM

    Wow that statue is Huge! and impressive! I see why its called Potato Man! The gold is soo "gold"!
    Funny how I would be scared that it could tumble over!!!

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