Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston and the Boston Art Commission plan to erect a statue honoring Edgar Allan Poe, and they’ve narrowed down the design submissions to three finalists.

The finalists were selected from a pool of 265 artists from 42 states and 13 countries who submitted their qualifications for consideration. Working with the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston, the Boston Art Commission will oversee the installation of the public artwork in Edgar Allan Poe Square, the city-owned plaza located at the southeast corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South between Park Square and Boston Common.

The artists are Jennifer Bonner and her teammate architect Christian Stayner, both of Los Angeles; Ann Hirsch of Cambridge and her teammate Boston architect Robert Olson; and Stefanie Rocknak of Oneonta, New York. Their design proposals were first presented by the artists on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, at the Campus Center of Emerson College (150 Boylston St., four doors east of Poe Square). The proposed concepts will be presented once again at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square by project manager Jean Mineo on Thursday, January 19, 2012, the 203rd birthday of the Boston-born Poe.

The design shown is by sculptor Stefanie Rocknak. See them all and read the artist’s statements at the project site. Or, if you’re in Boston, see them at the library today! Link -Thanks, J.W. Ocker!

The main problem with moving a giant Gundam robot statue across Japan is having to put it back together again, but maybe this life-size behemoth should have been left in pieces, because he looks like he could do some serious damage to the surrounding city. Head to the link to see some time lapse videos of this bad boy being re-built.

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Banksy has literally defaced a statue in his latest work, replacing the face of a replica statue with pixels as a political statement:

Banksy titled the statue “Cardinal Sin”, and designed it as a comment on recent crimes perpetrated by the Catholic church—a response to the child abuse scandal that was covered-up.

In a statement, Banksy said: “I’m never sure who deserves to be put on a pedestal or crushed under one.”

It’s a statement, no doubt, but is it worthy of sitting alongside the works of Van Dyck and Rubens?

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Fiona (2010) by Jessica Harrison

These classically-styled statues of classy ladies with a grisly twist are the products of Jessica Harrison’s twisted imagination. She performs minor surgery on ceramic statues, removing an arm or skullcap or sometimes the entire head, then she modifies the statues to tell a dark, murderous tale.

If Hummel ever started making statues like these, I’m sure a Brony-esque trend would follow.

Link –via SuperPunch

Bing’s office is still not convinced, but a spokeswoman said the city is studying how it could accept and display a gift RoboCop statue.

“We know there are a lot of people that care deeply about the issue, and we respect that,” said Karen Dumas of Bing’s office. “But I’m still not sure that RoboCop is the best message for the city of Detroit.”

Paffendorf said the RoboCop statue could go somewhere downtown if the city approves, perhaps near the landmark fist statue honoring legendary boxer Joe Louis.

Jeff Paffendorf is one of the leaders of the statue project. Link

A lot of kids dream of having a bronze statue of themselves in the town square one day, but Edgar Hernandez probably didn't expect to achieve his in such a dubious method:

In 2009, the boy, from the poor village of La Gloria, became "Patient Zero", the first known person to catch H1N1, the deadly swine flu virus. While the strong and healthy boy survived the virus, 14,000 people worldwide were not so lucky.

The statue is based on the famous Mannequin Pis in Belgium, but fortunately for young Edgar's future dignity, he remains fully clothed. In his right hand, he clutches a toad, representing one of the seven deadly plagues wreaked upon the Pharoah and his people. Edgar's mother, Maria del Carmen Hernandez Perez, insists that her son likes the statue. Meanwhile, the state government is working hard to promote the statue, which it hopes will become a major draw for the rural town.

From Atlas Obscura, one of my favorite website to find the weirdest and most wonderful places on Earth: Link

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You can see a previous Chinese ode to Optimus here and a more detailed vision here.

Link via Nerd Approved

This statue of a guardian type robot near Odessa in Ukraine is made from old, junked cars, among other things.  Apparently it was constructed by a logistics company called TIS (Transinvestservice) in order to serve as a signpost of sorts.  Now, instead of telling visitors to take a left at the 161km post, they can just say “Turn when you come upon awesomeness.”

Link [EnglishRussia]  I can’t find any source for the photo; if anyone knows who it belongs to, please let us know in the comments.

(YouTube Link)

I am a little under the weather today, and maybe the paper airplane thing was fake.  But if this is fake, at least it also fooled The Huffington Post.  The obvious question is, What is he thinking?

To celebrate the anime Mobile Suit Gundam’s 30th anniversary, Japan is building a life-size RX-78-2 Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. From Anime News Network:

The statue will be free for viewing, but it will only stay up for two months. It will be built with fiberglass-reinforced plastic over a steel frame so it can be disassembled later. The head unit will move and the body will have 50 points that will emit light. Mist can shoot forth from 14 locations on the body. The park is just four trains stops from Tokyo Big Sight, the home of the Comic Market dojinshi convention and the Gundam Big Expo convention that will be held from August 21 to August 23. Bandai NAMCO Group is still determining what to do with the statue after its allotted two months in the park are over.

As you can see, the mecha is almost done. Just in time to deal with the shenanigans over at North Korea, too! Moé passion blog has more pics: Link

From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by Frau.

Here’s her art installation, a swing at the monumental bronze "Berling Army Soldier" statue in Warsaw, Poland:

She suggests a change in the function of the monuments, attempting to build a bridge between the present and the past, adding a contemporary layer distinct from their original style and function. She asks, what a particular memorial actually refers to and what kind of history it conceals.

Kamila won the Szpilman Award 2008 for her work (the award celebrates "ephemeral art" that exists only for a short period of time) – via Invisible Red

Check out the rest of the Szpilman Award winners here: Link (includes such gems as Kate Mitchell’s life imitating a cartoon by sawing a hole on the floor)