One of the most memorable New Zealand sculptures for our money is Ronnie Van Hout’s Duck Character and Mouse Character made in 1999. Ronnie's two ungainly Disney lookalikes are modelled on a concrete set you can find in a kids’ playground in Picton (in Ronnie's kinetic version the mouses head swivels Regan-like). That got us thinking about how creepy playground sculpture can be including the brilliantly weird monkey trash can and concrete croc we saw in Kolkata. The more abject examples are from Russia. Now go out and play.
Images: From top, Ronnie van Hout’s Duck Character and Mouse Character, concrete Duck and Mouse in Picton, New Zealand, Monkey trash can Kolkata, slide, duck and elephants from Russia (with love). Click on image to enlarge
