Nightmare Playgrounds, Part 3

"QUANTUM SHOT" #550 Link - by A. Abrams When you are trapped in a nightmare, you might as well enjoy a swing and a kiddie-slide As we mentioned in Part 1, these often hilariously ugly sculptural atrocities for kids are seen mostly in Eastern Europe and Asia, and are the results of either artists being lazy, on drugs, or sincerely believing in artistic expression but lacking skills to pull it off. The weird thing is, we really like to see such crazy playgrounds everywhere - yes, bring it on! - at least your urban landscape will turn from soul-deadening to mind-boggling. 1. Aaah! I hope this thing is not going to roll after me (like a wild unshaven Katamari) Open the gates! Fun awaits "beyond thrice nine lands, in the thirtieth kingdom" (Russian idiom, written in the image below) - 2 - 20. Various awesome examples of Russian playgrounds, including the "Cheburashka" character, via 23. Pig? from Saratov kindergarten - photo by Tatiana Mitrofanowa 24. Wolf, threatening to sing (don't let him!) in playground in Tomsk - image via 25. "Swan Lake Ballet" by Mikhail Dronov, seen in Moscow - image via 26. Is this... Jar-Jar Binks?? - photo by Lyudmila Juhimec 27, 28 - Again, Cheburashka - and Dr. Aibolit "healing" animals; Bottom image 29, 30, 31 - various abominations 32. Abandoned playground in North Chertanovo, Moscow - via Mushroom Land! I like it - 33. unknown location Japanese Manga Monster Land! (like it even more) - 34. image via Drunken statue and his dog (turns out to be a memorial to Russian poet Sergei Esenin... come to think of it, an interesting, charming interpretation): 35. in Krasnoyarsk; image via Many Soviet pioneer camps in the 1930s through the 1950s featured standard-issue pioneer statues, which since then fell in awesome disrepair (most often you'll see headless, limbless young athletes, spread all around the forested grounds) These statues stood often just outside children playgrounds.... see the one below, a tragic "love triangle" tale: 36. This is a winner (Peter Straub, author of "Shadowland", take note!) - from Soviet pioneer camp Petrushkovo: 37. photo by KateLiby Here are some kids that played in Soviet pioneer camps in the 1930s: 38. - photo by Nikolai Khlopov, via Animals keep getting weirder (but why not? I ask you, why not). This cow is part of many wonderful cows installation in Madison, Wisconsin: 39. image credit: Masha Vodyanik 40. A goat in Nizhny Novgorod - image via 41. strange puppies hanging in a tree in one kindergarten 42-44, originals unknown This cow stands near the sign "No Swimming" but conveniently has her eyes closed! - 45. "Climbing structures" with wicked dark fantasy portals build-in inside, just possibly - 46. The Swings!... of all sorts. Permanently frozen: 47. - spotted in Fira, Santorini island, Greece. For the "frozen in time and morphed into bricks" kids: 48. - the bricks are actually an open book, in downtown Charlotte, NC 49, 50 - a space baby, and a pesky monkey 51. Dante Fascell Park in Miami, sent to us by Jay Zwelling The Slides... Are Epic. They should definitely lead into some sort of alternate reality: 52-55. Hard landing guaranteed 56, 57, 58. - nameless place, a cannon in a forest, and a rusty elephant Actual slide in Poland. Apparently, the designers did not mean anything bad, they just did not check out a particular angle... 59. image via See the video (slide in action) and continue to the read the rest - Link So, you've seen how low in taste a slide can be, now feast your eyes on a good slide example: a giant robot "thing": 60. Some examples of grass-roots creativity from the Wild West: 61. Does it double as a mail box? We've seen worse. - 62. Beer caps get respect in Bavaria, Germany - image via 63. photo by Paul McLaughlin Not at a playground, but close to it in a park - "The Mother" (Maman) installation in Paris, by Louise Bourgeois (more info): 64. image via Also not playground, but so cool that I just have to include it (relax on this bench after playing around - but beware, time flows differently once you sit down...) - 65. Bench at the Dali museum entrance in St.Petersburgh, Florida - photo via Very awesome steampunk horse: 66. unknown location Androids and robots get into play: 67, 68. somewhere in Moscow Back to the miserable grounds... Babushkas seems to like it: 69, 70 A murder scene - 71 - via Sigourney Weaver in "Aliens"! - 72. (original unknown) So... after all you've seen you still want to play and run around? Go ahead, make my day - 73. Seen in Moscow, in Sokolniki Park - image via) READ PART 2 HERE -> READ PART 1 HERE -> Also read: Abandoned Amusement Parks in Asia, Part 2 Permanent Link......+StumbleUpon ...+Facebook Category: Weird,Abandoned