Statue of Prometheus catching lightning

The Soviet era may have been problematic, but one thing it did leave behind was some amazing architecture and sculpture.

Sadly, much of the architecture has been abandoned and fallen into decay, having been created as showpiece features forming part of that era’s propaganda. Once the system collapsed, they had little or no actual purpose, and were too costly to maintain.

The same fate has befallen a number of sculptures, while many of the purely political statues were quickly torn down, for obvious reasons.

However, a number have been more fortunate, and survived.

Such as this piece, Prometheus catching lightning, a statue created by Constantin Popovici as a symbol of electricity, installed above the Vidraru Dam in Romania. It was completed in 1966 on the Argeș River and created Lake Vidraru.

Completed in 1971, the stainless steel figure stands some 10 metres tall.

While there is a fair number of pics floating around of this figure, I had to dig a little deeper to find out where it was in relation to the dam.

Note the lighting conductors mounted on top, a nice touch 😊

Find it at Number 2 in this list of 50 non-boring design and architecture items – which somehow manages to squeeze in 145 items.

From Amazing To Downright Scary, These 50 Design And Architecture Decisions Are Far From Boring

Here’s Scotland’s attempt, almost hidden in Glasgow

Prometheus has a statue in Scotland.

Installed a little over 20 years after the Soviet Romanian example. I’m afraid it just doesn’t have the same presence ☹

By chance – Prometheus Sculpture find

By chance – Prometheus Sculpture find

It’s always a bit of a surprise (OK, shock) to find something I’ve not come across before, or even read about.

Such was the case when I had a random wander in some of the streets around the Wolfson Building of Strathclyde University – somewhere I didn’t get close to when I was there, having been warned off (it’s a ‘secret’ place), a hint that would have had the opposite effect if issued today. Apparently that’s no longer valid, and it welcomes visitors.

However, the subject of this post is a large piece of sculpture I found standing in Taylor Street, looming about 4 metres above me as I walked along and saw it for the first time.

It’s one of those particularly irritating photographic subjects, the sort where you can’t find a decent single view that shows the subject off to best effect, with areas merging together, or lines becoming confused depending on the angle.

I gave up, and just tried for a single ‘Best Effort’ to capture it.

Maybe a revisit and a few more versions when the weather and light are better.

Thankfully, this one DOES come with a handy plaque nearby, so we have a few details about the item.

1994!

It really has been a long time since I felt the need to wander around here, yet it feels like only a few years since I was last nearby.

There’s another sculpture nearby, which WAS there and more visible in the days when I was there – I used to be able to see from one of the lecture theatres. The Callanish Sculpture dates back to 1974. Some may know it better as ‘Steelhenge’, although it has no connection to the stone version.

Sad to say, the area was being remodelled, and this sculpture is becoming less visible and more hidden than it used to be, and it wasn’t all that visible from outside the area before, which is a shame, since archive images of its installation show it featured on a raised mound, apparently in the open at that time.

I couldn’t even take a useful pic this time, thanks to the works and related fencing, but I’ll try to remember it later, when the works are done and some sort of view is restored.