Haul out the dynamite... stock up on blasting caps and drill bits...hire a crew of hundreds...you're ready to carve a mountain! Yes, Mt. Rushmore is my next extreme sculpture. I've visited this awesome monument several times and urge you all to experience it as well. The 'sculptor' is Gutzon Borglum--a manic, confrontational, opinionated, egotistical man who conceived the idea as an embodiment of Manifest Destiny. Washington and Lincoln belong for obvious reasons, Jefferson because of the Louisiana Purchase, but Roosevelt? Roosevelt was a friend and supporter of Borglum's as well as the president responsible for the acquisition of the Panama Canal. Each of the heads is approximately 60' high and Borglum had them carved so as to leave an extra 3 inches on the surface to allow for weathering! He figured that in 300,000 years they would be about what he intended them to look like....
Most of the time Borglum's son, Lincoln, was in charge of the work while Borglum himself set out to work on other projects and raise funds--the cost was close to one million dollars. Borglum would check back periodically during the 14 years it took to be finished. He died a year before it was completed. Here are a couple more interesting views:
The creative spirit is so awesome! Today another sculpture--Crazy Horse--is being blasted into another Black Hills rock face...
If you look to the mountain behind the model you will see the face as well as a hole beneath the arm, and some white markings outlining the horse's head. This sculpture has been in progress for decades and the end is still not in sight. Have any of you been in the 'presence' of a spectacular piece of extreme sculpture? I would be interested in knowing what it was!