As one who seeks out the freaky and far out in my travels, serendipity seems to be the best GPS for the fiendishly, often funnily, strange. Mostly this is in the form of art, mainly sculpture and statue and the occasional painting. (Or some decidedly unfunny human cremations in India and Nepal — I’ll spare you.)
Sure, it’s superficial this fascination. (So weird! So hilarious!) What does it mean? Not much. It’s aesthetics of the outré, stimuli out of left field, tailored, perhaps, to the oddballs among us. It’s striking, warped and wonderful. The more ghastly the better. The more shocking the cooler. (Note: I have yet to stumble upon art or artifact that’s sincerely blasted my senses. It’s out there, and I will find it.)
Here, meanwhile, are irresistible curiosities I’ve come across around the world:
Cast of Joseph Merrick’s, aka the Elephant Man’s, skull, Royal London Hospital. One of the most interesting, most hideous and saddest skeletal specimens ever.Latex cast of the Elephant Man from the 1980 David Lynch film “The Elephant Man” at the Museum of the Moving Image, New York. This is the mold they used to make-up John Hurt as the real-life Elephant Man.“Crucified Woman,” an unsettling work by supreme provocateur Maurizio Cattelan, hanging in the Guggenheim in New York City. Note the pigeons. I have no idea what’s going on.Cracked cherub in Iglesia de El Salvador, a gorgeous church in Sevilla, Spain. I love the little fella’s decrepitude and pink and bulgy doll-like creepiness.Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona. Stacked: a sheep, a pig, a cow, all with unicorn horns. Interesting, until you realize it’s just bad art.Montreal Museum of Fine Arts. Rugged hiking man with primates. The bloke’s head is like a bobble-head.The Met, New York City. Exactly how I wake each morning.Body cast of Chang & Eng, original Siamese twins, Mutter Museum, Philadelphia. Gross and glorious.A baby through Picasso’s eyes, Paris. I just like this poor warped toddler, so bulbous and twisted — and probably demonic.Peter and Paul Fortress, St. Petersburg, Russia. At the resident Torture Museum. Highlight: the saliva string and puddle.Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC. Trump in two years, in his cell. Malformed Baby Jesus, flea market, Barcelona, Spain. So distorted and freakish I desperately wanted to take it home and cuddle it.Hanging horses by crazy Cattelan, Guggenheim, NYC. Something out of Fellini. See the little Pinocchio puppet by its front legs. Discuss.Monkey murder. I really haven’t the foggiest. I wish I did, but I don’t. Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
I’ve seen a few of those things myself, but that monkey murder and baby Jesus are really something! I think I would have had to have bought Jesus if I’d seen him, and dressed him in stupid outfits once I’d got him home.
I so wanted to buy baby Jesus, but he was too big for practical travel. And I bet he cost a fortune. But me too, I would have dressed him up. First, a frilly diaper. Then a cape, crown and robe. Or just a lovely muumuu.
GNASHING. 
I’ve seen a few of those things myself, but that monkey murder and baby Jesus are really something! I think I would have had to have bought Jesus if I’d seen him, and dressed him in stupid outfits once I’d got him home.
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I so wanted to buy baby Jesus, but he was too big for practical travel. And I bet he cost a fortune. But me too, I would have dressed him up. First, a frilly diaper. Then a cape, crown and robe. Or just a lovely muumuu.
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