The Stonehenge Sculptures of Ratko Vulanovic: They Call it Stone Town!

The Ada Stonehenge, aka Gates of Belgrade, photo by paramecijum, used with permission

Welcome back, Gentle Readers! Today our continuing tour of Stonehenge-ish things around the world takes us to the historic and beautiful city of Belgrade. The scene above was taken in a park that is on an island in the Sava River as it flows through the city, the island Ada Ciganlija. The official name of the collective sculptures seen here is the Gates of Belgrade, but they’re sometimes called Stone Town or the Ada Stonehenge. Which is where we come in.

From the Real Housewife of Belgrade, with permission

These sculptures were created by sculptor Ratko Vulanovic. As you can see in this video, he is one of those people you can’t help but love, even if he doesn’t say one word you understand. There is also a wonderful-seeming article here, about him and the Stone Town sculptures he has created, but we have not been able to get a good translation of it. It seems to say that he loved stone from a young age, admiring cyclopean walls and world-famous Stonehenge, that he has a mythic personality, athletic muscles, superhuman strength, a white beard and golden hands. It says he began to process boulders as the ancients did, eventually forming a whole city of stone, but that it looked supernatural and since people are not allowed to compete with the gods, those gods of the lower world took apart his achievement.

This is true. In Niksic, Montenegro, he laboured over a grouping of these sculptures in 1993 near the Palace of King Nicola, as the article puts it, drawing “from the stone wonderful synergy of beauty, rapture and awe” with “hints of stone Empire Luxor, Baalbek, Pompeii, their phantasmagorical streets, squares, colonnades, capitals and portals.” But in 2008, Niksic officials had the sculpture group, called Kameni Grad, or Stone Town, destroyed. Only photographs of that masterpiece remain.

Stone Town, Niksic.

It is not clear to us whether the Gates of Belgrade include any of the stone used in the former sculpture, but many people see it as the new Stone Town. It seems hard to believe, but more than one source suggests that Vulanovic received little or no money for the work. They call it his gift to Belgrade. Meanwhile, vandals have been at work destroying the new sculptures, knocking the stones down some time in 2011. The article that mentions that says that it was hoped that one of the cranes being used to build the beautiful new bridge across the Sava might help Mr. Vulanovic to set the stones back up. We hope it was done!

It says he comes out very early in the morning and washes in the cold fountain, then works all day carving stone and wood. We think it says that when the journalist exclaims that it is -10 degrees C, Vulanovic says, there is no creativity without passion!

Usually we’re funny on this blog, or we try to be, but once in a while we’re awed. This is one of those times. This isn’t a true Stonehenge replica, but we’re glad it was brought to our attention. The research for it took us on a journey of discovery, not all of which we had room for here, discovery of a great artist and of a culture that writes and thinks in grand terms about its great artists. Today we’re grateful to have gotten a glimpse of that man and that world. We won’t award this man any druids. We think he may be one.

Ratko Vulanovic

P.S.: We’re also tracking down stories of a sculptor known for Stonehenge-like sculptures, including one in Zurich. We’ll get to that post somewhere down the line. We have sillier things to share before that. And until next time, dear friends, happy henging!

Happy Valentine’s Day! In Which We Venture into the Realm of Teh Cute!

Sculpture by Lesley-Anne Raven at Cobweb Corner

Greetings to our readers. [heart] [heart] [heart!] We don’t have either of our new large permanent replica posts ready yet, but we wanted to put something up here for Valentine’s Day and look what we found!! THIS!!!! And you may well ask, “What is it?”

On the Stone Henge [sic] page of Cobweb Corner, Ms. Raven includes this among many interesting items she calls “Stone Henge* inspired incense burners and candleholders”. Here’s another.

What’s that you say? Aren’t these a little on the precious side for Clonehenge? Too cute? Are you wondering if we know the craft person and are getting kickbacks on every item sold? And we say, “No, but thanks—what a great idea! We’ll work on that.” On the other hand, if we ever started making money from Clonehenge, we might have to start actually working at it, and no one would want that, least of all us!

We’re posting this because: A. Our policy is to illustrate all of the ways in which people are reproducing Stonehenge; and B. We were completely at a loss as to how to celebrate Valentine’s Day on Clonehenge until this came along. This chocolate henge looks yummy, but we didn’t ask permissions in time.

We’re not awarding druids for this. We give it five strawberry creams and a ♥! And we accompany it with our words from last Valentine’s Day:

Happy Valentine’s Day to all, with or without a real lover. We all know you singles have your dreams and fantasies. You may be doing as well or better than many who face the challenge of the real thing (our own partner, for example, has us to put up with…).

You know what your Valentine wants: a Stonehenge replica, of course! Make it from biscuits or chocolate candies. Hide that ring and its glittering rock among the stones. There are few things more romantic and at the same time subliminally sexual than that shaft of light streaming in between a pair of uprights! If you make one, send us pictures. Of the henge only, please. There are plenty of sites for those other photos!

Meanwhile, as spring approaches, we have great line up of henges ahead for you. An interview with the amazing Mark Cline (of Foamhenge fame, and who is currently constructing the new Alabama addition to our list of large permanent replicas) is in the works, and one of our trusty henge-o-racks may be heading over to meet him at the new fibreglass replica to get pictures of him and the henge while it’s being painted!

We have a public sculpture in Zurich to look at, a lovely small quartzite model from Brazil, and another small model that is a pun on the glacier theory of the bluestones (Yes. We get all kinds.), the Serbian sculpture mentioned before, probably some snowhenges, and many other odd and fun things to come! Enjoy your sweetheart tomorrow, or conversely, enjoy being bitter about not having one. Remember, Stonehenge needs love, and until next time, friends, happy henging!

*Stone Henge is one of many common misspellings of Stonehenge, including Stonehedge, Stongehenge, Stoneghenge Stonhenge and others. Each has its adherents, but to find everything about Stonehenge on the internet, one has to search them all.

Video Update on Achill Henge: It Still Stands!

Hidden Hengers of Mississippi: Stonehenge Contagion Hits the Deep South!

Peghenge, henge and photo by Felder Rushing

It has been cold here in Clonehenge Central. England has had snow, and the usual rude snow sculptures have shown up in our internet feed. But down in the state of Mississippi, it is warm and lovely, and people can do their gardening—and garden henging—all year long. So it should be no surprise to anyone that the Stonehenge virus has had its way with people there just as it has everywhere else.

Meet Mr. Felder Rushing, native of Mississippi, radio personality, eccentric garden pundit and–henge enthusiast! Last week we were taking a healthful stroll around the Internet just to get the kind of fresh air, sunshine, and exercise you can’t get if you confine yourself to the social networks, when we stumbled on, without crushing it, we might add, the henge you see above. Some might call it a clothespin henge, but Peghenge would be a more familiar usage for most of our readers.

From there one (healthy aerobic) click took us to to his eclectic page of henges, which starts with Stonehenge itself and goes on through Avebury (we approve), a number of familiar Stonehenge replicas, on to his own and a friend’s garden henges, and to Newgrange and the white horses, by which we mean the chalk horses cut into a few English hillsides. No sign of the Uffington, but we’re in a forgiving mood.

James McCormick’s Stonehenge, from Rushing’s website

The picture above is a stone circle in the garden of one of his friends, James McCormick in Starkville, Mississippi. Rather nice, we think! True, there are lintels only in the center, and they’re in a circle, not a horseshoe, but the reference is clear, it is aesthetically pleasing, and we have learned it is astronomically correct. We award this little gardenhenge 5 ½ druids!

And Peghenge? It is tempting to award it a higher score for its outer lintels and the correctly-formed inner horseshoe, but, since this Felder Rushing is a famous gardener, writer, radio personality (his show is called The Gestalt Gardener), and speaker who also has a cottage farm in Shropshire, should we not hold him to a higher standard? Score for the peghenge is also 5 ½ druids! We hope, sir, that this will spur you on to even greater Feats of Henging Glory.*

Meanwhile, our huge staff of researchers, as well as our roomful of idea people and writers, are working on another post from the Deep South. Mark Cline, of Virginia’s Foamhenge fame, has dazzled the henging world with a new creation, a fibreglass Stonehenge in Alabama, rumoured to be guarded by dragons and Chinese warriors! It is new,and information is hard to come by, but we have enough to add it to our list of large permanent replicas.

The other one is a set of Stonehenge-related sculptures on an island in the Serbian city of Belgrade. The research on this one has taken so many turns, involving politics, a formidable sculptor, a soul-stirring sculpture garden that was once behind the prince’s palace and is now destroyed forever, and the like, that we’re having trouble getting the article small enough for posting. But our huge staff is up to any task and will persevere! Meanwhile, this, too has been added to our list of large permanent replicas, bringing the grand number to 75. This is a world of wonders!

And so, dear friends and readers, when you start to despair for the world, think of all of the people out there who shrug off their troubles and in the face of certain disaster decide to build another Stonehenge! The impulse to have a laugh outdistances everything else about human nature. You have to love us. Ish.So, until next time—happy henging!

*Note: We have been prevailed upon by the great Simon Burrow, recent winner of the End-of-the-World Clonehenge Contest, and venerated Hengefinder, among the oldest friends of the blog, etc., to reconsider the Peghenge scoring. So Mr. Rushing’s fine creation is now awarded 6½ druids! Use them well, sir.

Announcing the Winners, 2012 End-of-the-World Clonehenge Contest!

Citrus henge, courtesy of champion henger, Simon Burrow

Congratulations to long(est) time friend of the blog, henger and Hengefinder Simon Burrow, for receiving the Grand Prize in the Clonehenge 2012 End of the World Henge Fest and Contest! We had few entries, but all were excellent, and the decision was not easy. In the end it was this entry’s spirit, closely aligned with the Spirit of Clonehenge, that allowed it to break ahead of the pack. In his blog post describing CitrusHenge, Mr. Burrow writes,

“On a very recently discovered and translated Mayan carving it said something like: ‘build a Stonehenge replica out of citrus and the 2012 apocalypse will be averted.’ So we did and it was. Saved that is.”

We think it’s only fair that the henge that saved the world from apocalypse should win the contest! Of course, it has faults. The inner trilithon does not open toward a three-lintel stretch in the outer circle. And, let’s face it, grapefruits don’t work all that well as lintels. We suggest that if our champion continues to grow citrus fruit, he create some molds shaped like megaliths and have the fruit grow into them. Score: 6½ druids! (And that’s only so we can save face, having “picked” it as champion.)

One more note before we go on to the glorious runners up. In his blog post, Mr. Burrows mentions that someone beat him to the idea of a citrus henge (with this remarkable creation) and goes on to say:

“But I am undeterred in my desire for henging glory. Next I’m going to make the extravagant claim that I have created a record number of Henge-like installations. I’m going for the Guinness Book of World Records.” We wish him well, and we suggest he keep an eye on the Henge Collective, his most obvious rivals for the record. (Do NOT click on that link and look at the top post as of January 15, 2013, by Tom McCarthy. N so very SFW!)

Next, the runners up, but first a philosophical story, because we are, you know, a blog with cosmic and spiritual concerns, innit? So a woman walks into a butcher shop, looks at the pork chops, the filet mignon, the beef heart, the tenderloin, the pork roast, and asks “Which piece of meat is the best?” And the butcher says, “Madam, every piece of meat in this shop is the best!” See? Deep.

Well, as it is with the meat in that shop, and, harder to see, the moments of our lives and people on the planet, so it is with henges! Every entry in the contest was in some way the best. (Yes, that’s where we were going with it! Lame-R-Us.)

The runners up are, a) Sammy Glastonbury’s lava lamp henge, which wins Most Beautiful and Creative; and b) Allan Sturm’s large and work-intensive End of the World Dance Party Henge, which wins the Would Win in Any Universe Where Clonehenge Was a Serious Blog Award.

One other henge is worth mentioning in connection with the contest. On Twitter we found a henge that, depending on the actual date of its creation, might have qualified for the contest, an impressive holiday gingerbread henge created by Sort-of kind-of celebrity Greg Jenner. We have seen many of this genre, but this was one of the best:

Gingerbread henge by Greg Jenner and friend

It is very well done. Take a look at the base it is set on. Did someone take pictures of a lawn and cut them up to use for this? The stone proportions are pretty good, the scattering of single and broke stones is nice, and the center trilithon horseshoe is shown, as is befitting a creation by the esteemed Historical Consultant to the CBBC’s Horrible Histories. Score: 7 druids, sir! Well done. You should have submitted…

Sammy Glastonbury’s Lava Lamp Henge

Allan Sturm’s Dance Party Henge (see the Clonehenge Facebook group for construction photos)

So there it is, folks, the promised permanent page announcing the winners. We are impressed at the quality of entries* and want to thank the entrants for making the world more fun and for adding much-needed henges to our infrastructure. As the ancient prophets said, if people built more henges and argued less, peace would at last spread over the world, and all want and anguish would be abolished forever. Probably a very bad translation, but we’re going with it!

We have two new large permanent replicas to add, so we will be back doing regular posts very soon, maybe before the next winter solstice!!! Don’t forget to do the snowhenges and send us pictures. Happy henging!

*Okay, yes, we would have liked to see the Iron Man/My Little Pony mashup henge, but who knows what lies ahead?

21 December, 2012: Apocalypse No!

Poster from Allan Sturm’s LoveSmack Studios

Greetings, henge lovers everywhere, and a happy solstice to you all from your friends at the Clonehenge blog!

Yes, you read the poster right. It says, “Dance inside a giant to-scale Stonehenge!” Yes, it says other things, too, but we are not the sexism police. We are the Stonehenge replica fandom. Focus! We have before us an exciting henging first–the Stonehenge dance floor!

This is a poster for an End of the World Party. (Apparently at the end of the world, fonts turn into zombies and parts of them begin to fall off. But once again, focus!) The end of the world. Ish. As of this writing, it is 21 December in Europe and Great Britain, but there have been no signs of the world ending. How Stonehenge ties in with the end of the world we’re not sure, either, but who are we to blow against the wind? Let’s see a few of the other pictures posted on the Clonehenge Facebook group recently as the apocalypse approacheth.

Citrus henge, courtesy of champion henger, Simon Burrow

Friend and recent poster on this blog, Simon Burrow, posted this artistic citrus henge two days ago. Mr. Burrow is known for henging with unusual materials and with some frequency. If there were a thing like a henging problem, this henger might be said to have one. BUT there is not! So onward.

Photo posted by Bob Carlson–not sure who did the henging

Ah, the days when Stonehenge was beset by eldritch creatures of the sea! Who wouldn’t want to make a replica of those epic times? Here’s one, a little short on lintels, but impressive nonetheless, posted by the mysterious Bob Carlson. We don’t know much about him, but anyone who henges AND speaks Welsh is all right by us!

A snowhenge, posted by Rufus T. Firefly

And from R. T. Firefly of Henge Collective fame we have this snowhenge from another year. Don’t let that smile fool you–the creature shown here has teeth like a piranha and a temperament to match! If you see one at a henge, turn and run for your life. You have been warned!

miniature Stonehenge garden by Two Green Thumbs Gardens

And, yes, we have posted this last one before, but its popularity never dies–the miniature Stonehenge garden by Janit Calvo at Two Green Thumbs Miniature Garden Center. We include it again because she has furnished the curious with a blog post called How to Make a Miniature Stonehenge Garden for the End of the World. Timely! Briefly. Even better, she mentions us!!!

So there is our solstice/apocalypse post. Another year gone by, another turn of the sun, another special day for henges and hengers. It is also the last day for submissions to our henging contest. If you don’t know how to submit your entries, leave a comment on this post and we’ll answer.

Until next time friends, in this world or the next, happy henging!

Wine Rack Henge

Posted by Simon

It is the curse of the henger. I was building a new wine rack for the hall closet and the nicely shaped maple pieces suddenly started talking to me. And what they were saying was “we are a henge.”

And they became a henge.

Then the spirits intervened (it is a wine rack after all) and the sunlight reflected of the car window shone directly through the southern trilithon.

A clear message that the Mayans were wrong and the world will go on after the winter solstice.

This is my first entry in the Clonehenge End of the World Festival contest as announced on October 23, 2012. Life is Good.

Thank you Nancy for letting me “guest blog” on Clonehenge. I feel like I am typing on sacred ground. Well not exactly “sacred ground” maybe “sacred pixels.”

You can see more of my hengish contributions here.

Stonehenge Under Water, and Clonehenge’s Fourth Birthday!

Artist’s conception of the proposed reef, from the website of the Reef Builders International

On the 20th of November, 2008, Clonehenge first appeared online. Posts were short, and we often did two or three a day. Four years later, here we are, doing fewer posts and longer, but still plugging away. Happy birthday to us!! That Clonehenge goes on at all is remarkable, and fun. Thank you to all (three?) of you for your interest and support!

part of the Neptune Memorial Reef

For our birthday post we have chosen to tell you about the first large underwater Stonehenge, one that is still in planning stages, a limestone reef in the form of Stonehenge, to be built for the enjoyment of undersea organisms and human divers by Reef Builders International, LLC. (Beware of that site–egregious use of Flash!) These people also built the Atlantis Reef Project, aka Neptune Memorial Reef, a place for burial at sea that is fancifully made to look like the lost city of Atlantis.

We say this is the first large underwater Stonehenge because unsurprisingly a five minute search turns up three different companies (here’s one) that make Stonehenge-style decorations for fish aquariums (aquaria?), which means there are bound to be more somewhere. People have been doing small underwater Stonehenges for some time. Perhaps it’s an echo of the future time when Stonehenge itself will be underwater!

Since Clonehenge began, we have brought you tiny Stonehenges, huge Stonehenges, edible Stonehenges, Stonehenges of many ridiculous materials, scientific Stonehenges, artistic Stonehenges, illegal Stonehenges, pink Stonehenges, white Stonehenges, and Stonehenges in Australia, Europe, Japan, China, Africa, South America, North America (of course!), and several in Antarctica. We still haven’t had a real Stonehenge replica in space, something we still greatly desire, but this is almost as good–a Stonehenge in the ocean! People are strange and, reluctant as we are to admit it, kind of brilliant.

No score, BTW. This henge hasn’t been built yet, but we hope they follow the picture and shape the stones in imitation of the real thing. The press release gives us only this:

“The limestone blocks that make up the project will be worked by hand with diamond blade grinders and chainsaws stone by stone. When completed the stones will be carried by ocean-going barge to the project site 45 feet underwater 3 miles offshore of Key Biscayne Florida and assembled underwater.”

But perhaps the most interesting sentence reads:

“The Sarsen Circle with forty upright columns and lentils weighing over ten tons each will be constructed with 15,549 cubic feet of Limestone weighing over 700 tons.”

We can’t wait to see those lentils. This Stonehenge will not only be recreational but in a pinch it could feed thousands!!

Thank you for all of the birthday wishes you haven’t sent yet, but that we know you intend to! We look forward to whatever gifts you send as long as they are this. Any of these cakes would also be acceptable, gluten-free, of course! (All right, if you twist our arms we might accept plane tickets and a holiday in Wiltshire!)

Thanks again to our readers (surprisingly many), and our critics (surprisingly few), to our Hengefinders, and to WordPress.com, and of course to those crazy hengers of every stripe. We are grateful for four fun years! A pity the world only has a month left. We were just getting started.

Until then, friends, happy henging!

Basalt Henge to Save the Earth: Eastern Australia, Byron Bay!

Byron’s Stonehenge, image from Byron Ecopark site

“On a gorgeous 75-hectare beachfront property ‘Eagle Farm’ located in Byron Shire on the north coast of New South Wales, Dieter Horstmann is using a set of giant stone structures built from ancient basalt-columns to create a totally unique, 100% ecologically sustainable village and eco-tourism resort.”

Another line from the same site: “ Stone columns, some up to 10 metres in length, being strategically positioned across ‘Eagle Farm’, forming a Byron Bay “Stonehenge”. Mr Horstmann and his artist friends have harvested these natural Basalt-crystals on the land to artistically create their Stonehenge-style Eco-village.”

We admit we wouldn’t mind seeing this place! Mr. Horstmann (seen at left in photo by Jeff Dawson), born in Germany, has spent decades building his ecology park in New South Wales. It includes a village with minimal environmental impact, a health resort, and facilities to make possible the trial of various green practices with the purpose of helping to popularise those that have the most promise. His hope is that the park will encourage others all over the world to embrace environmentally healthy practices. (Because that’s going to happen. Lol!)

Fortunately our job here is not to make sure that people save the planet, but to report on the more urgent matter, these Stonehenge-ish constructions. Every Stonehenge replica listed on this blog, or not listed for that matter, has unique peculiarities, and in this case perhaps the most intriguing thing is the stones it’s made from: they are basalt columns, similar to those that make up Devil’s Tower in Wyoming (Close Encounters, anyone?), and the Giant’s Causeway in Northern Ireland.

These columns were on the property to begin with. Let’s face it–who wouldn’t think henge if they found these things lying around with nothing else to do? What’s that? Everyone but us? Well, right, but clearly Herr Horstmann is one of us–a henger, henge-o-phile, henge-orak, clonehenger. Welcome to our ranks, sir! We honour you for your vision!*

But we know a lot of people are tied up right now, cleaning up from Sandy, fixing the economy, and playing Halo 4, and may not get around to that right away. For now, Dieter Horstmann’s henge will have to do. Hard to give a score because we don’t think we’ve seen the whole thing. But we’ll give it 6 druids and add it to our list of large permanent replicas. Impressive large stones. May his endeavor succeed beyond his wildest dreams!

And until next time, happy henging!

P.S.: Flamehenge! And our thanks to Hengefinder Matt Penny for finding the Byron Stonehenge!

*The subject of how Stonehenge is often connected in people’s minds with ecology and saving the earth, despite the fact that building it would have required disturbing the environment to a degree not seen on Great Britain until that time, might provide a thoughtful person with material for a long and interesting essay touching on psychology, our modern perceptions about ancient people and nature, and the kind of hierarchical society that is required to orchestrate this kind of monument building. But as you know, we are about as far as we can get from being thoughtful people, so we’re off the hook. Phew! That was close!

Stonehenge Replica on Mars!!! (not really, but who could resist that title?)

#PewPew!

That is how the fateful tweet from @MarsCuriosity started. It continued: See the tiny cluster of rocks, aka “Stonehenge,” I’ve been investigating with my laser.

And here at Clonehenge headquarters, the whole office said in chorus, “Say what?!” Everyone went for the View Media button at once to see the video (above), and watched fascinated as the brilliant and lovely Nina Lanza gave her talk (transcribed here). We saw the tiny stone and the weathering under it that made it look as if it were set on little uprights, like a tiny row of sarsens topped with lintels, ON MARS!!!* And we heard how the Curiosity Rover zapped it with its lasers nine times.

We were laughing and exchanging looks of bemused joy when, well, as they say, s#!* got real. Miss Lanza went on to say, In addition to composition, we’ve also been able to make a three-dimensional model of the surface of this target using images from the Remote Micro-Imager part of ChemCam. (see model below)

Yes, we know this is just a computer model. As far as we know, they didn’t do a three dimensional print of it. Yet… As far as we know…

Mars Stonehenge–one inch long

So, I guess we all know what this means. No? Not All? What about Giorgio Tsoukalos? We think he’d know what to say. Yes, that’s right, gentle readers, apparently Mars people must be very very small! And we just zapped their pagan ritual site! We believe they are planning their revenge.

But here at Clonehenge, we say, “What? Us worry?” We’re too thrilled to see Stonehenge, however dubious the connection, and a model of it, mentioned in connection with space! We still hope someday to learn of a Stonehenge replica being made on the International Space Station, but until then, this is making us pretty darned happy! Thank you, Curiosity Rover! Thank you, Nina Lanza! Thank you, other NASA dudes and dudettes!

And until next time, we wish all of you, including the NASA computers, happy henging!!

*Try adding that to every fortune cookie you open!

CLONEHENGE

A blog about Stonehenge Replicas. We kid you not.