Tag Archives: St. Louis

Stuff that Weighs More than Me: The Way by Alexander Liberman

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Yep I'm in that picture. Look verrrrry closely.

Yep I’m in that picture. Look verrrrry closely.

While on our recent trip to Missouri, we stopped at Laumeier Sculpture Park in St. Louis.  This magnificent space hosts so, so many wonderful sculptures including this iconic behemoth called The Way by Russian-born artist Alexander Liberman.

IMG_0970Composed on site in 1980, the piece is comprised of over 18 salvaged steel oil tanks welded together.  It’s columns echo monumental Greek architecture.  Up close, you’ll see that a number of the oil tanks are crushed to varying degrees to further demonstrate the “weight” of the sculpture.  In fact, you might want to call this The Weigh by Alexander Liberman, because this thing is massive!

Here’s the stats:

Length: 780 inches (65 feet)

Width: 1224 inches (102 feet)

Height: 1200 inches (100 feet)

Weight Single salvaged steel oil tank:  (Math alert) Assuming it’s 3/16th inch thick steel, then that weights 7.66 pounds per square foot.  A cylinder with with a radius of 5 feet and a length of 40 feet would have an area of 691 square feet. 691 * 7.66 = 5,293 pounds empty

Weight of entire sculpture: 5,293 x 18=95,274 pounds

Conclusion: The Way by Alexander Liberman weighs just a little more than me.

Love, Jeanette DePatie (AKA The Fat Chick)

An announcement plus Stuff that Weighs More than Me: World’s Biggest Chess Piece

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IMG_0985Okay, so we have a few things to talk about today.  One is to share with you my latest entry to stuff that weighs more than me.  In the above photo, I am posing next to the world’s largest chess piece.  I encountered it completely by chance in the Central West End of St. Louis today.  I stopped for lunch and there it was, in all it’s geeky glory–a really, really giant chess piece.  I looked at my husband and he grinned as he said, “Do you want a photo for your blog?”  “Heck yeah,” I replied.  “I’m quite sure THAT weighs more than me.”

IMG_0987

Indeed it does.  As the above photo indicates, the chess piece is as tall as a giraffe.  And were it used in an actual game of chess, it would require a chess board measuring over 70 feet per side–large enough to park 12 school buses.  Here’s the stats:

Height: 14ft. 7in.

Width: 6 ft. at the base

Material: 3/4″ plywood

Weight: 2,280 pounds

Conclusion: whether king or pawn, the world’s largest chess piece weighs more than me.

And now for the big announcement!  I’m thrilled to report that this blog was selected as one of the 2014 Top Positive Body Image Blogs and sites by Body Bliss Central!  W00t!  With special thanks to Ragen Chastain for the nomination!

Looking forward to heading for home and sleeping in my very own bed soon!

Love,

Jeanette DePatie

AKA The Fat Chick

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