Caveman encased in ice appeared in a Minneapolis park with others still to be found
The new monoliths? Hikers left baffled by caveman encased in ice that appeared on a trail in a Minneapolis park
- A sculpture of a caveman encased in plastic that looks like ice appeared along a trails in a Minneapolis park
- The icy block surprised both locals and officials from the Parks Department
- Idea is similar to the metal monoliths that were popping up around the world towards the end of last year
- Icy caveman in Theodore Wirth Park is the work Zach Schumack who says he created the piece to get people off their phones and out into the outdoors
- Parks Department has agreed to let the bizarre block stay until the snow melts
A frozen caveman encased in a block of ice has been discovered next to trails in a Minneapolis park.
The mysterious monolith has been captivating local hikers who stop to take a look as they pass by.
The icy block is similar to a metallic one found in in Utah which captured the imagination last November. It led to several more metal monoliths sprouting up around the word.
A sculpture of a caveman encased in plastic that looks like ice appeared along a trails in a Minneapolis park
The icy caveman in Theodore Wirth Park is the work Zach Schumack who says he created the piece to get people off their phones and out into the outdoors
But this particular Neanderthal sculpture has something of a wintry twist given its location in the chilly Minnesotan city.
The ‘Ice Man’ sculpture is situated between two trails in Theodore Wirth Park, and depicts a caveman named Zug Zug encased in plastic that appears to resembles ice.
Artist Zach Schumack came up with the idea after having made the piece for a one-night marketing event.
‘Every day I would go to my garage and see this thing looking at me and it seemed like such a shame that this piece of art was just sitting there,’ Schumack told Fox 9.
‘I really like that it’s getting some attention because it’s getting people to get away from their TVs and computer screens,’ he added.
The icy block surprised both locals and officials from the Parks Department
Idea is similar to the metal monoliths that were popping up around the world towards the end of last year
Schumack told the TV station that he wanted to create something that people could enjoy and to ‘give people something else to talk about – something positive’.
He said that he hoped the unusual sight might ‘encourage people to get out, go to the parks, go to the trails and explore the park.’
‘Talking to a little kid a little bit ago, and he found out that it wasn’t an actual real caveman,’ Schumack said to MPRNews. ‘He was like, ‘wait — what? it’s not real?’ and you could see the look of a blown mind. I think that’s what art is supposed to do. It’s supposed to make you wonder, guess and talk about it.’
‘This piece was designed, even a year ago, to draw you in closer to really get you kind of engaged with the piece, and look for areas of clarity to see everything,’ he explained.
The Parks Department has agreed to let the bizarre block stay until the snow melts
People have been stopping by the mysterious monolith to take photos alongside
‘It’s been a big debate online,’ Schumack said. ‘It’s not CGI graphics. Someone was commenting about that. It’s definitely all handmade by me.’
The statue was initially planted as a prank without permission from the Parks Department, but word soon spread and locals seemed to enjoy the stunt with some stopping to take selfies with the frozen block.
‘We had always kind of had the idea – ‘How fun would it be to put this thing in the woods somewhere where it just kind of shows up?”
Schumack revealed that a second icy monolith may be found in the coming days named Zarah, but he refused to be drawn on its exact location.
Schumack’s piece has since won the support of the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board who have agreed to let the sculpture remain until the snow melts.
The original monolith appeared in the remote desert in southeastern Utah, USA in November
A woman contemplates a strange monolith that appeared on December 10 in Warsaw, Poland
The piece has drawn comparisons with several mysterious metal monoliths that began appearing around the world towards the end of 2020.
The obelisks appeared in remote locations, seemingly out of thin air.
The three-sided metal pillars were reminiscent of the science fiction Space Odyssey series by author Arthur C. Clarke in which three such monoliths, built by extraterrestrials to foster intelligent life, are discovered across the solar system.
The first shiny pillar was spotted in southern Utah on November 18 by baffled locals and news of the object quickly went viral around the world.
Conspiracy theories speculating that aliens planted the object circulated soon after the stainless steel, 10-foot monolith was discovered in a remote area of the Utah desert.
More of the strange three-sided metal obelisks appeared in New Zealand, Romania, Poland, The Netherlands, California and Australia.
Hikers were intrigued after spotting a metallic column in a nature reserve in a village in Oudehorne, Friesland, The Netherlands
The stainless steel obelisk that mysteriously appeared at Christchurch Adventure Park, New Zealand, pictured in December
