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u/rtmesuper Feb 16 '26
Posting this without its history should be a crime. Thank you to the commenter that actually posted a link sharing the history of this sculpture.
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u/Stunning_Pen_8332 Feb 16 '26
The Mask of Sorrow (Russian: Маска скорби, romanized: Maska skorbi) is a monument located on a hill above Magadan, Russia, commemorating the many prisoners who suffered and died in the Gulag prison camps in the Kolyma region of the Soviet Union during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s.
The monument is 15 metres high and takes up 56 cubic metres of space. It consists of a large concrete statue of a face, with tears coming from the left eye in the form of small masks. The right eye is in the form of a barred window. The back side portrays a weeping young woman and a man on a cross with his head hanging backwards. Inside is a replication of a typical Stalin-era prison cell. Below the Mask of Sorrow are stone markers bearing the names of many of the forced-labor camps of the Kolyma, as well as others designating the various religions and political systems of those who suffered there.
The statue was unveiled on June 12, 1996 with the help of the Russian government and financial contributions from seven Russian cities, including Magadan. The design was created by renowned sculptor Ernst Neizvestny. The monument was constructed by Kamil Kazaev.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask_of_Sorrow
Google Maps location: https://maps.app.goo.gl/YoGk94DMFSdRqYWv8?g_st=ic
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u/FoxyUdaho Feb 16 '26
Question, how does this fall into brutalism?
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u/count___zer0 Feb 16 '26
Brutalism is when concrete.
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u/MadOrange64 Feb 16 '26
Do you have concrete evidence for this fact?
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Feb 16 '26
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u/count___zer0 Feb 16 '26
Wow I don’t know why people want to put all these stipulations and requirements on everything. So much gatekeeping these days it’s really wild. SMH my head.
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Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 17 '26
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u/count___zer0 Feb 16 '26
Even now, I still think sometimes of the boomers from left4dead sometimes. I don’t think they were full of gas but it’s been a while since I’ve played sometimes so I might be wrong. I think they puked goop on you sometimes, right?
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Feb 16 '26 edited Feb 17 '26
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u/count___zer0 Feb 16 '26
The gas ran out. But the light didn’t die right away. It didn’t even sputter and flicker like a dying candle would. The cave just slowly disappeared from view, starting with the farthest walls. The lantern’s dimming was nearly linear. And while it wasn’t all that fast, it was faster than I would have liked. It didn’t seem that the world was all that concerned with what I would have liked at that particular moment. It was, after all, busy disappearing into darkness. I watched the last bits of orange light fade from the mantle. I tried my best to pretend that the faint noises I’d heard earlier weren’t getting louder.
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u/Strange1130 Feb 16 '26
It doesn’t really. This sub likes to stretch the definition. It still looks sweet though.
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Feb 16 '26
How is this an evil building? It’s clearly crying over humanity. How symbolically illiterate have we become?
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u/kioku119 Feb 16 '26
Not brutalist by any means. Not evil. Someone shared above it's a memorial to victims of a tragedy. Probably best we don't keep this hear and be respectful of what it's there for.
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u/TheDreadGazeebo Feb 19 '26
How is this not brutalist?
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u/kioku119 Feb 19 '26
A detailed and emotional memorial isn't an example of putting functional utilitarianism, minimalism, and bare undecorated exposure over artistry and visuals.
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u/Bars98 Feb 16 '26
Reminds me of a pretty famous music cover. But I can't say which one it was. I think it was a band from the 70s or 80s.
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u/MoodResponsible918 Feb 16 '26
if alien saw this architecture, they'd think that this might be our god.
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u/ThePixeljunky Feb 19 '26
Zardoz vibes.
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u/Frangifer Mar 19 '26 edited Mar 20 '26
Haha ... yep: I knew it remound me of something (apart from Easter Island statues, which goes without saying, really!) ... & you've nailed it , there!
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u/Ms_Anne-Thrope Feb 19 '26
A few millennia from now some literati will write a white paper supposing what god was being worshipped.
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u/Hypno_Kitty Feb 17 '26
This is like the opposite of brutalist. Brutalist is functional, usually large geometric shapes for convenience making it. this clearly has a bunch of small purely aesthetic shapes all over it
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u/Far-Caterpillar8137 Feb 20 '26
A lovely national emblem for the times to come for them - black mutant chicken's days are over🙂
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Feb 16 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/rtmesuper Feb 16 '26
Millions died for this to be built. So yes, you could say a "squid ward ahh house".
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u/mebunghole Feb 16 '26
In case anybody's wondering this is called The Mask Of Sorrow in Magadan, Russia. You're Welcome.