Exhausted Paul Bunyan
University Park, Illinois
Although clearly Bunyan-size at 25 feet tall, this colorful, lifelike statue is an unusual representation of America's legendary tree-biter. Paul looks limp; his shoulders sag; his ax is apparently too heavy for him to lift from the ground.
Officially titled "Paul 2006," this Bunyan was created by artist Tony Tasset, who later built a 30-foot-high eyeball in Dallas, Texas. Tasset said that exhausted Paul was a "portrait of this American moment," and that one of his artistic inspirations was "fading roadside attractions."
We observed that Bunyan stands in a treeless field -- so perhaps he is not world-weary, just tired. Clearing the land by chopping down entire forests is hard work.