This strange bear slumps in the corner of a university quad. There’s nothing cuddly about the oversized creature, or the abnormally large lamp slicing into its head.

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Providence, Rhode Island

John Hay Library

Books bound in human skin and H. P. Lovecraft's letters are among a few of the treasures this library has to offer.

41.8259, -71.4046

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Providence, Rhode Island

Gun Totem

3,500 pound obelisk constructed with 1,000 reclaimed guns.

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Providence, Rhode Island

H.P. Lovecraft House

Last residence of H.P. Lovecraft featured in his story "The Haunter of the Dark."

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Untitled (Lamp/Bear) by Swiss artist Urs Fischer is a unique addition to Brown University’s campus. It certainly keeps with the school’s reputation as the most free-spirited member of the Ivy League.

The jumbo-sized cast bronze sculpture of a teddy bear eerily bisected by a lamp is on loan to the University from Steven and Alexandra Cohen. It’s one of many sculptural representations of bears across the campus that honor Brown’s mascot, a brown bear. Visitors should be sure to check the office windows nearest to the installation where one clever Brunonian had created a miniature (or should one say normal-sized?) Lamp/Bear of their own.

If you aren’t going to Providence, Rhode Island, anytime soon, don’t despair. There are other Lamp/Bear siblings out in the world. A second version of the sculpture is currently sitting in the Qatar’s Hamad International Airport’s duty-free hall. A third one exists as well, but it’s on private property and is unviewable to the public.