A Brief Survey of Phone Booth Art From Around the World

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A brief survey of phone booth art from around the world. Some are functional, some are purely artistic, but all of them are interesting odes to an outdated but iconic mode of public communication.

(via Miss Cellania)

Van Gogh's 'Flowers In A Blue Vase' Damage Seen In X-Rays

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Researchers have spotted a never-before-seen chemical effect in Vincent Van Gogh's 'Flowers In A Blue Vase' that is dulling the work's vibrant yellows. It seems a layer of varnish added later to protect the work is in fact turning the yellow to a greyish-orange colour.

High-intensity X-ray studies described in Analytical Chemistry found compounds called oxalates were responsible. But atoms from the original paint were also found in the varnish, which may therefore be left in place.

The Monument to African Renaissance - Magnificent Symbol or Colossal Folly?

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At 150 meters (492 feet) in height the Monument to African Renaissance dominates the skyline of the Senegalese capital of Dakar. Its scale is quite breath-taking: new monuments of this size are rare and this is the largest statue in Africa.

Yet although it was billed as a celebration of the continent's renaissance it has become something of a scandal in the economically distressed African republic. The statue has offended a large part of the population of the country. Unveiled in 2010, it may be a couple of lifetimes before this symbol of a desired renaissance is rehabilitated.

Butterfly Swarm Sculptures

Artist Tasha Lewis has spent the last month traveling around the US to install her ephemeral butterfly swarms onto metal objects in public urban spaces. Each of her butterflies were made by printing double sided cyanotypes on cotton fabric. After cutting the images, she stiffened them with glue, before hand sewing a small but powerful magnet on the bodies of the butterflies.

(thanks Sara)

Robot Circus

Pozzo and Grotsky's Electric Animal Circus is a new type of live show: robot animals performing circus-inspired acts in a post-apocalyptic variety show. In a junk-punk, post-apocalyptic future an incorrigible showman and a boy genius build robotic animals from trash and make them the stars of a travelling circus.

The show features a robotic octopus who plays the xylophone, a fortune-telling mechanical ant, unique musical instruments made from repurposed electronics and ringmasters, clowns, showgirls and more. In summary, this is geek/robot/puppetry/theatre/scifi/junk-punk/music/animatronic/circus heaven.

(thanks Patrick)

Paris Boulevards

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Hand-coloured etchings of 1870s street scenes in Paris by Jules Adolphe Theodore Potémont (1827 - 1883). He was better known under the name of Martial-Potémont a.k.a Martial.

The Guardians Of Time Occupy Kassel

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It sounds like a title of an old episode of Star Trek, but the town of Kassel in Germany has been invaded by a group of figures known as the Guardians of Time. Kassel holds an art exhibition every five years but despite an offer from the artist the Guardians of Time were not invited. Yet, these mysterious beings do not, it seems, need a summons from mortals. They chose to walk where they wish.

17 Awesome Works Of Art In Unexpected Places

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Art is everywhere around you. You just have to look a bit closer. Check out some of these amazing and surprising pieces of art around the world.

Man-Eater

For four years Daniel Disselkøen took the same tram to art academy. He wondered why you would look out the window with curiosity when there is no reason to expect anything new. He decided to change the daily journey for his fellow passengers and himself. He didn't move the tramway track, but he added something. Man-eater, a pedestrian-head eating creature. Man-eater is part of his graduation project 'Remake Reality' for the Royal Academy of Art in the Netherlands.



Vimeo link

(thanks Cora)

France In The Year 2000

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France in the Year 2000 is a series of futuristic pictures by Jean-Marc Côté and other artists issued in France in 1899, 1900, 1901 and 1910. Originally in the form of paper cards enclosed in cigarette/cigar boxes and, later, as postcards, the images depicted the world as it was imagined to be like in the year 2000.

There are at least 87 cards known that were authored by various French artists, the first series being produced for the 1900 World Exhibition in Paris.

Marks & Spencer Create World's Largest Union Jack Flag from Unwanted Clothes

Marks & Spencer has created a giant piece of clothing art at West Ham Park. Using 2,100 unwanted items of clothing donated to the Shwopping initiative, M&S, local volunteering group Elevation Networks and charity partner Oxfam they made the world's largest Union Jack flag clothes mosaic. All items used in the creation of the flag will be reused, resold or recycled by Oxfam.



YouTube link

(thanks Jon)

LEGO Army 3D Street Art

Street artists Leon Keer, Peter Westerink, Ruben Poncia and Remko van Schaik of the Netherlands created these LEGO soldiers marching down the street at the 4th Sarasota Chalkfestival in Florida, USA. The LEGO men are meant to resemble clay figures as a reference to the Terracotta Army of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China.

The beauty of such a realistic perspective drawing such as this one is that the image only makes sense when viewed from a particular angle. Perspective-based street drawings of this scale require plenty of mathematical precision.

The Coolest Nesting Dolls Ever

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Matryoshka dolls or 'nesting dolls' are a set of wooden dolls of decreasing size placed one inside the other. Much of the artistry is in the painting of each doll, which can be very elaborate. The dolls often follow a theme.

Irene Hwang makes these super-detailed 'matryoshka' doll sets for the pop-culture junkies and cult-film fanatics. From Reno 911 to The Royal Tenenbaums, these sets of nesting dolls span practically the entire geek oeuvre.

Hartman's Historical Rock Garden

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Hartman's Historical Rock Garden in Springfield, Ohio, USA, is an art project that dates from 1932, when Harry George Hartman lost his job during the Great Depression. The molder occupied his time with creating rock sculptures in his back yard, spanning all sorts of themes. Religion, historic buildings, recreations of famous battles and hundreds of thousands of stones.

Mr. Hartman died in 1944, but his wife Mary took over custodianship of the Rock Garden, welcoming visitors from around the world. When she died in 1997, the garden fell into decline, but was rescued and re-opened in 2010.

(thanks Juergen)

Flower Bouquets Made With Discarded Spray Cans

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Designer Hillary Coe makes bouquet sculptures using parts of discarded spray cans. The sculptures are part of a series of works, which she has been creating for the 'Can Love' recycling program.

(thanks Sara)

There Goes The Neighborhood: Mobile Victorian House Sets Sail for Desert

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Burning Man is a week-long annual event held in the Black Rock Desert in northern Nevada, in the United States. The event begins on the last Monday in August, and ends on the first Monday in September. The event is described by many participants as an experiment in community, art, radical self-expression, and radical self-reliance.

Burning Man is flipping weird. It's not uncommon to see giant moving sculptures and 'art-cars' exhibiting all kinds of mechanical wizardry. Yet none are quite so magical as a nomadic 19th-century structure called the Neverwas Haul, equal parts locomotive, steamship, and Victorian house.

(thanks Hunter)

Mademoiselle Maurice's Amazing Origami Street Art

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Mademoiselle Maurice is a 28 year old French artist. After she grew up in the mountains of Haute-Savoie, studied architecture in Lyon and worked in Geneva and Marseille, she lived one year in Japan. Actually based in Paris, she devoted herself entirely to colorful creations, whose thought process was initiated few years ago.

In the past years Mademoiselle Maurice created complex and numerous urban installations, but she is mostly known for her origami installations placed throughout Paris, Vietnam and Hong Kong.

(thanks Andrei)