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- Bizarre Fish Head Art Turns Heads on HumanityYesterday
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Inspired by the silent movies of Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton, artist, stage designer, and photographer Anne-Catherine Becker-Echivard uses real-life fish heads in ’staged sets’ on humanity to create her photos that depict everyday-life to address topics ranging from Aids to repression.
Fish rendering factory, “Modern Times.” Photo TelegraphFrom elaborately designed images of asexual assembly line workers to mug shots of the FBI’s Most Wanted list, the French artist’s designs portray messages that target serious topics of human affairs to instill emotions of loneliness, intimacy, humility, membership and musical addiction, fused with an edge of humor.
- Worlds Most Bizarre and Intriguing Water FountainsDecember 3
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Fountains come in all shapes and sizes, their waters variously displayed from a cascading flow to a gushing geyser, and something ingrained within the human psyche responds to the splash and flow that soothes, relaxes, and inspires reflection. The captivating beauty of abundant and extravagant flow of water rising, tumbling, spilling, and jetting into the air in the hot summer heat provides a stunning, cooling, and refreshing oasis as the waters dance in the sunlight, or colorfully and brightly illuminated against dark evening skies.
This fountain forms the entrance to the headquarters in Wattens, Austria of
Swarovski Crystal. Photo Michael SloneckerThe resonating sounds of splashing, flowing or moving waters can mask niggling noises in bustling cities as one listens to the fragile sounds of water rather than distracting clatter and blare of traffic, providing a peaceful and serene environment.
Frisco Square fountain in Texas. Photo C MacCubbin
Untermeyer fountain. Photo Ralph Hockens
Grand Army Plaza fountain, Brooklyn. Photo zenobia joyTypes of Fountains
The aesthetic use of water flowing monuments vary from traditional wall fountains to free-standing structures and edifices, flowing and ebbing over a diversity of surfaces of stone, concrete or metal, located in small, artificial, ornamental ponds, basins and formal garden pools, often including sculpture and artwork.
Frog fountain in koi pond. Walnut Creek, California. Photo John Morgan
Crown Fountain, named in honor of Chicago’s Crown family, was designed by
Catalan conceptual artist Jaume Plensa, and is the first of its kind in the world.
Photo KM Photography
Crown Fountain. Photo Albany TimAnimated Fountains
Animated fountains frequently use laminar jets that provide water which moves like ping pong balls in animation, so that it breaks up as the height varies. The behavior of each jet operates independently so that the water packets collide with themselves. They can even discharge a ball of water which then explodes, showering people with a fine mist.
One of the fountains in the walk of a thousand fountains. Photo Ingorrr
Walk of a thousand fountains. Photo Ingorrr
The twins, suckling at the teats of the she-wolf in Rome. Photo Ingorrr
Children’s Fountain by Tom Corbin in Kansas City, Missouri. Photo CharvexMusical Fountains
Musical fountains are a type of animated fountain that dance in time with recorded or live music, creating an aesthetic design and sometimes 3-D images. They’re performed with the effects of sound waves and light or laser against water particles in which the water streams, activated in strategically-timed durations, refracting and reflecting the light, controlled either by a computer or a live “organist” operating the fountain through a switchboard.Many of the more well-known musical fountains are large-scale, and use hundreds of water jets and laser emitters, the cost of which runs into the millions of dollars, although smaller forms exist where the budget ranges to around a thousand dollars.
A number of companies offer software and hardware that cause pumps to turn on and off and lights to change in response to the bass and treble of music fed through the system, causing the fountain to respond automatically without a need for manual choreography.
A real working organ, powered by water pressure. Photo IngorrrFountains choreographed to music also generally called musical fountains, appear to respond to music but have been programmed beforehand. The earliest of these were played manually by a live operator, who usually controlled pumps or valves and sometimes lights by way of switches on a control panel, and the music was almost always live.
Later, choreography was prerecorded on a punched paper card which was scanned by a computer, and more recently, it has been recorded on tape or CD along with the music. Even so, the choreography must still be painstakingly programmed by hand.
Notable examples of this are fountains on Vasilievsky Island in St. Petersburg, Russia, and the fountains of the Bellagio in the Las Vegas Strip.
The Singing Fountain. Photo Jim LinwoodThe Singing Fountain is one of Mariánské Lázně’s unique wonders — a round pool 59 feet (18 meters) in diameter featuring a 12-piece stone sculpture representing a flower in the center of its shallow bowl. The fountain contains 10 intrinsic water jet systems with more than 250 water jets. The water gushes from the water jet in the center up to a height of 20 feet (6 meters). The creator of this artwork is the architect Pavel Mikšík.
The first music piece for the Singing Fountain was composed by the Czech composer Petr Hapka. Other compositions followed — Chopin, Mozart, Bach, Gounod, Smetana, Dvořák amongst others. The fountain’s spellbinding tones resound at every odd hour and the compositions are repeated regularly. The Singing Fountain was first heard on April 30 1986.
Hydraulophone Fountain
A hydraulophone is a fountain that can be played as a musical instrument which is like woodwind instruments, using water instead of air. The embouchure of the instrument occurs at the finger holes, referred to as “mouths.”
Ontario Science Centre hydraulophone flute with 45 finger holes. Here a skilled
hydraulist demonstrates proper hydraulophone technique. Photo GloggerHydraulophones often have multiple “mouths,” so that a player can put each finger into a different mouth at the same time in order to play chords, while independently manipulating each finger for separate and individual control of the embouchure of each note in a chord. A skilled hydraulist can slightly “bend” each note in order to play just intonation in any desired key, or to gently and fluidly vary intonation or temperament as a piece of music changes from one key to another.
Splash Fountains
Splash or bathing fountains are designed for people to cool off in and feature nonslip surfaces, so that people can safely use them to cool off in on hot summer days. Many aquatic play features are based around splash pads which have nearly zero depth standing water to eliminate possible drowning hazards, so that no lifeguards or supervision is required for aquatic play areas.
Photo Neil Rickards
International Fountain in Seattle designed specifically as a bathing fountain,
with speakers for music to splash to. Photo Cumulus
Urban beach splash pad at High Park, Toronto. Photo GloggerThe splash pads are usually surfaced in textured non-slip concrete or in crumb rubber, typically located in public pools, public parks, or public playgrounds known as “spraygrounds.”
Many splash pads have some features such as fine mist, which are designed to be moderate enough for children. Other splash fountains are designed for adults, such as joggers or concert goers to cool off in.
The splash fountain in Toronto’s city center, Dundas Square, features spray nozzles that shoot water straight up through stainless steel grilles set right in the middle of the main walkway. The nozzles rise and fall in unison to create the atmosphere of an urban beach, so that there are times when the water level is low enough for children to also play in the water.
Jogger cooling off in the 20 splash fountains that form the centerpiece
of Dundas Square, Toronto. Photo GloggerConsisting of 600 ground nozzles arranged in groups of 30 (3 rows of 10 nozzles), each group of 30 nozzles is located beneath a stainless steel grille. Twenty of these grilles are arranged in 2 rows of 10, right in the middle of the main walkway through Dundas Square. The entire surface of Dundas Square is made of special nonslip square granite slabs that match the size of the metal grilles.
Fountain of Rings. Photo Liz Jones
Photo Todd BakerSpray Fountains
Spray fountains are designed to serve as a play area where people can run around and cool off under a canopy of water, and are becoming popular in areas where the construction of public pools is difficult or costly, such as urban areas.
Photo Copyright Erika Tunick
Love Park, Philadelphia. Photo ChiLiu
Decorative metal fountain in Canberra. Photo Dfrg.mscFountains for Celebration
Many civic fountains in public parks are commissioned in commemoration of either national or public figures.The University at Albany hosts an annual “Fountain Day,” for which the university community celebrates the arrival of spring and the near-end of the semester. Drawing large crowds, the fountain-centered event creates something akin to an urban beach.
Fountain at the University of Southern California popularly called “The Finger” because
of its general shape and its orientation toward a certain rival school. Photo Clairity
Tivoli fountain, Ovetta. Photo AntmooseLevi Plaza, water falling sideways. Photo Marlith
Bellagio Fountain Show Las Vegas
Canal City Musical Water Fountain
- Playing with Food - Vegetables Transformed into Art MasterpiecesNovember 28
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Chinese artist Ju Duoqi puts a whole new meaning to ‘playing with your food,’ transforming ordinary vegetables into veggie replicas of legendary works of art by masters such as Vincent van Gogh, Pablo Picasso, Leonardo da Vinci, and Andy Warhol’s Marylin Monroe.
Picasso’s The Dream in tofu. Photo Bigpicturesphoto.comJu Duoqi’s kitchen is her studio, and vegetables are her paint. The 35-year-old artist uses boiled, dried, fried, and pickled vegetables, finishing with the fastest-rotting ingredients to create her masterpiece versions made entirely out of vegetables.
Her art breathes new life into ordinary vegetables, taking ‘green art’ to the extreme using everyday vegetables such as tofu, cabbage, ginger, lotus roots, coriander, and sweet potatoes.
Lumpy potatoes acquire expressive facial features, and radish roots, lettuce leaves, and cloves of garlic are transformed into Botticelli’s Venus.
The Birth Of Venus. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
The Birth Of Venus. Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com
Ju used cabbage and garlic for Warhol’s Marilyn Monroe. Photo Bigpicturesphoto.comSichuan-born Ju carefully slices and carves the veggies, and then assembles her works with toothpicks, taking up to 2 weeks to complete a single recreation of some of the world’s most famous works in photographs.
The former website and computer game designer turned artist has been creating about 2 vegetable sculptures a month since 2006.
Leonardo Da Vinci’s Mona Lisa recreated out of vegetables.
Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
Eugene Delacroix’s Liberty Leading the People in a sweet potato.
Photo Bigpicturesphoto.com
Ju’s version of Vincent van Gogh’s self-portrait using cucumber and carrot.
Photo Bigpicturesphoto.comThe 35-year-old artist says she wants to bring art into everyday life, proving it exists in every household kitchen.
“This is very easy — I just take a knife and slice. One cut can turn into so many different things. In my view, this is very simple.” says Ju.
“The different types, shapes, and colors of the vegetables with a bit of rearranging can make for a rich source of imagery. Fresh, withered, rotting, dried, pickled, boiled, fried, they all come out different.”
“I no longer needed a model, as they all became actors and even props. As a director, I directed them to restage La Liberté Guidant le Peuple, and called it La Liberté Guidant les Légumes.”
The Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Pickled Cabbage. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
Raft of the Lotus Roots. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
The Third of May 2008. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery“You wouldn’t know them any better if they were chopped into French fries and covered in ketchup, but when placed in the picture, they all appear unfamiliar and rich in facial expression.”
“On the ground lies the body of a winter melon soldier, with rotting ketchup flowing out of his body like blood. The battleground is strewn with rotting vegetable leaves. This great story of history, this world-famous painting, here becomes completely absurd.”
Pickled Cucumber on the Volga. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
Napoleon on Potatoes. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
The Kiss of the Radishes. Photo Paris-Beijing GalleryThese ’simple techniques’ pay Ju’s bills, as photos taken of the culinary masterpieces go for between $1,500 to $2,000 US each.
Her works which also include replicas of famous pieces such as Monet’s self-portrait and Leonardo’s Mona Lisa created with tofu are currently showcased at the Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery for ‘The Vegetable Museum’ exhibition.
Her organic version of Andy Warhol’s Marilyn Munroe fashioned from cabbage and a spring onion sold within a few hours of the exhibition’s launch to a foreign buyer, hungry for what could be called ‘crop art.’
Birthday of the Eggplants. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
Birth of the Gingerman. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
Scream of the Sweet Potatoes. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery“As a medium that decodes time, photography is my favorite.” Ju said. “Everything has a spirit, each vegetable, each person, and each second, under careful observation, has extraordinary meaning.”
“What makes me happy is that when I see Napoleon on his Potato, I can think back to when I fried him up and ate him at 2 in the morning in the summer of ’08. Through photographs, memory becomes sentiment.”
Picasso with Onions and Noodles. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
Death of the Cabbage Head. Photo Paris-Beijing Gallery
The Sleeping Taroman. Photo Paris-Beijing GalleryBorn in 1973 in Chongqing, Ju Duoqi graduated from The Sichuan Fine Arts College, and currently lives and works in Beijing.
The Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery’s exhibition of The Vegetable Museum by Ju Duoqi runs from November 23rd 2008 to January 24th 2009.
Ju Duoqi’s kitchen studio.
Ju Duoqi’s Vegetable Masterpieces
- Ancient Art of Firewalking Secrets RevealedNovember 28
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Firewalking barefoot over a bed of red-hot coals has been a human rite of passage in many cultures as a test or proof of faith for more than 3,000 years, and still practiced today throughout the world, from tribal rituals for rites of healing, initiation, and faith, to New Age motivational seminars and so-called alternative health remedies.
Walking on fire, Sri Lanka, Asia. Photo MorguefileWalking across 1200°F embers barefoot defies all sense and logic — yet firewalking has become a popular motivational exercise around the globe.
Walking on fire has existed for centuries with records dating back to 1200 BC, and became popular in America during the 1970’s when author Tolly Burkan began a campaign to demystify the practice. The demand for firewalking classes became so great that Burkan began training instructors and offering classes in 1984.
“As soon as you believe that you can do this without burning your feet, you have the confidence to take that first step.” says Tolly Burkan, founder of the Firewalking Institute of Research and Education (FIRE), which conducts self-improvement seminars using firewalking as an inspirational tool.
“Firewalking is really a metaphor.” says Burkan. “If you can do that, you can go and ask for a raise.”
Photo PDPhoto.orgBut how is fire walking possible? Does it really require a positive mental state? Or is it simply a lot less dangerous than it looks?
Debunking Firewalking
There are 2 competing sets of explanation for fire walking. Scientifically, there is very little conductivity between the hot coals and feet. As long as the length of the walk is short and the walkers move fairly quickly, there is little room for harm since very little heat transfers to the feet.
The paranormal explanation believes that walkers place themselves into some sort of altered state of consciousness, or they’re placing an energetic force field around the body that prevents harm.
“They claim that your mind somehow protects your feet, but it’s normal physics that’s operating in the firewalk.” physicist Bernard J. Leikind says.
“This is about ancient tradition — Buddhists practiced firewalking, the Hindu religion had firewalking in it, the Native Americans firewalked.” says Tolly Burkan
To prepare a firewalk, Burkan burns large oak logs down to sizzling red embers, creating a bed of coals. The resulting heat reaches temperatures of over 1,000 °F.
Burkan believes that positive thinking actually changes the body’s physiology, allowing a firewalker to cross the coals safely.
“When you are in the right state of mind the blood flows through the soles of your feet and takes the temperature away from the tissue, and that’s why you’re not burned.” Burkan claims.
“None of it has to do with their psychological state.” Leikind says. “All of it has to do with ordinary physics.”
“You don’t burn your feet in the firewalk because you’re walking on things that have poor thermal conductivity and low heat capacity.”
“Even though they’re at a high temperature, they don’t have as much energy as you might think, and they aren’t very good at putting it into your foot.”
“To understand the physics, imagine baking a cake. The cake’s been in the oven for a half an hour, and everything in the oven is at 325 °F. But you don’t worry about the 325 °F air burning you, or the 325 degree cake, only the 325 degree cake pan.” Leikind added.
“Whether you are a physicist and believe in the laws of physics, or you believe in me because you trust me,” Burkan says, “as soon as you walk into the fire with a belief that you’re not going to burn your feet, you are in a different physiological state than the person who thinks they’re going to get burned.”
Believers in the paranormal have said that in this state of altered consciousness, it doesn’t matter how long the bed of coals is, one should be able to walk the length unharmed.
Researchers put this theory to the test with a 50 foot (15 meter) long fire bed, and asked a group of professional firewalkers that were firm believers in the paranormal explanation whether or not they would be able to walk the 50 feet, and they agreed that they could.
But after about 20 feet, they jumped off and burned themselves, in some cases fairly badly, proving that the paranormal theory simply is not true, but science at work.
“I’m not trying to use the firewalk as an example of contradicting any physical laws, I’m trying to give a sense of what’s possible, to experience the exhilaration of breaking through your limiting beliefs, which gives you the courage to attempt things you might not have attempted before.” says Burkan.
How Firewalking Works
What that temperature is, and how quickly it is reached, depends on the thermodynamic properties of the two bodies of different temperatures that meet. The important properties are temperature, density, specific heat capacity, and thermal conductivity.The bodies in question here are human feet — which mainly consist of water — and burning coals.
Due to these properties, David Willey, professor of physics, says he believes firewalking is explainable in terms of basic physics and not supernatural or paranormal. He notes that most fire-walks occur on coals that measure about 1,000°F (537.75°C), but he once recorded someone walking on 1,800°F (1,000°C) coals.
“The 120 foot walk done by Sara Raintree and Jim Jarvis, and reports of longer walks and people remaining stationary for extended periods on the coals are currently under investigation by the author.” says David Willey.
Factors that Act Together to Prevent the Foot from Burning
• Water has a very high specific heat capacity, whereas coals and lava have a very low one, therefore the foot’s temperature tends to change less than the coal’s.• Water also has a high thermal conductivity, and additionally, the blood in the foot will carry away the heat and spread it. On the other hand, coal has a poor thermal conductivity, so the hotter body consists only of the parts of the coal which is close to the foot.
• Moisture on the feet from sweat or from walking on damp grass instantaneously evaporates, causing a layer of steam between the foot and the coal. The layer of steam is a poor conductor of heat, which keeps the foot from burning — the Leidenfrost effect.
• When the coals cool down, the temperature sinks below the flash point, so it stops burning and no new heat is generated.
• The coals are often covered with ash which is a very good insulator, frequently used to insulate ice boxes.
• The coals are a very uneven surface, and the actual surface area of the foot touching the coals is very small.
• Firewalkers do not spend very much time on the coals, and they keep moving.
• Calluses on the feet may offer an additional level of protection, even if only from pain, however most people do not have calluses that would make any significant difference.
Risks When doing Firewalking Improperly
Even though firewalking can be explained with simple physics, there are still hazards. A group of managers from the KFC fast food chain in Australia received treatment for burns caused by firewalking in 2002 which was done over timber, a more efficient heat conductor than charcoal.
People have burned their feet when they remained in the fire for too long, enabling the thermal conductivity of the coals to catch up.
Coals which have not burned long enough can burn feet more quickly. Coals contain water, which increases their heat capacity and thermal conductivity. The water must be evaporated already when the firewalk starts.
Photo PDPhoto.orgForeign objects in the coals may result in burns, such as metal which is dangerous due to its high thermal conductivity.
Wet feet can also cause coals to cling to them, increasing the exposure time.
Fiji Firewalkers. Photo GPB.orgCulture of Firewalking
Cultures across the globe have used firewalking for rites of healing, initiation, purification, transcendence, and faith. The skill has been practiced by:• Eastern Orthodox Christians in parts of Greece, and Bulgaria during some popular religious feasts.
• By fakirs who live by begging and performance of extraordinary feats of physical endurance.
• !Kung Bushmen of the African Kalahari desert have practiced firewalking since their tribal beginnings, using fire in their healing ceremonies.
• Hindu Indians in South Asia and their diaspora in South Africa, Malaysia and Singapore who celebrate the Thimithi festival.
• Young girls in Bali in a ceremony called Sanghyang dedari, in which the girls are said to be possessed by beneficent spirits.
• Japanese Taoists and Buddhists.
• Tribes throughout Polynesia.
• In management and motivational seminars.
The “world’s longest firewalk” was first set by Sara Reitree which was broken by Amanda Dennison in Alberta, Canada on June 15, 2005 with a record of 220 feet (67 meters). Scott Bell broke this record by walking 328 feet (100 feet) in Wuxi, China on November 28, 2006.
Whether you accept Bukan’s explanation or the scientific theory, one thing is certain — under the proper controlled conditions anyone can walk on fire and live to tell about it.
Firewalking Paranormal vs Science