Floralis Generica – Buenos Aires
Floralis Genérica is a sculpture made of steel and aluminum located in Plaza de las Naciones Unidas, Avenida Figueroa Alcorta, Buenos Aires, a gift to the city by the Argentine architect Eduardo Catalano. Catalano once said that the flower “is a synthesis of all the flowers and is both a hope that is reborn every day to open.”
It was created in 2002. The sculpture moves closing its petals in the evening and opening them in the morning, although this mechanism is currently disabled. The sculpture is located in the center of a park of four acres of wooded boundaries, surrounded by paths that get closer and provide different perspectives of the monument, and placed above a reflecting pool, which apart from fulfilling its aesthetic function, protects it. It represents a large flower made of stainless steel with aluminum skeleton and reinforced concrete, which looks at the sky, extending to it its six petals.
Weighs eighteen tons and is 23 meters high. Continue reading »
The Dragon’s Skull
Yes this is not a real dragon’s skull but it is still pretty creepy. This weird little plant is called a Snapdragon or Dragon flower or, if you want to sound even smarter, The Antirrhinum. Once the flower has died, the seed pod begins to look like the skulls you see here. Apart from being creepy as hell and alleged protectors of the garden, if you wore this about your body you would appear to be more “fascinating and gracious”. Though I imagine if anyone actually did find this on you, fascinating and gracious are not the only things they will think about you. Continue reading »
UK Picture Editors’ Guild Awards 2013 Finalists
Finalist – Anthony Devlin. General view of construction of the Leadenhall Building (centre) with the Shard Building (left) 20 Fenchurch Street, or the “Walkie-Talkie” building (second left) and Tower 42 (right), London, on June 23, 2013. (Photo by Anthony Devlin/PA Wire) Continue reading »
“Salon du Chocolat” – Chocolate Fashion Show
London, United Kingdom. 18th October 2013. A model showcases a chocolate dress at the London Chocolat Fashion show 2013. Salon du Chocolat, the world’s largest chocolate show comes to London. This spectacular finish to a wonderful line up of Chocolate Week activities takes place from 18th-20th October at National Hall, Olympia. (Photo by Anastasia Mishchenko/Demotix Photojournalist) Continue reading »
‘Zombie Car’ Abandoned in China Street
A parked car in Huayang village, in China’s Sichuan province, was left for so long that thorny vines and ivy grew up all around it. (CFP) Continue reading »
80 Gromits to be Sold for Charity
File photo dated October 10, 2013 of Dani Marlborough from Gromit Unleashed among some of the giant Gromit sculptures, decorated by celebrities and artists, as they are prepared for auction in aid of Bristol Children’s Hospital charity, Wallace and Gromit’s Grand Appeal. More than one million people are estimated to have visited giant Gromit sculptures exhibited around a city. (Photo by Tim Ireland/PA Wire) Continue reading »
World Solar Challenge 2013 in Australia
In this photo taken on Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2013, The Indupol One of the Belgian solar team rides across a desert, 285 kilometers South of Alice Springs, Australia. The solar challenge race, lasting for seven days, will take 43 participants over 3,021 kilometers before ending on Sunday, Oct 13. (AP Photo/Geert Vanden Wijngaert) Continue reading »
3D: Printing the Future Exhibition
Journalist and presenter Evan Davies poses with a 3D printed model of himself in the exhibition “3D: printing the future” in the Science Museum in London, on Oktober 8, 2013. Davies’ model features his arm in a sling due to him being scanned in August 2013 whilst recovering from a broken wrist. The exhibition features over 600 3D printed objects ranging from replacement organs to artworks, aircraft parts and a handgun. (Oli Scarff/Getty Images) Continue reading »
New Mom Doodles On Baby’s Portraits
Artist Amber Wheeler of Minneapolis, Minn., has given her 2-month-old boy just that. All she used was some Photoshop and well-timed photos. Using simple black lines – much like the ones in this series of cat Instagram portraits – Wheeler transformed her son into an astronaut, a superhero, and a cowboy without spending one dollar on costumes. Continue reading »
Cute Gadgets by Martin Linz
Very cute gadgets by Martin Linz, an artist from Minsk, Belarus. Continue reading »
Orphaned Wombat Baby and Kangaroo Joey are Best Friends
Opposites can attract and Anzac a doe-eyed baby kangaroo has become best friends with Peggy, a tiny squint-eyed wombat. Their unlikely union developed after the pair – both orphans – shared a pouch at the Wildlife Kilmore Rescue Centre in Victoria, Australia. At just over five months old, Anzac was brought to the centre after being rescued in the Macedon Ranges. The joey is in the mother kangaroo’s pouch for about eight months, depending on the species, but Anzac was abandoned a few months before he was ready to be free. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: Dog Rescue
Locals rescue the dog who has fallen in a gully formed after heavy rain in the Lower City, in Salvador, on Oktober 10, 2013. (Photo by Marco Aurélio Martins/Ag. A Tarde/Folhapress)
Dust Car Art by Rafael Veyisov
During work hours on one of the busiest streets of Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, parking attendant Rafael Veyisov wipes off the dust on cars with his fingers, slowly contouring the shapes of tall buildings and flying birds. In his artwork, he generally illustrates real towns to educate people about other countries, but sometimes he also lets his imagination run wild and produces impressive original works. Surprised by his talent, the car owners who regularly leave their vehicles in Rafael’s care, often leave them dirty just to give him an excuse to play around, and take photos of his beautiful artworks. Continue reading »
The Seventh Annual Running of the Wieners – Oktoberfest in Cincinnati
The Running of the Wieners races are the annual kickoff to Oktoberfest-Zinzinnati. 100 dachshunds race to be crowned the winning wiener at the seventh-annual Hillshire Farm Running of the Wieners on Friday, September 19, 2014. In photographs by Jay Murdock. Continue reading »
Photographing the Next American Olympic Stars
Team USA bobsled hopeful Aja Evans at the Team USA Media Summit in preparation for the 2014 Sochi Olympic Games at the Grand Summit Hotel, on September 30, 2013. (Photo by Kevin Jairaj/USA Today Sports)
Talented athletes, beautiful photos by Kevin Jairaj below. Continue reading »
Tian’anmen Square Blooms for National Day
Workers install decorations at Tian’anmen Square to celebrate the National Day, which is on Oct 1, in Beijing, Sept 22, 2013. The basket-shaped decoration is 18.2 meters tall and 15 meters in diameter. Photo by Xinhua. Continue reading »
Faces of Tibet
There are more than 10 ethnic groups living in the Tibet autonomous region. Ethnic groups living on the plateau not only keep traditions from generations past, but also face the modern way of life full of hope. China Daily photographer Kuang Linhua has captured these images of the remarkable lifestyles in the region.
Yagpe, 82, a practitioner of divination demonstrates an ancient ritual in her kitchen in Chab Nag village, Mainling county, in July. The Lhoba ethnic group believed these fortune tellers represented a divine link between the gods and humanity and could heal the sick. She is one of just two such practitioners in the region as modern medicine has became more popular. Continue reading »
Oktoberfest Kicks off in Germany
A visitor reaches for of the one of the first mugs of beer after the tapping of the first barrel during the opening ceremony for the 180th Oktoberfest at the Hofbraeu tent in Munich Sept 21, 2013. Millions of beer drinkers from around the world will come to the Bavarian capital over the next two weeks for the 180th Oktoberfest, which runs until October 6. Continue reading »
Philippines Mermaid Swimming Academy
Filipino mermaid swimming teacher Genevieve Reyes (C) has her tail adjusted by students during a lesson by the Philippines Mermaid Swimming Academy in a private swimming pool in Makati, Manila, Philippines, 15 June 2013. The Philippine Mermaid Swimming Academy (PMSA) was created in 2012 in Boracay by Normeth Preglo of The Philippines and US swimming instructor Djuna Rocha. The swimming lessons were brought to Manila in April 2013. The price for a two-hour class is 37 US dollars. Photos by Dennis M. Sabangan/EPA. Continue reading »
Animal Activists Hold Memorial for Dead Animals in Melbourne
Children have been reduced to tears by a confronting protest featuring 200 animal carcasses in Federation Square. Animal Liberation Victoria’s “memorial” aimed to raise awareness of the billions of animals killed each year for human consumption. Dead dogs, cats, pigs and birds were among the animals held by activists wearing protective clothing. While some people stayed to watch the hour-long ceremony, many walked past in shock and disgust.
A tombstone at the front of the demonstration, dedicated to the “memory of the Unknown Animal”, said 64 billion land animals and one trillion sea animals were killed by humans every year. Brochures handed out by activists encouraged people to realise that “animals are not ours” and that a vegan lifestyle was more ethical and caused less suffering. Photos: Animal Liberation Victoria activists hold dead animals at Federation Square on October 1, 2013 in Melbourne, Australia. Over 200 activists gathered with the bodies of deceased animals to publicly grieve their deaths. Animal Liberation Victoria is against the treatment of animals as “property” an promotes a vegan lifestyle. (Graham Denholm/Getty Images) Continue reading »
Submarine Comes out of Nowhere in Milan, Italy
The people of Milan awoke to find something a little strange yesterday morning.
Just off of Via dei Mercanti, near the heart of the old city, a submarine had apparently pushed its way through the paving stones and damaged a nearby car. The road’s shattered surface lay piled up around, with baffled firefighters looking on. Meanwhile, sailors clambered down from the lost submarine’s tower to meet emergency crews at the scene.
In case you haven’t guessed already, it was, of course, an ambitious publicity stunt. Workers for Europ Assistance IT, an insurance group based in Italy, had come to the street early in the morning to construct the fake submarine.
The installation was erected to promote the firm’s ‘Protect Your Life‘ campaign. Continue reading »
House in Black
Haus in Schwarz (House in Black) was a 2008 public art piece by artists Erik Sturm und Simon Jung in the city center of Möhringen, Germany. The piece was meant as a farewell to the building which was slated for demolition, with the matte black paint acting as a sort of final curtain to an exterior that had recently been used by numerous street artists, shown below.
After demolition, the owner, art gallery manager Karin Abt-Straubinger built a new gallery (but the House in Black still haunts Google Maps). Continue reading »
Breaking Bad Finale in Real Life
Student Ariana Gonzales, who is from Albuquerque, the town the hit series is set in, has visited many of the places that feature in the programme and taken a real-time snap shot of some of the iconic scenes. So as viewers mourn the end of the hit show, Ariana’s project provides a glimpse into the world of the successful drama. The project features familiar sights from the AMC drama, including the pizza on the roof scene and the lawyer’s office.
Ariana was able to recreate the scenes by ‘playing with depth’ with a camera, which meant painstakingly trying to find the right position to shoot in. She has been hooked on the show since the beginning and even thanked producers for choosing her home town as its set. Continue reading »
Photo of the Day: The World’s Largest Motorcycle
Undated handout photo issued by Guinness World Records of Fabio Reggiani from Italy who has made it into the Guinness Book of World Records for constructing the worlds largest rideable motorcycle measuring 5.10 meters (16ft 8.78 in) from the ground to the top of the handlebars. Six times larger than a normal motorcycle, it’s 10.03 m long, 2.5 m wide, and weighs approximately 5,000 kg (5 tonnes). (Photo by Guinness World Records/PA Wire)
Photo of the Day: In the Caves of Alaska
A brave photographer risked his life venturing into a cave below a glacier to capture these scenes, which look like something from the Ice Age in Alaska. (Photo by Photoshelter)
