Art

Embrace The Unexpected With Help From The Bureau of Unknown Destinations

The Splits ©Ian Sane A new New York travel agency is offering voyagers the chance to embrace the unexpected in their next travel experience. The Bureau of Unknown Destinations offers, temporary displacements to members of the public seeking to experiment with their migratory impulses… We have provided the opportunity for voyagers to set forth, free [...]

Human-Like Sculptures Cause Controversy Around the World

Mark Jenkins Installation / Pictoplasma 2011 ©MatiasR Artist Mark Jenkins has spent the last few years travelling the world and installing his controversial life-like sculptures. Civilians have been so shocked by his sculptures that they’ve called the ambulance and police to help what they thought were real struggling or dead people. Perhaps the most controversal [...]

Times Square Celebrates Love This February

Times Square ©Bernt Rostad Times Square is embracing Valentine’s Day with a month-long celebration dubbed “Free Love in Times Square.” This month couples can renew their vows in the square. Also, couples can they can declare their love at the Crossroads of the World, and the declaration will be projected on a flashing digital billboard [...]

Spanish Museum Reveals Mona Lisa Copy

Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci ©Oh Paris Spain’s Prado Museum has a copy of Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa that was most likely painted alongside the master in the same studio. The Mona Lisa immitation has been part of the Prado collection for years and has been displayed occasionally to the public but it [...]

Germany Returns Ancient Afghan Sculpture

And you think it’s bad when a friend forgets to return one of your books © Reuters.com A pre-Islamic sculpture traced back to the second century AD, was returned to its native Afghanistan this week. The sculpture was looted during the Afghan civil war in the late 1970s and eventually traced to Munich, Germany last [...]

L.A.’s “Museums Free For All” This Weekend

The Getty Center; L.A. © shishito With a gloomy weather forecast for the weekend in Los Angeles, residents and visitors can beat the winter blues and visit numerous city museums for free. In it’s seventh year, L.A.’s ”Museums Free For All” kicks off this weekend. A wide range of museums–presenting art, natural history, science–are free, however [...]

Seeing Spots at the Queensland Art Gallery

Board game or art exhibit? © Hasbro Internationally renowned artist Yayoi Kusama has been known for daring work since the fifties. Her latest exhibit, featured at the Queensland Art Gallery in Brisbane, Australia, is not only daring but a family affair as well. Visitors to the exhibit (Look Now, See Forever)–particularly children–are armed with stickers [...]

DaVinci Code Finally Cracked?

Mona Lisa ©Oh Paris A 37 year-old oil painter and graphic designer claims to have finally cracked the mystery of Leonardo DaVinci’s elusive Mona Lisa. According to decoder, Ron Piccirillo, the coy Mona is disguising a menagerie of animal allegories. Piccirillo, discovered four lion heads, an ape and a buffalo hovering in the air after [...]

Marilyn’s Skirt Blows Up Controversy in the Windy City

Marilyn Monroe Statue ©Phil Roeder An eight meter tall sculpture of Marilyn Monroe on Michigan Avenue, in Chicago is blowing up a little controversy. The statue, titled Forever Marilyn, shows the icon in her infamous skirt-billowing-over-a-subway-grate stance. Chicagoans have been split in their sentiments towards the statue. Detractors say it’s tacky and sexist. Supporters say [...]

They Draw & Travel: One-of-a-Kind Illustrated Maps

Map in Progress © Magic Madzik Get inspiration for your next trip abroad by studying the amazing illustrated maps on the website They Draw & Travel. The maps on this site aren’t like those found in an atlas, instead each map is one-of-a-kind, highlighting off-the-beaten path sites and activities that are local favorites. A variety [...]

New World Record: Largest 3D Street Art Ever [Video]

“The painting measured an impressive 1,160.4m² and was unveiled at London’s West India Quays, Canary Wharf.” Amazing!

Map of Manhattan Carved Entirely Out of Marble

© Architizer Starting September 20th, New York’s David Zwirner Gallery will display an impressive map of Manhattan carved entirely out of marble. Little Manhattan is the work of Japanese artist and trained architect Yutaka Sone. Replicating details of the city from photographs, Google Earth shots, and numerous trips on a helicopter, Sone has created a [...]

Absinthe Ban Repealed in France

Absinthe Rig © ChrisDag Thanks to the repeal of a century long ban, you can now enjoy a glass of absinthe on your next vacation to France. The mysterious green liquor was popularized in the 19th century by artists and writers like Van Gogh and Rimbaud. Unfortunately, because of perceived side effects like hallucinations, madness [...]

9 Tips to Make Sure Museums and Galleries are Never Boring

From museum-loather to staunch museum-lover, Amanda Kendle explains how to enjoy your museum and gallery visits abroad.

Crumpled City Maps: Most Durable Travel Maps Ever

Crumpled City Map (London) Unlike traditional paper maps which can be awkward to deal with, the Crumpled City™ Map can be easily crammed into your pocket, backpack or the carrying pouch provided. without having to worry about refolding it along the original creases. Moreover, the maps are printed on special technological material that makes them [...]

‘The Geography of Youth’ Explores the Lives of 20-Somethings Around the World

How has technology influenced my generation? It’s the perennial question of nearly every generation throughout the past century. In July 2011, traveling photographers Morrigan and Alan will travel 30,000 miles through 50 countries around the world in search of the answer: Our generation is navigating a world connected through technology in a way that no [...]

Adios LA: Clever ‘Dear John’ Letter to Los Angeles

Artist Jon Jackson has had enough of his hometown of LA. Now it’s time to say Adios … You can slip out the back Jack or you can put up five 10 x 23 foot billboards in your neighborhood. Adios LA is a visual goodbye to the city Jon Jackson has called home for years [...]

Photo of the Moment: Strange Christmas Pyramids in Laval, France

Hyperrealistic Sculptures Are Equal Parts Awesome, Creepy

Australian-born sculptor, Ron Mueck, creates some of the most realistic sculptures I’ve ever seen. TwistedSifter notes: “Mueck explores the human condition and psyche, often conveying feelings of loneliness, vulnerability and alienation.” His art is technically intriguing … Head Sculpture by Ron Mueck … and emotionally unsettling … Gigantic, Hyperrealistic Baby Sculpture by Ron Mueck © [...]

New TSA Checkpoint Signs Signal “Groping Ahead”

Though originally designed in 2008, this sign designed by Oleg Volk could not be more appropriate given the TSA’s latest security handling “issues”: © Oleg Volk Clever. OK, so it hasn’t been fully approved by the TSA, but I think it’s headed in the right direction …

German Street Artist Crafts Clever 3D Animals

German street artist, Nikolaj Arndt, creates some pretty awesome 3D animal art: Check out the full gallery for more.

Clever “Scratch-Off Map” Evolves As You Travel

Scratch Off World Map © IWantOneOfThose.com Aptly named IWantOneofThose.com brings us “My Scratch Map“. It’s a simple, yet clever take on the staid wall map – a design that evolves the more you travel: Imagine being able to subtly show off exactly where you’ve been on your holidays. Well, with the My Scratch Map scratch-off [...]

Photo of the Moment: In the Shadow of the Chicago Bean

The Telectroscope: Window Between London and New York City

It’s a window to the world. More specifically, it’s a window between London and New York City, and it’s called the Telectroscope. It claims to be a tunnel, buried through the earth, connecting the two cities. If you stand on one side in Brooklyn, you can see out the other end, in London City Hall. [...]

U.K. Graffiti Artist Strikes Again with Biggest Work to Date

The anonymous British graffiti artist known as Banksy has produced what is believed to be his biggest work to date. The three story art on a post office building near Oxford Circus reads “One Nation Under CCTV,” and features a little boy painting the words, while a security officer watches. Close to the painting is [...]

New Guggenheim “UFO” Museum to Open in Lithuania

Following on the lead of the spectacular buildings at New York and Bilbao, the new Guggenheim Museum in Vilnius, Lithuania promises to be an equally impressive figure on the city’s landscape. The design by Zara Hadid shows a futuristic floating space ship typs of structure that looks like it will take off at any moment. [...]

Chatting with the Mona Lisa in South Korea

A South Korean art gallery has developed technology that allows masterpieces like the Mona Lisa to interact with students. The iconic and enigmatic figure at the Alive Gallery in Seoul talks to visitors about life during the Renaissance period, a feat brought about by the use of digital information technology. Visitors, especially kids enjoy the [...]

Experiencing Pure Darkness in Stockholm’s Färgfabriken Art Gallery

“Only when standing in a pitch-dark room do you realize that you actually start to see. Even in the perfect darkness, there is always some kind of light.” – John Duncan Darkness – true darkness – isn’t something I expect to see as a city traveler, in gothic cathedrals built to lift worshipers’ eyes to [...]

Artist Recreates the Scents of Helsinki, Budapest, Paris

Hungarian born artist Hilda Kozari has created an art installation consisting of three bubbles – one each for Helsinki, Budapest, and Paris – that she says represent what each city smells like. The bubbles are part of an Urban Olfactory Installation exhibit and have been created in collaboration with perfumer Bertrand Duchaufour. The sense of [...]