art

While the president-elect is tweeting over her, a giant rooster with his haircut is cock-a-doodle-doo-ing in China.

Perhaps inspired that real-life bird that looks like the former reality TV gameshow host who won the presidency last month, an artist China has unveiled a huge (read: yuge) rooster statue in Taiyuan, Shanxi, China. The bird resides just outside a shopping mall for all to see.

via Mashable

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Pheasant Elect <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Trump2016?src=hash">#Trump2016</a> <a href="https://t.co/337iuJC2Zf">https://t.co/337iuJC2Zf</a> <a href="https://t.co/mcVUvAnN8W">pic.twitter.com/mcVUvAnN8W</a></p>&mdash; Kim (@JBaileysMom) <a href="https://twitter.com/JBaileysMom/status/798260246678368256">November 14, 2016</a></blockquote>
<script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

The statue celebrates both the upcoming Year of the Rooster and four years of the Trump that we’re all kind of stuck. According to Mashable, “The statue was commissioned by the mall's owners and miniature versions of it are reportedly being sold inside and on the Chinese ecommerce site Taobao.”

One things for sure: That rooster’s got cool hair.

I don’t know art, but I know what I like, and I like this painting pig.

Freed from a life of factory farming, Pigcasso is using her paint brush to express an abstract message of animal liberation. Pigcasso resides on Farm Sanctuary SA, a South African branch of the animal rescue, where she enjoys the finer things: Eating, sleeping, and painting.

via Quiet Peggy

Easily better than anything my hands have ever put to canvas, Pigcasso’s works are colorful, bizarre, and a real joy to watch being made. This is almost as fun as that skateboarding dog, Spuds Mackenzie. Almost.

via YouTube

 

Everyone knows that Vincent van Gogh cut his own ear off, but until recently, no one really knew why. The mystery has been the subject of much conversation, which has been, admittedly, just so much fun to talk about and reference. Why would anyone want to spoil it?

Well, author Martin Bailey does, and he thinks that he stumbled on the inciting incident while doing research for his new book, Studio of the South: Van Gogh in Provence. He believes that on Christmas eve in 1888, after finding out that his brother Theo was getting married, Van Gogh took a razor to the head. Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, Van Gogh was livid that he would lose his closest companion, making the mystery behind this horrific act less fun than it used to be.

“He was equally worried that his brother might withdraw the financial support which had enabled him to devote his life to art,” said Bailey. “All this was threatened by the unexpected appearance of a fiancée.”

There goes Bailey, ruining our fun times by uncovering the reason why one of the most important figures of all time cut his ear off. Look at this gif. Is this even fun anymore?

via Facebook

This theory came about when Bailey learned of a letter from Theo to Vincent dated just days before the act of self-mutilation occurred. The letter was received on December 23, 1888. Bailey simply put two and two together.

“We don’t have that letter," Bailey told CNN. "But in another one Van Gogh sends in January, he mentions receiving money from his brother on the 23rd of December. It was fear that pulled the trigger and led to the breakdown. Fear of being abandoned in both an emotional and financial way.”

I guess that just puts an end to all the fun of why one of history’s great artist cut his own ear off. Yeesh. This is us, rn:

via Teded

In a move as bold as one Banksy would make himself, his former agent (and current enemy), Steve Lazarides, is holding a Banksy exhibition in a car park in Melbourne, Australia from Oct. 7 through Jan. 22, showcasing over 80 works from different private collections.

BANKSY. MELBOURNE. From 7th October - bit.ly/Banksy-Melbourne #Banksy #ArtOfBanksy #banksymelbourne

A video posted by The Art Of Banksy Melbourne (@banksymelbourne) on Sep 11, 2016 at 3:28am PDT

Lazarides likes to do sh*t for shock value even though that's a juvenile way to do art. He and Banksy haven't spoken in ages, including at a recent Massive Attack concert in March when they kept their distance from each other.


Art by Banksy

They are mainly hyping the exhibit as rare, in that the works are privately-owned so it's unlikely to know when they will be shown publicly again, but the bottom line is that Banksy isn't going to benefit from this exhibit, as he explicitly states on his own website (pictured below) that he has no connection with Lazarides.



So if you want to support the artist then you should try to fund public art all over the place, so that people like Banksy can make a decent living.


Art by Banksy

Melbourne's Federation Square has been taken over by an 11-and-a-half metre (37.5-foot) baby named 'Ping Pong' made by Australian artist Felipe Reynolds:



The artist wanted the baby to "incorporate everybody in it," he said, "I wanted it to not be white, not be black, not be female, not be male - just be as inclusive as possible, so everybody can relate to it."

According to the Fed website:

"Interaction is key to experiencing this unique inflatable. Through a camera rigged to The Atrium screen (operating between 7am – 10pm) members of the public will find themselves part of the installation. Upon interaction the frame will be flipped horizontally, so it looks like the baby is sitting on the ground and the visitors become the human mobile. On weekdays from 10am – 4pm, during the school holidays, play with the baby via 4 giant rattles (1.5 meters) based beneath the inflatable."



Well, I think we can all relate to it being creepy, if nothing else.

Ever eaten your sushi and been saddened that you WEREN'T seeing 3D shapes in your soy sauce? Well rejoice!



Duncan Shotton has created "Soy Shapes" on Kickstarter and used creativity where it hasn't been used before... in your soy sauce containers! Just check out this fun way to dip your salmon rolls:




You can back him here.

In a new trend, High School Seniors are Tweeting about their painted parking spaces. With designs from pop culture, to motivational messages, to favorite sports teams, this is a trend we wished were around when we were in high school! Check out the awesome skills representin' below:

With all this awesomeness, we hope there are a lot more Mr. Nourses out there.

What is modern art, anyway? If you ask these open-minded gallery attendees, it could be just about anything. Maybe even something as simple as a regular pair of glasses placed on the floor by a nearby prankster. 

Artist Illma Gore made a nude picture of Donald Trump to poke fun at the his campaign. She illustrated him with a tiny penis, befitting the size of his hands which were frequently the subject of political debates. Then it became this tattoo, which one tattoo artist even offered for free to anyone who was willing to get it. (We've spared you the horror by censoring it with a beautiful unicorn).


via @pridenenvy_tattoos

 Gore says that she was found by a Trump supporter and punched in the face for this popular work of art. Along with the picture of her black eye, she added this caption to her Instagram post:

Today I was punched in the face by a man who got out of his car and yelled, "Trump 2016!" in Los Angeles, just days after I returned home from London just down the road from my house. Though I encourage passion, opinion and emotion, especially though art, I think violence is disgusting. To live in a place where Facebook has given my address to an anonymous third party makes me feel like I am homeless again. This type of violence makes creatives feel like we live in a world where our individual creative input isn't safe. I am sad that this is the state of our America right now. I am sad that Trump, and many of his supporters, don't find words enough to express their opinions - they need walls, waterboarding and punches. @realdonaldtrump Please stop glamorizing and perpetuating violence. Make America Decent Again! #makeamericadecentagain No, they have not been caught, and the men drove off laughing. A detailed police report has been filed.

Stephen Lund took his doodles in a new direction by drawing them with GPS on a city map. 



He rides his bicycle through the streets to make a picture on a fitness tracking map. 



He even did a TED Talk about his giraffe: 

Shia LaBeouf is currently inside an elevator at Oxford University. Later, he has plans to give a talk at the university but he wanted to take some time for performance art. It would probably have been a pretty disappointing visit if he hadn't come up with something outrageous. Now people are lining up to ride the elevator with him. 

If you're wondering what, exactly, is going on in there it sounds like mainly pictures and conversation. 


via @wordsbydan

Take a look at this Greek sculpture, notice anything suspicious? What about the woman reading from her LAPTOP? 



That's what some conspiracy theorists have said. Or it could be a rectangular box. Watch this video made by Youtuber StillSpeakingOut and THEN decide if you think the conspiracy is true:



Still think it's just a rectangular box, probably for jewlery? Yea, it probably is. HOWEVER, an alternative theory suggests that if it's not a box and it's not a laptop, it's probably a wax tablet that the Ancient Greeks used for writing all the time. 


via Wikimedia Commons

This isn't just any potato, it's a potato photographed by Kevin Abosch. This piece, according to his website, is called Potato #345.  One of only three prints of this exclusive work of art has just been sold to an unnamed businessman for €1 Million. According to Abosch, as he told the Sunday Times, the transaction started like this:

“We had two glasses of wine and he said, ‘I really like that’. Two more glasses of wine and he said: ‘I really want that.’

Abosch is known for stunning portraits of famous people, like Malala Yousafzai, and now also potatoes. 


via Kevin Abosch