Birds to Perform New Guitar Numbers

No, that's not a typo and this is nothing to do with the classic 60s rock band. London gallery and performing arts centre the Barbican is hosting a new work by French "composer" Celeste Boursier-Mougenot in which dozens of zebra finches create improvised compositions by landing and perching on strategically placed electric guitars. Titled the Curve, Boursier-Mougenot's latest installation takes the form of a walk-through aviary, hence the finches' reaction to the visitors becomes itself part of the exhibit. In an interview with the BBC, the composer hinted that his next work will probably involve shoals of goldfish in a tank, and will most likely not be a walk-through (Barbican Centre).

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Thu Feb 25, 2010 - Comments (9)
Category: Animals, Art, Performance Art, Music

Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra

This Friday sees the world premier of a new classical composition by popular modern composer Anna Meredith. However this is a score with a difference as Anna, in collaboration with top British beatboxer Schlomo (it's his real name), has incorporated 5 of the performance artists into her latest piece, Concerto for Beatboxer and Orchestra, playing at London Southbank Centre. The first problem facing the odd-couple duo was how exactly to score a beatbox performance as the vocal styling had grown from its hip-hop roots entirely by 'word of mouth' and has no formal notation. Undeterred Meredith and Schlomo have spent a year constructing their own, which they hope will gain wider adoption when the entire score of the new work is made available online for free following the first performance (FT).

The Southbank Centre has put up a 'teaser trailer' for the new work


And Schlomo's beatbox talents can be checked out courtesy of the BBC's Jules Holland Show.

Posted By: Dumbfounded - Thu Feb 18, 2010 - Comments (6)
Category: Art, Performance Art, Entertainment, Music, Screams, Grunts and Other Exclamations

Bodyspasm

Ah, those wacky Dutch rockers.... More Bodyspasm here.

Posted By: Paul - Wed Feb 10, 2010 - Comments (3)
Category: Art, Outsider Art, Performance Art, Body, Stomach, Music, Europe

One Minute Paintings

Bored? Have some spray paint? If I practiced a million years I couldn't do this -- especially in a minute.



Check out the website for 53 other paintings just like this one:

http://www.spacepaintings.com/1_minute_painting.html

Posted By: gdanea - Wed Jan 27, 2010 - Comments (2)
Category: Art

Last Minute Shopping?

I was originally going to display three or four of the most unique items from Archie McPhee's web store to give you an example of the true weirdness you can find there (vengeful unicorns, remote controlled hopping yodelling lederhosen, bacon bath soap, inflatable toast). But once I started digging deeper to find just the right ones, I realized there was no way I could stick to just a few. My fellow WUvians needed to see all of the zany craziness that McPhee's has to offer. And how can you resist any company whose motto is "Slightly Less Disappointing Than Other Companies". So if you're in need of a last minute gift idea for the weirdo on your list, this is the place for you.

Posted By: Nethie - Tue Dec 15, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Animals, Art, Bathrooms, Body, Humor, Shopping, Toys, Candy

The World’s Smallest Snowman

The National Physical Laboratory has been around since the early 1900s and is famous for a number of its creations, such as the first working atomic clock. But never let it be said that it's all work and no play in the lab. Just in time for Christmas, the NPL, located in Middlesex, England, has created the world's smallest snowman. The snowman is not visible to the naked eye, being only one-fifth the width of a human hair. It was created with two tin beads used to calibrate electron microscope astigmatism. The nose is ion beam deposited platinum and the rest of the face was milled using a focused ion beam. All that scientific mumbo-jumbo aside, this tiny snowman is adorable!

Posted By: Nethie - Sat Dec 12, 2009 - Comments (6)
Category: Art, Crafts, Inventions, Seasonal, World Records

Rotating Kitchen

Artist Zeger Reyers recently set up this installation at the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in Germany as part of the Eating the Universe exhibit. The kitchen will be rotating until February 2010. Today and Tomorrow

rotating kitchen from Zeger Reyers on Vimeo.

Posted By: mdb777 - Sat Dec 05, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Art, Video, Europe

A Familiar Fix

[From Harper's Young People Illustrated Weekly for May 21, 1889.]

Haven't we all been in this situation at one time or another?

Posted By: Paul - Sun Nov 15, 2009 - Comments (4)
Category: Art, Public Humiliation, Dogs, Nineteenth Century

Asteroids without the Asteroids

Another great interactive flash which reminds me of the old "Asteroids" video game without the asteroids.



As you move your cursor on the screen the flock of "birds" try to avoid each other. Here's the link:

http://bestiario.org/web/media/14/preview/index.php?id_proyecto=14

It also makes a fun hypnotic time waster.

Posted By: gdanea - Thu Nov 12, 2009 - Comments (1)
Category: Art

Making an Invisible Statement

Liu Bolin, a young Chinese artist, has found a unique way to protest the government's decision to close his art studio in 2005. He paints himself to blend into the scenery, like a chameleon. There is no trick photography involved, and he doesn't use photoshop. Instead, he spends about ten hours studying a picture and painting his body so that people don’t even realize he is there until he moves. The Telegraph online has a pretty good gallery showcasing his images, but you can easily find more thanks to Google.

Posted By: Nethie - Wed Nov 04, 2009 - Comments (8)
Category: Art, Magic and Illusions and Sleight of Hand, Body Painting