Pooktre

Came across this today while looking for material for the wiki. Here's the background:

"In 1986 Peter had the idea of growing a chair. Nine years later Peter and Becky became partners. Pooktre was born. Together they have mastered the art they call Pooktre, which is the shaping of trees as they grow in predetermined designs. Some are intended for harvest to be high quality indoor furniture and others will remain living art."

They make people, mirrors, coffee tables, chairs and other pieces of furniture. Not only are their designs beautiful but the patience required for this type of art is amazing.

More on the artists' history and pictures here.

Gotta Go

This is from a slideshow called "A Traveler's Guide to Toilets." The full article is available here.

Throughout Europe, keep an eye (and a nose) out for freestanding public urinals called pissoirs (a French word describing the activity that takes place there). These convenient stations are easy to overlook, but the smell will usually give you a clear indication of what occurs behind the decorative screen. Pissoirs are for men only; women are out of luck and should continue searching for a public toilet.

On the streets of Beijing and in other cities around the world, strong odors are no longer a problem thanks to high-tech, self-cleaning public toilets. A small fee (exact change is sometimes required) allows you entrance to the unit. When you exit, the doors lock and the interior is automatically washed and sanitized for the next customer.

The Hang Fung Gold Technology Group — a jeweler in Hong Kong — features the "Hall of Gold," a showroom that contains several everyday items crafted in gold, including a 24-karat solid gold toilet. Before the hall was suddenly closed in 2008, a rise in the price of gold led some to worry that the famous toilet might be melted down. The jewelers said at the time that the toilet would remain intact, but its fate is currently unknown.

In Beijing public toilets were once the bane of travelers, who complained they were dirty and smelly and lacked privacy. However, in preparation for the 2008 Olympics, the city spent millions to improve its bathrooms, and China instituted a star-rating system. Some of the nicer public restrooms today offer attendants, carpeted waiting areas and refreshments. One facility was even built to look like a giant insect, perhaps a nod to the days when insects were frequent (and unwelcome) guests around public toilets.

Enjoying the great outdoors often means having to find a shrub or tree to squat behind when nature calls. In Kootenay National Park in British Columbia, public latrines offer a more civilized — though not exactly private — option for hikers. It's hard to imagine a loo with a more beautiful view.

Extreme Sheep LED Art

I'm sorry I can't figure out how to embed this video to make it play straight from this blog but check out this link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw

So there's no really much wonder in the production of this because they show you how they make the images but it's still a pretty unique way of expressing yourself. I love their sense of humor and creative use of resources (aka sheep and probably some alcohol). But the idea is really cool and I hope you enjoy!

Mermaids

The Fiji Mermaid (aka Feejee mermaid)

This artifact was a common slideshow attraction in P.T. Barnum's (yup the circus guy) museum. She was advertised as a gorgeous topless siren, but was actually the mummified corpse of an ape sewn to a fish - a really "grotesque" take on the mermaid and sirens of sea stories.

Here's the Banff Merman!

Mermaids are something that we are still fascinated by. People often mistake sunbathing seals and other animals to be mermaids. And some people even suffer from Mermaid Syndrome (aka sirenomelia) where their legs are fused together to due a rare congenital deformity, like this little girl from Peru.

Remains of mermaids were highly treasured and during the Renaissance, they were often found in cabinets of curiosities.

The Fifi mermaid is now in the attic at Harvard University's Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology.

Crystals

I've stumbled across a couple things that just their sheer beauty inspires amazement and awe, even if the core thing is very simple. This is one of those examples of a very simple, and commonplace, natural process becoming an extraordinary wonder.

It's buried a thousand feet under Naica mountain in the Chihuahuan Desert in Mexico...

Some call it "the Sistine Chapel of crystals..."

The Cueva de los Cristales (Cave of Crystals) in Mexico has some of the largest crystals on earth. They are made of gypsum, a soft, translucent mineral that you can scratch with your fingernail. Some of the crystals are as long as 36 feet and as heavy as 55 tons. Each of the columns on the Pantheon in Greece weighs that same amount.

According to scientists, this cave has a very stable environment with temperatures around 136 degrees Fahrenheit. The water in the cave was full of the mineral anhydrite which dissolved into gypsum at high temperatures. These factors helped the crystals grow to amazing heights and lengths.

Of course, my addiction to Planet Earth returns. Maybe it's the science nerd in me but I find some the most beautiful things have been drawn and sculpted by Mother Nature. The lack of desire for fame and money makes these more beautiful than almost any work of art made by people. If you get a chance, check out the caves DVD.

I know some people feel like there is more wonder in seeing things for yourself and the journey or pilgrimmage to those sites is part of the experience... and I totally agree! My trip to Costa Rica last summer almost disappointed me a little bit. I couldn't help but wonder about how I'd react to the totally new environment if I had never seen pictures of it, or seen the tropical animals and plants in zoos and gardens or tasted the food in America already. I almost wished we didn't have the technology to see distant places because the specialness was diluted.

But there are some things in life that you and I will never get the expertise or clearance to ever see. This is one of those things.

Authorities in New Mexico have closed down Lechuguilla Cave to the public. Luckily, before that happened, Planet Earth did an amazing segment on the cave and it's crown jewel, the Chandelier Ballroom, whose beautiful crystals are also made of gypsum.

It's almost entirely pristine, there are only a few species (bacteria) that live there and it's just way too delicate to allow visitors to come through.

The pictures do not do it justice. Really, check out the Planet Earth segment.

100

I learned about this from my boyfriend who goes to UNCW. The Century Project is an amazing work by Frank Cordelle that is touring the country.

It recently came to UNCW for the second time, when school administrators decided that it needed to be censored and certain photographs-banned.

Image from "The Seahawk" UNCW publication.

Here's a snipet from the project's website: "More than a hundred girls and women of many ages, shapes, sizes, and backgrounds bare all in Frank Cordelle’s The Century Project. The project combines unconventionally stunning nude portraits with highly personal written statements describing instances of rape, debilitating illness, disfiguring surgeries, distorted social expectations, as well as reflections of humor and joy."

The pictures are beautiful and painful and the stories even more so. When it comes to wonder, I think these photos and stories are awe-inspiring. If you define the feeling of wonder as being changed after the experience, this is it. If you have tissues handy, check out the website that's linked at the top of the page "The Century Project."

We Are Family

To make a long story short, I started off missing someone, googled "cloning," clicked on a pro-life "monument," and ended at this.

These images are from the We Are Family : Still Life with Stem Cells exhibit by Patricia Piccinini

I am crazy about the detail in these sculptures. Every different part of this I look at I see a totally different creature. It's not frightening, it's almost like looking in a kaleidoscope, every time you turn it, you see something new.

Sweet.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be grossed out, but I am amazed.

I really can't say much else. These pictures speak for themselves.