The Urban River

In April, 2007 Henk Hofstra created an "urban river" in Drachten, The Netherlands. A 1km stretch of road was painted bright blue to envisage an actual river using 4,000 litres of paint! The river actually symbolises two things, one is in memorial of an actual river that flowed through the city and second. The second is to remind us of the importance of water which is done by the 8m high letters on the road spelling "WATER IS LIFE". Well at least you know you won’t get your breaks wet.

Cloud Gate

This public sculpture created Anish Kapoor named "Cloud Gate" is inspired by the material liquid Mercury most commonly found in thermometers. The sculpture sits as the centre piece of AT&T Plaza in Millennium Park, Chicago Illinois. The mirror finish allows it to reflect the city skyline and the distorted affect makes it all seem a bit more fun and alive.

Urban Waterfall New York stylee

Imagine walking down over a bridge and suddenly you see a waterfall not coming from the water but from the bridge, odd? or amazing? Or is your mind playing tricks on you? Well actually no its not, well not in New York's Brooklyn Bridge. It would seem that the creator Olafur Ellasson wanted to bring something new and exciting to urban city of New York. The way it works seems quite simple, scaffolding along with water pumps are used by taking the water from the East river and placed in "intake filter pools". It is then released to create the gorgeous waterfall affect.

Co2LED

Yesterday I wrote about an Installation in the 2004 Beijing Olympics NAMED White noise/white Light. Looking around the web I came across something of a similar design except one main factor, the site was completely self sustained. Named “Co2LED” use to reside in Alrington, Texas boasted 522 LED lights that were completely solar powered. When the project was complete the entire thing was taken apart and recycled, now that’s what I call eco-friendly. It was designed by artists Jack Sanders, Robert Gay and Butch Anthony, was designed with Arlington’s environmental initiative FreshAIRE (Arlington Initiative to Reduce Emissions) in mind.

“A Device to Root Out Evil,”

Most people like their buildings with the ground floor first, it dosen't seem the case for this Church in Glenbrow, Canada. The artist seems to have created a controversial piece of art work here as he has created a church that has been well tipped on its roof. It does seem quite surreal but to have it tipped on its top like that is quite a structural achievement.

Denver's Big Blue Bear

This enormous blue bear stands 40 feet tall at Colorado Convention Centre, US. Can you imagine the view from the workers, not exactly your average view out the window. Definitely makes office work a bit more interesting and beats having scaffolding.

Tate Modern: Weather Project

During my GCSE's in 2003 (wow that was a loong time ago) I went on a trip to the Tate Modern; it was my first ever visit to the Museum. The Tate modern at the time had an installation called "The Weather Project" and I have to say it is to date one of the nicest things I’ve seen. The way they had replicated the sun setting atmosphere was cool, it created an overwhelming sense or relaxation. The light gave the enormous hall a soft feel and ENOURMOUSSS mirror above kept those who weren’t laying down(yes people were laying down) look upwards as they walked. This created an almost surreal feel.

Burning Man

Burning Man is an annual art event and temporary community based on radical self expression and self-reliance in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada. There are numerous installations laid out for the public to see during this period. Everything about this even is so unique; the fact that it’s the middle of the desert and so many people still want to come and witness it is astounding. The City layout is meant to resemble a clock with the centre of it is a big structure called “The Man”. It seems to be an almost magical place where a city is created and then disappears without a trace; I guess the sand helps in that department. The lonely and baran land is definitely a great blank canvas for the world go go crazy in.





This is a satellite image of the "disappearing city".

Here are a few examples of the Installations created:



The "Cats cradle" is an interactive installation allows the public to play with it as if a instrument with the provided instruments.



The star of the show..."The Burning Man".




This is definitely scary but there seems to be something elegant about the way the outstretched arm seems to rest on the ground.



Don't you think its really cool the way the lighting can completely change the way something can look.