stavanger, norway, 1998

sources: top / bottom

liverpool, england, 2005

sources: top / bottom 2

cuxhaven, germany, 1997

source

well, that’s if your local beach happens to be crosby beach in liverpool, a place which is now home to 100 of these 6ft+ iron men, scattered over a 2 mile stretch of sand and reaching out nearly a mile from the shore. this spooky crowd, previously installed on other beaches around europe but on a temporary basis, is called ‘another place’ and was created by antony gormley, the english sculptor also responsible for the angel of the north. following some controversy a couple of years ago the iron men are now set to stay on crosby beach for good, continuing to make nearby sunbathers feel uneasy.

while not as immediately frightening as the baby tower, there’s something brilliantly creepy about ‘another place’, a piece of art whose existence on crosby beach goes to prove there are some decision-makers who actually possess some taste.

check out the sculptor’s website for more similar work.

source

unfortunately the surreal scene above was actually an art installation by kaarina kaikkonen on the streets of helsinki, simply rows and rows of clothing suspended above the roads. i hope it stayed. kaikkonen seems to have a thing for 2nd hand clothing: she also assembled 3000 men’s jackets and placed them neatly on the steps of helsinki cathedral in 2000 (see below). unfortunately some of the dye from the jackets seeped into the stone underneath leaving a permanent reminder for years to come.

‘way’ - helsinki cathedral, 2000

1. the spotted lake

the spotted lake (kliluk), situated in osoyoos, canada, contains one of the highest concentrations of minerals in the world (mainly epsom salts, calcium and sodium sulphates). the lake’s healing waters were used by native indians to alleviate aches and pains and during the first world war the salts were skimmed from the surface in huge amounts to be transported to eastern american munitions factories - sometimes as much as a ton per day.

the pattern you see below appears during hot sunny days as the water evaporates and the minerals crystallize to form hundreds of incredible yellow pools.

photo credit: liembo

2. red tide

red tide, the common name for ‘algal bloom’, is caused by high levels of phytoplankton accumulating to form dense, visible clouds near the surface of the water. due to the varying colouring of the phytoplankton’s pigments, these algae blooms range in colour too. although aesthetically stunning, this naturally occuring phenomena sometimes results in a high death rate amongst certain marine life due to an increase in karenia brevis algae.

3. penitentes

these amazing ice spikes (generally known as penitentes due to their resemblence to processions of white-hooded monks) can be found on mountain glaciers and vary in size dramatically: from a few centimetres to 5 metres in height.

‘initially, the sun’s rays cause random dimples on the surface of the snow. once such a dimple is formed, sunlight can be reflected within the dimple, increasing the localised sublimation. as this accelerates, deep troughs are formed, leaving peaks of ice standing between them’ - new scientist

sources: 1, 2, 3

there’s a relatively easy way to give the audience a chill during a film: slip in a shot of a deserted city centre, a city centre that’s notoriously busy in real-life, the scene preferably culminating in the camera panning out to prove the crew didn’t just manage to clear 10ft of road for 5 seconds.

it’s a guaranteed talking point. look at vanilla sky: the film was bordering on atrocious but the one thing that always gets mentioned (apart from cameron crowe losing his grip) is the ‘how the fuck did they manage to clear times square?’ bit. if i was a director i’d have a deserted city scene in every film, regardless of the movie’s plot.

here are my 5 favourite goosebump inducing ‘empty’ scenes.

5. philadelphia - twelve monkeys, 1995 (imdb)

the opening shot of terry gilliam’s top-notch ‘twelve monkeys’ is superb, bruce willis’ character coming above ground in a post-apocalyptic philadelphia to be faced with a world deserted but for wild animals roaming the streets. gilliam’s crew were given a corner of the city hall to work with, built a lip around the area to hide surrounding traffic and added snow to make it feel ‘more desolate’.

4. los angeles - omega man, 1971 (imdb)

‘omega man’ was the 2nd film based on the novel ‘i am legend’, the 1st being ‘last man on earth’ and the 3rd being ‘i am legend’, to be released in a few weeks. after coming to terms with the fact that a huge set would be too costly the producer realised prior to filming that l.a. was surprisingly quiet early in the day at weekends so all of the deserted city scenes were shot at that time of the week. the scene below even includes a pan-out for added despair and the echoes of ringing payphones.

3. madrid - abre los ojos, 1997 (imdb)

the gran via in madrid was completely closed off to film the scene below, the inspiration for vanilla sky’s big budget version in times square. it may not have the flashing billboards and an a-list star to run down the street like a maniac but the street’s architecture more than makes up for it. this clip is actually the first 10 minutes of the film, the initial 3-4 minutes being the ‘deserted’ section.

2. manhattan - vanilla sky, 2001 (imdb)

this remake of ‘open your eyes’ was largely disappointing, this scene being the best part of it. the crew were given 3 hours to shoot the times square sequence early on a sunday morning and crowe was determined not to use cg to remove any signs of life. the whole process included lenghty discussions with the new york mayor’s office, the new york film commission and the police department. the result is incredible.

1. london - 28 days later, 2002 (imdb)

it took 6 days to shoot the ‘deserted’ sections of this brilliant film on mini-dv cameras, the crew only able to get permission to close off entire streets in london for minutes at a time, and the effort was worth it. for the empty motorway scenes, they even managed to persuade the traffic police to close off a 10 mile stretch of the m1 for a very short period of time. warning: the clip below has been subjected to a shit soundtrack by the youtube user. turn the volume down.

sources: 1, 2, 3

if you ever visit the cliffs of sagada in the philippines you’ll be confronted by dozens of coffins, either perched on cliff faces above you, resting on iron bars jutting from the rock, or piled high in the caves of the cliff. for at least 2000yrs these cliffs were the traditional resting place of locals but for some reason, over the last few decades especially, those numbers have fallen and the large majority of people in the area are now buried in the ground.

each of the hanging coffins you see in these photos were carved by the elderly themselves before their death, the corpses inside smoked out in order to preserve them for the traditional sagadan 5 day pre-burial feast. apart from centuries of tradition and the bodies being ‘closer to heaven’ on the cliffs, some say the reason for hanging coffins is to stop frequent monsoons washing the deceased away.

there’s a very brief video clip below of some of the hanging coffins in sagada.

the photo below is of some of the many hanging coffins found in southern china. read more about them here.

it’s incredible. and hilarious. and frightening.

62ft tall and 8 tonnes.

[update]

thanks to madmolecule, here’s another fantastically surreal statue that can be found outside the ‘world overcomers outreach ministries church’ in memphis…

incredible.

anyone know of any more?

even if you think photorealistic art is pointless (which i’m sure some people do) there’s no denying the skill and patience involved in these creations.

(click on pics for fatter versions)

1. duane hanson [sculptor, 1925 - 1996]

(hanson on artfacts.net)

traveller - fibreglass & mixed media, 1988

queenie II - polychromed bronze, 1988

some more paintings in the form of a slideshow…

2. robert bechtle [painter, 1932 - present]

(bechtle on artfacts.net)

‘61 pontiac - oils on canvas, 1968

alameda gran torino - oils on canvas, 1974

here’s an interesting 10 minute video about the process behind robert bechtle’s paintings…

3. ron mueck [sculptor, 1958 - present]

(mueck on artfacts.net)

untitled (big man) - pigmented polyester on resin, 2000

mask II - sculpture, 2001

check out this incredible sculpture…

4. raphaella spence [painter, 1978 - present]

(homepage)

the poet - oils on canvas, 2004

mirror of hope - oils on canvas, 2004

5. gottfried helnwein [painter, 1948 - present]

(homepage)

untitled (modern sleep) - oils & acrylics on canvas, 2005

epiphany - mixed media on canvas, 1996

below is a video slideshow of some of his paintings…

6. denis peterson [painter, 1944 - present]

(homepage)

don’t shed no tears - acrylics on canvas, 2006

dust to dust - acrylics & oils on canvas, 2006

7. dru blair [airbrush expert, 1959 - present]

(homepage)

painting of tica - airbrush on unknown surface, 2007

power - airbrush on unknown surface

8. ralph goings [painter, 1928 - present]

(homepage)

cream pie - oils on canvas, 1979

safeway interior - oils on canvas, 1974

use your face to digest this slideshow of ralph’s amazing work…

9. peter maier [painter, d.o.b. unknown - present]

(homepage)

sand beach - waterborne automotive paint on unknown surface

really red - waterborne automotive paint on unknown surface

if you know of any others let me know.

it’s a sad state of affairs when products like this are available to buy…

you can buy these, and more, from ‘safer america‘.

looking at photos like these scares and fascinates me in equal doses. the sheer scale of these holes reminds you of just how tiny you are.

mirny diamond mine, serbia siberia

i’m pretty sure most people have seen this one. it’s an absolute beast and holds the title of largest open diamond mine in the world. at 525 metres deep with a top diameter of 1200 metres there’s even a no-fly zone above the hole due to a few helicopters being sucked in.

the red arrow in the photo below is pointing to a huge truck.

kimberley big hole - south africa

apparently the largest ever hand-dug excavation in the world, this 1097 metre deep mine yielded over 3 tonnes of diamonds before being closed in 1914.

the amount of earth removed by workers is estimated to total 22.5 million tonnes.

glory hole - monticello dam

a glory hole is used when a dam is at full capacity and water needs to be drained from the resevoir.

this is the glory hole belonging to monticello dam in california and it’s the largest in the world, its size enabling it to consume 14′400 cubic feet of water every second.

the hole can be seen at the top left of the photo above. if you were to jump in for some reason your slightly damp body would shoot out near the bottom of the dam (below).

bingham canyon mine, utah

this is supposedly the largest man-made excavation on earth. extraction began in 1863 and still continues today, the pit increasing in size constantly. in its current state the hole is 3/4 mile deep and 2.5 miles wide.

great blue hole, belize

situated 60 miles off the mainland of belize is this incredible ‘geographical phenomenon’ known as a blue hole. there are numerous blue holes around the world but none as stunning as this one.

at surface level the near perfectly circular hole is 1/4 mile wide, the depth in the middle reaching 145 metres. obviously the hole is a huge hit with divers. read more here.

diavik mine, canada

this incredible mine can be found 300km northeast of yellowknife in canada.

the mine is so huge and the area so remote that it even has its own airport with a runway large enough to accomodate a boeing 737. it also looks equally as cool when the surrounding water is frozen.

sinkhole, guatemala

a sinkhole is caused when water (usually rainwater or sewage) is soaked up by the earth on a large scale, resulting in the ground collapsing.

these photos are of a sinkhole which occured early this year in guatemala. the hole swallowed a dozen homes and killed at least 3 people.

officials blamed the monster of a hole on a ruptured sewage pipe.

a news report about the hole…

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8