After Australia's giant potato ended up looking like a piece of dino poop, we can say that today's news is not the first time a large turd has become a tourist attraction.
But in Switzerland a giant inflatable dog doo, which was part of an exhibition in Bern's Paul Klee Centre, has blown away and terrorized the city.
This art work, created by American Paul McCarthy, has the sophisticated name of "Complex Shit." Bringing down power lines and landing at some kind of orphanage is certainly complex behavior for a large turd--or a fantastic way to get the gallery some worldwide publicity.
Although we hate to admit it, the summer does eventually come to an end. Come October, the place to be will be San Francisco, as the city welcomes Open Studios '08, a free four-week public art event hosted by ArtSpan.
Running strong for more than 30 years, the Open Studios program is one of the longest running and largest events of its kind in the nation. In fact, other major cities worldwide have used this event as a model to create their own. The 2007 edition brought over 60,000 visitors and nearly $1.7 million in art was sold.
The festivities offer a wide range of work representing the many differences in the city's art scene as well as a wide ranges of prices--so you can bring home a piece of the action to hang over your couch.
Ojai may seem like some kind of LOLcats town, but tell that to the Los Angeles elite that go there for the weekends and they'll crack your fat skull with their pre-release 3G iPhones.
Known for some killer Pinot Noir, this quiet former hippie enclave north of LA is home to this summer's chicest art exhibit at the Nathan Larramendy Gallery. It's called, appropriately enough, "Weekend Warrior."
Open Wednesday to Sunday until August 10, the hipster haven will feature work from some epic artists that work in a wide range of media and styles. Artist Steven Stein had his worked described as "maximalist geometric saturated synthetic 'full void, empty volume' pieces." Riiight. Just try to act too cool for school, and you'll do fine.
The Miho Museum in Shiga, Japan is one of those places that always comes along with adjective "renowned," and for good reason. It was funded by one of the richest women in Japan, Mihoko Koyama, and its collection of both Asian and Western antiques could be worth up to a billion dollars.
Right now it's closed because they're getting ready for their summer exhibition: Ancient Sacred Drinking Vessels. Yes, it's about what the people of old used to drink from. In fact, there are a lot of animal-shaped drinking vessels which sound more exciting than the very regular-shaped glass we drank our last beer out of.
Along with the exhibition there'll be stories and myths about what they were drinking (and possibly, how they cured their hangovers). It opens up on July 12 and should run to August 17. Even if you don't want to see how your ancestors drank, tag along to the Miho just for the scenery. We promise it's great.
Artist Robert Rauschenberg died Monday night. Best known for his "combines" that blurred the lines between painting and sculpture, he's a fixture at modern art museums around the world. Below, we've listed some of the many places you'll find his art, including his famous piece "Bed."
Coincidentally, Rauschenberg lived in a large estate--including nine homes and multiple studios--on Captiva Island, a place that we've been covering this week.
We've always thought it'd be cool to travel around the art circuit--like writer David Amsden did last year--but it's always seemed too pricey. We'd hardly be able to afford all the champagne and cocktail dresses, let alone the actual work for sale. But the Affordable Art Fair coming to NYC may actually be worth a visit.
The event, started in London in 1999, aims to make contemporary art buying accessible, without the snobby atmosphere or astronomical prices. (At least, so they say.) At the stateside fair this year will be more than 70 galleries from 12 countries, and 75 percent of the art will be priced from $100-$5,000. Not exactly cheap, but certainly reasonable.
And even if you're not buying, it's still a good chance to see a bunch of art under one roof. There will also be printmaking and sculpture demos, so you can get your hands dirty if you get inspired. The fair runs June 12-15 and admission is $17.
So you take your camera out into the wilderness and decide to take your photographs only at night time. Sounds like a way to get a lot of really dark pictures, but clever photographer Darren Almond managed to create an entire exhibition out of his moonlight photography, and it opens on Friday at the White Cube gallery in London.
The exhibition's called "Moons of the Iapetus Ocean" and features pictures from all over Britain, plus three large-scale photographs from his new collection of work done in Tibet. A lot of the pictures end up looking pretty eerie, with waterfalls and rivers frozen in time by the long exposure. And with strange lights and glowing spots, we think there might be some UFOs in a couple of them.
The Almond exhibition runs until February 23, so don't delay in getting in to see what a real photographer can do in the dark. You'll never want to use your camera at night again, because you'll never know what you might find.
Not only is the Hermitage in St. Petersburg home to silver stealers and other intrigues, it's also easily one of the most fascinating collections of art in the world.
Every guide at the museum will tell you a different tale of how many lifetimes you'd need to see the entire collection if you stood before every piece for just 10 seconds, but fuzzy math aside, the point is clear. It's no wonder that a large proportion of the paintings and sculptures owned by the gallery are actually just stored in a warehouse waiting their turn to be on display.
For those who want to fit more into their lifetime, specialist tour agencies are now offering "privileged access tours"which will take you--for a price, of course--out to the Hermitage storerooms, into the Gold Treasure Rooms at the Winter Palace and on private viewings in other areas, too. You just have to lack an appreciation for art or you'll never get through the tour in time.
