Balloon Sculpture - Eye Popping Balloon Art and Sculptures

Balloon Sculpture - Eye Popping Balloon Art and Sculptures 

We are all familiar with balloon sculptures. As children, we all watched in fascination as clowns who mastered the art of balloon sculpture deftly transformed ordinary balloons into swords and animals. These rounded shapes aren't just present at birthday parties, they're also very much present in contemporary art. Seemingly naive, artists use this art form to express unexpected metaphors.

The world-famous American artist Jeff Koons is undoubtedly accountable for this trend. Balloon Dog, his most famous and expensive creation (estimated at 58 million dollars), has contributed to making these rounded shapes omnipresent in contemporary art. It took Koons and his team 4 years to make 5 versions of the 3-meter high sculpture. The shiny stainless steel sculpture exists in a range of colours: magenta, orange, blue, yellow, and red. For Koons, art is a limitless playground in which dogs, pop art characters and tulips unite.

Taking inspiration from the great masters of the 20th century, Balloon Dog could be defined as a hybrid creation of Marcel Duchamp's ready-made art, Claes Oldenburg's colossal artworks, and of course Andy Warhol's colourful Pop Art.

Statues of Beautiful Penitents of Taxco, Mexico

In many countries especially those with past Spanish links, some Roman Catholic believers still follow the old medieval practice of painful and bloody self-penitence to atone for their sins. The town of Taxco, Mexico is perhaps the most famous for this ritual which takes place every year during the Easter week, where the repenting sinners known as "Penitentes" walk through cobbled winding streets of the old town.

The Penitentes always wear black dress and their head is also fully covered with black hood with small openings for eyes. The Penitentes are further categorised by the method of penance.

"Penitentes Flagelante" are those who walk the route shirtless and carry a large, heavy wooden cross in their arms. They carry a rosary and a whip with thorny metallic end in their hands. They frequently stop during the procession, give the heavy cross to attendees who accompany them and then flagellate (whip) their backs. This is repeated every night during Holy Week reopening the wounds of the earlier day.

"Penitentes Encruzado" are those who instead of the cross, carry a heavy bundle (40-50 kg.) of thorned blackberry canes which is tied across their bare back and outstretched arms. They are also helped by attendees who occasionally give support to the thorny bundle when the procession is not moving.

"Animas Penitentes" wear full black dress covering their whole body and also cover their head with hood. They have heavy chains attached to their ankles and walk in stooped bent posture carrying small crosses or lighted candles. As they always face the ground, these penitentes have attendants who guide them during the procession. When the procession stops, they are allowed to rest only by going down on hands and knees.

This is the only category in which women also take part.

To honour the Repenting Sinners, three statues, representing each category of the penitentes, have been installed behind the oldest monastery in the town - The ex-monastery of San Bernardino de Siena, constructed at the end of the 16th century.

Image from Wikimedia Commons is by User:Gengiskanhg

Image from Flickr is by weisserstier

Image from Flickr is by teques

Image from Flickr is by teques

View location in Google Earth / Google Street View

Source of info and more info: Wikipedia

Haw Par Villa - The Weirdest Theme Park in Singapore

Haw Par Villa also known as the Tiger Balm Gardens is a Chinese mythological theme park in Singapore, located along Pasir Panjang Road.

The park contains over 1,000 statues and 150 giant dioramas depicting scenes from Chinese folklore, legends, history and illustrations of various aspects of Confucianism. The attractions include statues of the Laughing Buddha and the Goddess of Mercy, as well as dioramas of scenes from Journey to the West. The most well-known attraction is the Ten Courts of Hell, with gruesome depictions of hell in Chinese mythology, all set in a 60 meter-long trail of a Dragon.

The park, originally called "Tiger Balm Gardens", was built in 1937 by brothers Aw Boon Haw and Aw Boon Par, the developers of Tiger Balm, as a venue for teaching traditional Chinese values. The site was purchased by Aw in 1935. The Aw family eventually sold the Gardens to the Singapore Tourism Board in 1979.

The park was renamed Haw Par Villa in 1985 and re-opened in 1990, when it was converted into an amusement park and promoted with the name "Dragon World", with many of the statues and scenes replaced with fairground rides. However, this new incarnation proved unpopular when attendances started to decline and Fraser and Neave, which had 75% stake in the theme park, started seeing losses. More recently many of the old features have been replaced, such as the dragon ride. Some of the statues have also been moved to the Chinese Gardens.

Entry to the park has been free since 1996, while previously a S$16 entrance fee was charged and a Chinese Heritage Centre has been constructed within its grounds. The park is in a run down state. Many of the water ponds are covered with algae. The Dragon has since been removed although the 10 courts of Hell still stand.

Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival 2011 | China Tours

Harbin is the capital city of the Heilongjiang Province which is the most north-easterly part of China and borders Russia. During the long cold winter months the temperature can drop down to as low as -22°F (-30°C). Snow carvings, ice lanterns, fireworks display and snow recreations make Harbin one of China’s most popular winter destinations.

The Harbin International Ice Festival is one of world’s four largest international ice festivals, along with Japan’s Sapporo Snow Festival, Canada’s Quebec Winter Carnival, and Norway’s Ski Festival. It starts annually on January 5 and lasts for over one month, weather permitting. During this period, people throughout the world take part in the various artist, cultural, athletic and tourist events.

The 27th Harbin International Ice and Snow Festival will start on December 1, 2010 and last to February 28, 2011. The ceremony will be officially held in January 5, 2011. As it before the festival is held with many winter activities, such as alpine skiing, sledding, winter-swimming, ice sculpture competition, ice & snow carnival, ice lantern exhibition and firework display etc. Come with us, alternatively, meet us there. We will discover the interesting winter facts and do the "adventurous" things in the China's 'North Pole'- Harbin.

Thanks To : Totally Cool Pix And China Fact Tours