Statue of Apollo covered in tulle netting

A copy of the Greek bronze original by Leochares (330 BCE)

Blanton Museum of Art

Dichroic Glass Installations by Chris Wood Reflect Light in a Rainbow of Color

@pileofgoodthings

UK-based artist Robin Wight uses stainless steel wire to form stunning, dynamic sculptures of winged fairies dancing in the wind.

They look like beautiful warriors of the earth

Force of Nature: Mother Nature Furiously Spins the Earth

Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn sculpted his project Force of Nature I and II, after being a witness to the devastating destruction of hurricanes in Thailand and in the Southern United States. Constructed from bronze, stainless steel and aluminum, the work reflects nature’s perceived powerful energy, which is unpredictable, beautiful, yet dangerous. By omitting Mother Nature’s face, Quinn reminds us that there is no sense of security or protection from the Earth itself. We are not in control, sudden destruction awaits at any time. 

#i’m generally in favour of images where the lady is clothed and the dude is all ‘check out my apple-butt on display’  #also i like to think these figures are watching other people watching art

Cuuute

This is a life-size statue of Nikola Tesla and it radiates free Wi-Fi. 

The sculpture also houses a time capsule to be opened on January 7, 2043—the 100th anniversary of Tesla’s death. It’s located in Silicon Valley and was funded through a Kickstarter campaign.

[source]

This is the best thing I have ever heard in my entire life.

It’s on  260 Sheridan Avenue, Palo Alto, California…which means within visiting distance.

Monolith

OK SO EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT GLASGOW YOU WILL KNOW FROM THIS STATUE

THIS MY FRIENDS IS THE DUKE OF WELLINGTON STATUE IN ROYAL EXCHANGE SQUARE IN GLASGOW AND YES HE HAS A TRAFFIC CONE ON HIS HEAD

NOW LET ME TELL YOU I HAVE LIVED IN GLASGOW FOR 18 AND A HALF YEARS AND NOT ONCE HAVE I SEEN THIS MAN WITHOUT A CONE ON HIS HEAD

IT HAS BEEN REMOVED SO MANY TIMES BY THE COUNCIL BUT SOMEHOW IT ALWAYS SEEMS TO GET BACK UP THERE AND ITS NOT A SMALL STATUE ITS PRETTY FUCKING BIG SO WHOEVER KEEPS ON PUTTING UP THERE IS A DETERMINED WEE FUCKER

IT HAS BECOME A NATIONAL SYMBOL FOR GLASGOW CAUSE ITS JUST THE EPITOME OF GLASWEGIAN HUMOUR AND THEY EVEN PAINTED THE CONE FUCKING GOLD FOR THE OLYMPICS

AND A FEW MONTHS AGO THE COUNCIL SAID THEY WERE GOING TO RAISE UP THE STATUE SO PEOPLE COULDNT PUT THE CONE ON AND LET ME TELL YOU IT WAS FUCKING PANDAEMONIUM ABOUT GLASGOW IT WAS AS IF WORLD WAR THREE HAD BROKEN OUT THERE WERE FACEBOOK PAGES AND PROTESTS AND PETITIONS AND ALL SORTS TO KEEP THE CONE ON

SO LONG AND SHORT OF IT IS THAT THIS STUPID STATUE AND ITS STUPID CONE IS ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT SCOTS IN PARTICULAR GLASWEGIANS CAUSE WE CANT DECIDE WHETHER WE WANT TO RULE OUR OWN COUNTRY OR NOT BUT IF YOU FUCKING DARE TRY TO TAKE THE CONE OFF THE DUKE OF WELLINGTONS HEAD THERE WILL BE A NATION WIDE OUTRAGE AND GLASGOWS OWN VERSION OF LES MIS WILL HAPPEN I AINT FUCKING KIDDIN

every time I see this post (i.e. about twice a year at this point) I am reminded of this book my gran had when I was a wee, wee kid.

it was a typical ladybird-style hardcover little book with illustrations and stuff, aimed at 3 year olds, with anthropomorphic vehicles going to iconic cities of the world and shit. I canNOt remember what the taxi was called, but she went to Glasgow, and the illustration of Glasgow involved the back of GOMA where this statue is, and it had a wee cone drawn on the top

it was so iconic that a children’s book artist drew a fucking cone on this statue and it was THE DEFINITIVE symbolic landmark of Glasgow

i think OP is underestimating the sheer power of the cone here. it’s been up since the early 80s at least. i’ll ask some older relatives later but like… this cone is iconic enough that i’d expect it to be on our currency in 15 years. 

a facebook protest group which still posts and the wikipedia page for the statue itself are testament to the legacy of the Cone of Destiny. i cannot stress enough how sudden and violent the furore in response to plans to keep the cone off was. it was literally 100% of all local media for a few days. ~15% of the city’s population liked the protest page in a single day after plans were announced.

cone is love, cone is life.

Also, fun fact, due to the outrage over plans to adjust the statue amassing so quickly and so loudly, the plans were cancelled 16 hours later. Literally the next morning the council just went ‘our bad guys. Soz.’ The statue had a police presence for about a week after. And then when they left it had two cones (one on the horse), an iron man mask and a Hawaiian shirt.

It got better.

Akhtamar statue at Lake Sevan

The legend of Akhtamar goes like this:

An Armenian princess named Tamar lived on Akhtamar Island in Lake Van (in Historic Armenia). She was in love with a commoner. This boy would swim from the mainland to the island each night, his way lit by a light she lit for him. One day her father found out about this and was very upset. He went to her as she held the light, waiting for her love. He smashed her light, leaving the boy in the middle of the lake without an idea of which direction to swim. They say his dying cries ofAkh, tamar… (Oh, Tamar) can be heard to this day at night. This is where the name of the island comes from.

The Turks have occupied Lake Van and Akhtamar island, but Armenians have built a statue in honor of this legend on the shores of Lake Sevan instead. It is along the highway, north of Sevanavank. (SOURCE)

IMAGE SOURCE

We can’t stop staring at these breathtakingly dramatic wire sculptures by Staffordshire, England-based sculptor Robin Wight. He specializes in transforming lengths of stainless steel wire into beautiful fairies who appear to be exulting in power of the wind as it scatters the seeds of giant dandelions they hold or trees and blades of grass to which they cling.

Visit Robin Wight’s website and Facebook page to view more of his wonderful wire fairies and click here to learn about Wight’s painstaking process for creating these fantastic pieces. He even offers DIY Fairy Sculpture Starter Kits so you can make your own.

[via Colossal]

Elmgreen and Dragset

speaking of art history

this is Undine by Chauncey Bradley Ives. she’s at the Smithsonian.

and this is her from the back

that is marble, y’all. 

MARBLE.

carved so thin you can SEE THE LIGHT THROUGH IT.

i just.

wow.

fucking art, y’all.

fucking.

art.

the realism of thin fabric folding and draping over a freaking perfectly sculpted body is killing me

statue in the lake, hangzhou, china