Installation
March 19, 2015

Pools of Recycled Motor Oil Reflect Spectacularly in Switzerland's Bellelay Abbey

Inside Switzerland's Bellelay Abbey, two intriguing pools of recycled motor oil create serene, unbroken reflections of soaring architecture. The chapel's ornately decorated arches and vaulted ceilings are mirrored in vivid detail on the oil's rich, glassy surface. Unlike reflections in water, the oil pool minimizes glare and lets viewers gaze deeply into the images. The addition of the oil pools to the chapel is interesting because it contrasts light and dark in a striking juxtaposition.

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Style
March 18, 2015

Different Perceptions of Beauty Over 100 Years in North and South Korea

The Cut is back with their fourth installment of 100 Years of Beauty, in which they condense a century's worth of female beauty, hairstyle, and makeup trends into one fascinating minute. After covering the US and Iran, the Cut focused this time on the past hundred years in Korea, a nation that underwent turbulent changes that ultimately resulted in a division between the North and the South.

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Art
March 17, 2015

Japanese Artist Inspired by Tsunami Creates Large-Scale Watercolor Paintings of Desolation

Japan-based artist Hiroshige Kagawa masterfully creates large-scale paintings that beautifully depict poignant scenes of destruction and desolation. His surreal landscapes show abandoned buildings crumbling with the passage of time and intriguing, forgotten structures standing amid windswept fields. The indoor murals have average dimensions of about 20 feet by 50 feet. When he first started out, Kagawa painted science-fiction, celestial-inspired scenes.

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Sculpture
March 12, 2015

Italian Job-Inspired Bus Sculpture Hangs Off the Edge of Peninsula Hotel Hong Kong

Does this make anyone else feel a little queasy? As part of this year's Art Basel in Hong Kong, artist Richard Wilson has perched a full-sized bus sculpture on the edge of Hong Kong's Peninsula Hotel. The work is inspired by the 1969 British heist movie The Italian Job when Michael Caine and his gang of gold robbers hang precariously off a mountain top. (See the “cliffhanger” clip, here.)

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.