Oddity Central

Oddity Central

The Ghost-Like Smoke Paintings of Rob Tarbell

Posted: 31 Jan 2012 03:09 AM PST


Rob Tarbell has a very unique talent. By burning everyday objects under a paper canvas fixed on the ceiling of his studio, he is able to control the rising flow of smoke and create incredible works of art.

The artist first got the idea of using smoke as a medium for his art in 2007, and he quickly realized that in order to make it work, he needed to control the smoke, while letting it do what it does naturally. To him, that sounded a lot like what circus trainers do with wild animals, so this inspired him to use circus performances as the main subjects of his beautiful smoke paintings. Masterfully channeling the flow of smoke, Tarbell creates ghost-like figures, both animal and human performing circus acts, in a series entitled Smoke Rings. ”The performing animal images in the Smokes parallel the drawing process,” Rob says on his website. “The trainer must recognize and respect the innate nature of an animal when trying to modify its behavior to achieve a desired outcome: e.g. training a bear to dance or training a horse to walk upright. The same is true in working with smoke. The inherent properties of smoke must be respected, then permitted to – and yet discouraged from – acting naturally.”

It’s mind-boggling how someone can just burn everyday objects like photos and credit cards under a big piece of paper and control the smoke in such a way to create such detailed representations, without actually burning the canvas. Still, accidents do happen, so Rob always works in a fireproof suit, with a carbon filter unit and fresh air system with full facial mask. he used to create his smoke art in a metal garage, but he recently moved to an isolated room adjacent to his house.

 

 

 

 

 

Photos © Rob Tarbell

via My Modern Metropolis

The Ghost-Like Smoke Paintings of Rob Tarbell was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Woman Marries 107-Year-Old Warehouse to Save It from Demolition

Posted: 31 Jan 2012 02:24 AM PST


Babylonia Aivaz, from Seattle, fell in love with an old warehouse where she and other activists protested inside the building, during an Occupy Seattle event. Now, the 107-year-old facility has been scheduled for demolition, so Aivaz decided to marry it to show her love, and hopefully save it.

It sounds like a pretty bizarre situation, especially after you read all the jokes and comments by various media outlets, regarding Babylonia Aivaz’s decision to marry a warehouse. Some joke about the awkward wedding night, others about the solid foundation of their relationship, but the fact is she’s doing it as a form of protest against gentrification. ’I'm doing this to show the building how much I love it, how much I love community space and how much I love this neighborhood. And I want to stop it from gentrification,’ Aivaz said in an interview. ’If corporations can have the rights as people, so can buildings,’ she added, referencing a Supreme Court decision on political advertising.

Photo © Komo News

The unique wedding took place on Sunday, and drew about 30 attendees who watched Babylonia Aivaz tie the knot to her beloved warehouse. She said the building is actually a woman, which makes this a “gay marriage”. Believe it or not, members of the gay community found this remark insulting – “Okay, we gotta ask: Why is this like "gay marriage" (as she likes to call it)? Because, we'll marry horses and dogs and oxen next? Why didn't she take her loony idea about marrying a building and just call it marriage?” asked the staff of Instinct Magazine. The event itself had everything: music, snacks, wedding vows and, of course, the obligatory “I do’s”. Throughout the ceremony, Babylonia held a cardboard sign that read “Stop Gentrification”.

 

Sadly, it doesn’t look like this marriage is going to be long-lasting, as the old Seattle warehouse is still scheduled to be demolished in February.

via Komo News

Woman Marries 107-Year-Old Warehouse to Save It from Demolition was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Rent-a-Girlfriend Services Are Becoming Popular in China

Posted: 31 Jan 2012 01:25 AM PST


In recent years, young men and women pressed by their families to bring their girlfriends home with them for the seven-day Spring Festival prefer to rent total strangers, just to avoid long lectures and appease their relatives.

Single men and women have it tough in China, a country where most parents go to any lengths to see their offspring settled down with the right person. We’ve had posts about a school teaching girls to land rich powerful businessmen, about Shanghai’s famous marriage market, and about the Love Supermarket, but those were permanent fixes to the being-single “problem”. Nowadays, Chinese bachelors are looking for a temporary solution, and this led to the creation of a whole new niche – girlfriend/boyfriend rentals. All they have to do is go online, access Taobao (China’s version of eBay) and choose between the different sellers offering the unusual service.

To meet the demands of their customers, online sellers will post photos of themselves and after confirmation, they’ll meet clients and go over the details that will make them look like a genuine couple and prevent awkward scenes in front of the family. So how much did it cost to rent a girlfriend for this year’s Spring Festival, you ask? Anywhere between 200 RMB ($31) to 1,000 RMB ($160), depending on services offered. Apart from just looking pretty at your side, some girls also provided special services like: showing affection in front of your family, cooking, buying groceries, keeping old relatives company, and even worshiping ancestors (a really special service). If you want your rental to consume alcohol, they will charge you on the amount they have to drink, starting at 50 RMB ($8) for drinking 100 ml white wine, 70 RMB($11) for 100 ml red wine, 20 ($3) RMB for 500 ml beer. Two things none of the sellers will agree to are kissing and making love.

Girlfriend and boyfriend renting services are relatively new in China, and although a lot of people don’t approve of such practices, they are quickly gaining popularity. One of the reasons for this could be a successful TV series called “Renting a Girlfriend for Home Reunion”, that aired in 2010. It tells the story of a young man sick of going on blind dates set up by his parents, who decides to rent a girlfriend and ends up falling in love and marrying her. While in some people minds this kind of service creates an opportunity of finding their other half, sociologist warn against such practices that could pose safety issues.

In the western world, the French implemented the girlfriend-renting concept in the form of a website that allows clients to discretely rent a female partner, for a fee.

via Chinahush

Rent-a-Girlfriend Services Are Becoming Popular in China was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

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