Oddity Central |
- Sarah Harvey’s Eerily Realistic Underwater Images
- Vrindavan – Where India’s Widows Go to Die
- Blo-Ball – Air Hockey Played with Your Mouth
- Zombie Woman Climbs from Casket Six Days after She Died
| Sarah Harvey’s Eerily Realistic Underwater Images Posted: 05 Mar 2012 02:36 AM PST
Most people love taking photos of themselves underwater, but English artist Sarah Harvey isn’t like people. She likes to take things to a whole new level by using photos of herself underwater as reference for her incredibly realistic paintings. Most often than not, Sarah likes to be both the artist and the subject of her artworks. She puts on a bathing suit, jumps in one of London’s oldest pools and goes underwater so her photographer friend can take a series of photos. She takes into consideration the position of the sun every time she prepares for a photo shoot, and tries to include its reflection on the water whenever she can, along with the surrounding darkness to create a contrast that makes the distorted human figure look even more interesting. Once work at the pool is completed, the artist heads for her studio in East London, where she selects the best photos and starts placing them one over the other to create a collage. Although her paintings look incredibly realistic, Sarah Harvey says she never tries to perfectly replicate the photos. In each of her pieces she will try to concentrate on a certain element she finds most interesting and leave the other parts “very much more gestural”. Still, her technique is impeccable and most people probably couldn’t even tell they were actually looking at paintings, and not photos. Sarah herself has problems defining the unique style she came up with during a trip to Italy, a few years back, but describes it as a mix between cubism and realism. She says the purpose of her technique is to create interesting abstract images in which the human figure is broken up by the ripples in the water. Her incredible talent has already been acknowledged by the art world, and her paintings have been exhibited all around the world. Her one-of-a-kind underwater paintings sell for as much as €15,000 ($20,000). If you find water-themed hyper-realist paintings interesting, you might want to check out Alyssa Monks’ incredible works of art.
Photos copyright of Sarah Harvey Sarah Harvey’s Eerily Realistic Underwater Images was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Vrindavan – Where India’s Widows Go to Die Posted: 05 Mar 2012 01:28 AM PST
Superstitious beliefs are generally perceived in light humor, like when a black cat crosses your path, or you look into a broken mirror. But what about the ones that could cause several women to live in poverty and destitution for the rest of their lives? Unfortunately, that's the ugly side of superstition and it does exist in several rural, underdeveloped societies of India. Societies, where it is normal to believe that apart from being a financial burden, widowed women and even their shadows, bring bad luck. Within such circles, widows – both young and old – are shunned and forced to leave their home. Their bangles are broken, red vermilion (the mark of a married woman) is wiped away from the forehead, and they're forced to wear nothing but white saris, before being turned away from home. Thousands of these homeless widows gather at one place, Vrindavan, where it is believed that death will bring them salvation. So they go there to live in ashrams, awaiting their turn to die. Unfortunately, life in the ashrams of the holy city of Vrindavan is not exactly a bed of roses for the lonely and abandoned women. In fact, some of them are so poor that they have even left the ashrams and taken to the streets to beg for their food. The north-Indian city, with a population of about 55,000, is believed to have about 20,000 widows today. The ones who do stay on in the ashrams receive only one small plate of food a day, and live in the poorest of conditions. Young widows face a threat to their safety as well, due to sexual abuse and human trafficking. Photo © V.V. Krishnan Filmmakers such as Dharan Mandrayar and Deepa Mehta have made movies on the plight of such women, but these have been viewed as highly controversial in the country. Mehta's 2005 film, Water, depicted the story of the young and beautiful Kalyani, a widowed woman sold for sexual services. It was nominated for an Academy Award that year. However, not much has changed for real-life Kalyani's who suffer the terrible living conditions each day. Photo © Rajeev Bhat A few courageous people do exist, who are working hard for a change. One of them is Dr. Mohini Giri, the creator of Guild of Service, an organization which helps destitute women and children. Widowed herself at the age of 50, she says that she has experienced the social humiliation that comes with being a widow. There were times when her presence was considered bad luck, so she was asked not to attend weddings. "We live in a patriarchal society. Men say that culturally as a widow you cannot do anything – you cannot grow your hair, you should not look beautiful. It's the mind of the society that we need to change – not the women," she says. Of course, she admits that her efforts have not been sufficient, and a lot more help is needed from the Government to bring about a positive change in the lives of thousands of widows. "Mine is but a drop in the bucket," says Dr. Giri.
Vrindavan – Where India’s Widows Go to Die was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Blo-Ball – Air Hockey Played with Your Mouth Posted: 05 Mar 2012 01:03 AM PST
What could make a game like ping pong more interesting? Abandon the paddles and blow the ball across, of course! And that's exactly what Blo-Ball is all about. The game is a mix of air hockey and ping pong, with players crouching on either side of a six-foot long table. In a bizarre display of lung-power, they take turns in blowing the ball across to their opponents. Rails on either side of the table keep the ball from falling off ever-so-often, and the height is adjustable to accommodate player heights. It can be played singles or doubles, and the first sider to blow 11 points, is the winner. As fun as the game sounds, it does seem incredibly tiring.
Invented by Kenny Weiland in 1995, Blo-ball gained came to be known when it was aired on the TV show 'Why Didn't I Think of That', in 1996. As cool as it looks, it still isn't hugely popular or played as a competitive sport. Reports suggest that the game is played mostly in several middle and high schools in the US, and also a few bars and colleges northeast. That’s really disappointing, because Blo-Ball really seems like a fun sport to me, although not recommended for smokers with weak lung power.
Blo-Ball – Air Hockey Played with Your Mouth was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
| Zombie Woman Climbs from Casket Six Days after She Died Posted: 05 Mar 2012 12:50 AM PST
A 95-year-old Chinese woman, thought to be dead and placed in a coffin, terrified her family and neighbors by climbing right out after six long days. Must have scared the living daylights out of her neighbor Mr. Qingwang, who was the first to discover the empty coffin. Ms. Xiufeng lives alone in her home in China's Guangxi Province. She had recently suffered a head injury, and Mr. Qingwang found her motionless one morning when he went to give her breakfast. "No matter how hard I pushed her and caller her name, she had no reactions," he said. "I felt something was wrong, so I tried her breath, and she has gone but her body was still warm." So believing her to be dead, Mr. Qingwang and his son made funeral preparations, placing the old woman’s body in a coffin. Fortunately, in Chinese tradition the coffin is retained for several days, until family and friends pay their respects. Also, he chose not to nail the box shut until the day of burial. So a day before the funeral, the box was discovered empty, and the corpse was gone. Alarmed, they searched for the missing body everywhere, and where do they discover Ms. Xiufeng? In the kitchen, cooking herself a meal. Now if it were me, I would have run for my life if I saw a corpse cooking food. But no, turns out she hadn't died at all. According to a county hospital, what she suffered was an artificial death – where the person doesn't breathe but the body is still warm. It's a good thing that coffin wasn't nailed shut. But unfortunately for Ms. Xuifeng, she is left with nothing now. All her possessions were burnt according to the Chinese tradition for the dead. I don't suppose she's complaining, though.
Zombie Woman Climbs from Casket Six Days after She Died was originally posted at OddityCentral.com  |
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