During some downtime prior to the commencement of the 2014 Gyeryong Military Culture Festival in South Korea, members of the III Marine Expeditionary Force Band and the Republic of Korea Army Band have fun with this amicable drum line competition.
Enjoy:
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Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Are you ready for, ready for / A perfect storm, perfect storm
Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine / There’s no going back
Why it’s not romantic: From the pyramid of Twinkies to the flaming hot Cheetos, the video reveals that Perry’s singing about her love of junk food.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
A tough love (Super power) / Uh huh, like a shark (Super power)
Ooh, like a bear / A tough love
Why it’s not romantic: Because sharks and bears don’t exactly inspire warm and fuzzy feelings.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
You make me wanna tap out and retire / Your pretty lips leave me so inspired
Why it’s not romantic:
Sexy, sure, but if you listen a little closer you’ll realize that Usher wants those “pretty lips” on something other than his mouth.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Now I’ve got you in my space / I won’t let go of you (never) / Got you shackled in my embrace / I’m latching on to you (never)
Why it’s not romantic: Shackles? Ouch.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Is it weird that I hear Violin / whenever you’re gone/Whenever you’re gone
Is it weird that your ass / Remind me of a Kanye West song?
Why it’s not romantic: While staring at the object of his desire, Jason Derulo thinks of… Kanye West.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Everybody wanna steal my girl / Everybody wanna take her heart away
Couple billion in the whole wide world / Find another one ‘cause she belongs to me
Why it’s not romantic:
Overprotective much?
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Ooh, na-na-na / Put your hands in the air if you’re loving tonight
Ooh, na-na-na / Keep your hands in the air if you’re spending the night
Ooh, na-na now, na-na, na-na-na-na-na
Why it’s not romantic:
All opportunities for romantic lyricism are replaced by na-na-na-na-na-na-na.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Tell me something I need to know / Then take my breath and never let it go
If you just let me invade your space / I’ll take the pleasure, take it with the pain
Why it isn’t romantic:
The rest of the song is Grande literally singing that she will leave her significant other if the sex isn’t good.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Who said you can’t find love in the club? / ‘Cause I wanna tell them they’re wrong
Come on, just, baby, try a new thing / And let’s spark a new flame
Why it’s not romantic: 1) Chris Brown. 2) Rick Ross.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
‘Cause you’re too sexy, beautiful / And everybody wants a taste
That’s why (that’s why) / I still get jealous
Why it’s not romantic:
Jealousy isn’t a good look on anyone, even a hottie like Nick Jonas.
Lyrics that seem so romantic:
Why you gotta be so rude? / Don’t you know I’m human too?
Why you gotta be so rude? / I’m gonna marry her anyway
Why it’s not romantic: The whole song is basically a tantrum about not getting the father’s approval, but HELLO have you asked your girlfriend?
Culled From BuzzFeed
See the animated video for the modern holiday song we’ve been waiting for.
This vintage-feeling holiday video is a combined effort from Atlantic Records, Kristen Bell, Straight No Chaser, JASH, and songwriters Adam Schlesinger and David Javerbaum. The modern Christmas tune was later animated by Cuppa Coffee Studios. It’s another sign-o-the-times, don’t you think?
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Because no music video would be complete without a selfie with Santa.
An estimated 5 billion dollars’ worth of art and antiquities are stolen each year.1 Naturally, well-known artists top the lists of most valuable paintings ever stolen—The Storm on the Sea of Galilee by Rembrandt van Rijn (Dutch, 1606–1669) and The Concert by Johannes Vermeer(Dutch, 1632–1675) taken from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in Boston in March 1990, a Paul Cezanne (French, 1839–1906) landscape stolen during a New Year’s Eve celebration from the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford in 1999, and a Pablo Picasso (Spanish, 1881–1973) Cubist work and a Piet Mondrian (Dutch, 1872–1944) painting taking from the Greek National Art Gallery while they were short-staffed during strikes.
Vincent van Gogh’s paintings are also among the most frequently stolen. At least 13 of his paintings have been stolen and recovered—two of them twice. Another 85 works have been lost and remain missing. And three other paintings that were stolen are still at large.
Stolen Paintings still Missing
Vincent van Gogh (Dutch, 1853–1890) is best known for his Post-Impressionist paintings such as Starry Night (1889), but the three stolen and still-missing works—Poppy Flowers (1887), View of the Sea at Scheveningen (1882), and Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuene (1884)—are lesser-known paintings.
Van Gogh painted the small oil on canvas Poppy Flowers when he was living with his brother Theo at 54 rue Lepic in Montmartre.2 While in Paris, van Gogh met and painted alongside artists like Paul Gauguin(French, 1848–1903), Edgar Degas (French, 1834–1917), and Camille Pissarro (French, 1830–1903), and this work shows their influence.Poppy Flowers was stolen twice from the Mohammed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo, Egypt. It was stolen for first time in June 1997, and was recovered 10 years later in Kuwait. It was stolen again in August 2010, and remains missing. In the second theft, according to the BBC,3the work was cut from its frame and the thief easily walked out of the museum. The police blamed poor security: “none of the alarms at the Khalil Museum and only seven out of 43 security cameras were working.” The painting is estimated to be worth US$50 million, which seems high considering comparable sales at auction (click here to see all works that have been up for sale at auction by Vincent van Gogh). And though the museum had only 10 visitors that day, the work and the thieves remain at large.
The two other paintings still missing were taken in one event at the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam in December 2002.
View of the Sea at Scheveningen is an early oil on canvas, painted at a beach resort near The Hague. According to the Van Gogh Museum, van Gogh painted outside, and the windy day depicted left grains of sand stuck in the paint that were still there when the work was taken. The other work stolen from the museum was Congregation Leaving the Reformed Church in Nuene. This painting of the church where van Gogh’s father was the pastor was a gift to his mother after she broke her leg because “she was ‘amused with trifles,’ as he wrote to Theo.”4
To steal the two paintings, the thieves entered the Van Gogh Museum from the roof, using a ladder to get past the security guards and cameras.5 The museum did not blame security, stating that the video cameras and alarms were working; indeed, the alarm went off, but the thieves still escaped. Two suspects were arrested in 2004 and later convicted, but the paintings were never found. Over a decade later, the museum is still offering a reward of €100,000 for information to return the paintings in good condition.6
Why steal a van Gogh painting?
With these heists, it is unknown if the thieves sought out specific works, or if they just grabbed whatever was accessible or easiest to steal. Still, there are key factors that make van Gogh paintings likely targets—volume and accessibility of works, the value of the works themselves, and the immeasurable value of van Gogh works that affect their resale value.
Despite his short life, van Gogh was prolific. He began painting in the early 1880s, and shot himself in 1890 at age 37. In that time, van Gogh painted over 850 oil paintings and created over 1,300 prints, watercolors, and drawings. The many paintings in museums, such as the Van Gogh Museum, are on display because institutions are committed to showing his works to the public—which makes them more vulnerable to theft. In the case of Poppy Flowers, the work was so vulnerable that 15 museum employees were charged and convicted of negligence by an Egyptian court.7
The market value of a painting is important to set the reward and insurance value for a stolen work, but it can be difficult to determine. Ed Caesar recently analyzed the value of stolen art in The New York Times. He estimated the black market value of a stolen painting is 7 to 10 percent of the actual market value. When newspapers overestimate the value of a work, it can increase the black market value, further incentivizing thieves. Of another art heist, Caesar writes: “Criminals, presumably, read newspapers—and newspapers had drastically inflated the value of the … missing works.”8 Of course, if a work is too well known, it can be difficult to sell it illegally, and Caesar asserts that many works are instead often traded as black market currency.
Finally, the immeasurable reasons why we love art add a different kind of value to paintings by van Gogh. This intangible value is what auctioneer Philip Hook calls “positive romantic baggage.” He explains it as the “back-story to artists’ lives that affects our appreciation of them and the works they produce. Quite apart from the importance to art history of van Gogh and his significance as the originator of Expressionism, there is a tragic romance to his life that enhances his value to the collector, emotionally and financially.”9
Thieves steal van Gogh paintings for their value and perhaps for love.
Other van Gogh paintings stolen and later recovered:
• Blossoming Chestnut Branches in 2008 from the Foundation E.G. Bührle in Switzerland
• The Fortifications of Paris with Houses (The Ramparts of Paris) in 2003 from the Whitworth Art Gallery at The University of Manchester in London
• In 1998, Weaver’s Interior, Four Cut Sunflowers, and The Potato Eaterswhile on loan at the Kroller-Muller Museum
• From the Van Gogh Museum in 1991, Still Life Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers, The Potato Eaters, Still Life with Irises, Wheatfield with Crows, and Still Life with Bible
• In 1990, Digging Farmer’s Wife, The Sitting Farmer’s Wife, and Wheels of the Water Mill in Gennep from the Noordbrabants Museum in Den Bosch, the Netherlands
• Stolen twice in 1975, and recovered twice, Breton Women (after Emile Bernard) from the Municipal Museum in Milan
Van Gogh’s works at auction have had a very high sell-through rate. For more information, and to view his sales compared to other artists or to stock indices, check out artnet Analytics Reports.
To see prices for all works that have been up for sale at auction by Vincent van Gogh, search our Price Database.
Legal details of stolen art are best clarified by art lawyers.
1 Sandy Nairne, Art Theft and the Case of the Stolen Turners, (Reaktion Books: London, 2012).
2 Marc Edo Tralbaut, Vincent van Gogh, (The Viking Press: New York, 1969).
3 “Faulty alarms blamed for Van Gogh theft in Egypt,” BBC, August 22, 2010,
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-11053314.
4 Tralbaut, 127.
5 “Two van Gogh Works Are Stolen in Amsterdam,” The New York Times, December 8, 2002,http://www.nytimes.com/2002/12/08/world/two-van-gogh-works-are-stolen-in-amsterdam.html.
6 “Van Gogh Museum offers reward for information about theft of paintings,” Van Gogh Museum Press Releases, June 21, 2003,http://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/vgm/index.jsp?page=7995&lang=en.
7 “15 officials charged with negligence over van Gogh theft,” Egypt Independent, August 23, 2010,http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/15-officials-charged-negligence-over-van-gogh-theft.
8 Ed Caesar, “What Is the Value of Stolen Art, The New York Times, November 13, 2013,http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/magazine/what-is-the-value-of-stolen-art.html?ref=design.
9 Philip Hook, “What sells art?” The Guardian, November 18, 2013,http://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2013/nov/18/what-sells-art.
Culled from artnet
Of all the things that one could leave behind on a train, a €1 million 13th-century Chinese scroll is probably one of the most excruciating options. Yet, according to the Telegraph, this is precisely what happened to the art collector Francesco Plateroti.
A few days ago, Plateroti boarded a high-speed train to return to Geneva from Paris, where he had travelled to show the valuable Chinese scroll, entitled The Banquet of Immortals on the Terrace of Jade, at an art exhibition.
But when the Franco-Italian collector arrived to his final destination, near Geneva, he left the antique artwork, crafted by the artist Wang Zhenpeng during the Yuan dynasty, on a train seat.
“I was crushed when I realized I didn’t have it with me,” Plateroti toldThe Local. “It was a massive shock.”
Plateroti only realized that he had left the artwork behind once the train had left the platform. He alerted staff and the train was exhaustively searched, but the scroll was nowhere to be seen. “I call the Swiss department for lost property three times a day,” Plateroti said.
Plateroti has managed to remain optimistic about the possibility of retrieving the scroll, which can’t be legally sold or exhibited without its certificate of authenticity. The collector has launched an appeal for witnesses travelling on the 8:11pm TGV 9789 from Paris to Geneva on November 21, offering a reward if the scroll is safely returned.
However, he has not encountered a lot of good will as of yet. “People take advantage of my misfortune,” Plateroti lamented. “They are calling me to say they have the painting and that they will send it once I put the reward money in their bank accounts. This all makes having lost the painting a lot worse.”
Culled From artnet
All roads led to Akpu in Orumba South Local Government Area of Anambra State at the weekend where a Community Arts Centre was opened amidst pomp and celebration.
The occasion offered a rare opportunity for arts lovers led by Prof. Ola Oloidi of the University of Nigeria to extol the role of Art as “the first spring board of economic development through technological advancement”.
The Community Gallery of Art known as “Ofesiodo Community Arts Centre” was a constituency project of the member representing Orumba North/Orumba South Federal Constituency and chairman of House Committee on Tourism, Culture and National Orientation, Ben Nwankwo.
Oloidi who was special guest of honour at the commissioning of the centre said in his address that “Artists are at the centre of development because creativity drives usual thought process, unique ideas and creates a viable change and positively affects the world in general.”
Oloidi who is a professor of Art History and Art criticism said the edifice is a timely intervention that can meaningfully engage the youths in their droves since they are the major beneficiaries.
Culled from allAfrica
View Article HERE
Artist Emil Alzamora explores the human body through his figurative sculptures that distort, inflate, elongate, and deconstruct physical forms in order to reveal emotional situations and narratives. Alzamora works with a variety of materials including bronze, gypsum, concrete, and other ceramic materials to create pieces with smooth, almost non-descript surfaces to instead draw attention to shape and scale. Born in Peru, he began sculpting in the fall of 1998 in New York at the Polich Tallix fine art foundry, and has since exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, most recently at Expo Chicago and the International Sculpture Symposium In Icheon in South Korea. You can see more of his work on Facebook and on Instagram.
Watch Emil At Work
Culled from Colossal
French artist Bernard Pras is widely known for his unbelievable found-object installations. In anamorphic artworks like these, he hides his images in piles of what seems to be plain junk. They can only be seen through a particular device or just from a right angle.
In order to create the anamorphic effect, the artist carefully plans the whole installation and places seemingly random objects, selecting them by color and size so that they would resemble a famous portrait or image from a single perspective. Pras uses plastic waste, old pills, boxes, bags, packs, dolls, toys, musical instruments, household objects, and pretty much anything that seems right for the color and texture he needs. The results are simply jaw-dropping!
More info: bernardpras.fr
Culled From Boredpanda
The street artist Jay Shells has painted a mural in Brooklyn featuring lyrics by the hip hop artist Mos Def, Complex Magazine reports. The mural is a continuation of Shells’ Rap Quotes project, in which he installed street signs with rap lyrics. In a video, Shells explains that the project “plots the…corners and very specific locations mentioned in rap songs.”
“I was always hoping that the street sign project would open the door for something more permanent,” Shells told Animal. “Although I realize it wouldn’t always be possible to do a wall or a plaque on the floor for every single [rap quote], I thought it would be great to get a good handful of them to be more permanent.”
The mural, located near the intersection of Broadway and Myrtle Avenue, says: “I’m blacker than midnight on Broadway and Myrtle,” referring to the location that Mos Def mentioned in his song Mathematics. “I have found that this is an interesting way to interact with the public, to get a message out and to hear back what the public is telling me,” Shells toldComplex.
Shells first started attracting attention with his Subway Etiquette project, in which he put up screen prints and posters in New York City’s subway stations, trains, and platforms, urging New Yorkers to be respectful to each other while using the public transport network.
Culled From artnet
Fifty artists have gathered to create an “art park” in Shunde, Southern China, which celebrates 50 years of diplomatic relations between China and France.
Inaugurated earlier this week, the 200,000 square-meter Sino-French Art Park is dotted with sculptures made from what looks like scrap metal. It’s scrap metal with a special cachet, though: it was dismantled from the Eiffel Bridge in Bayonne, Southwestern France, shipped to China, and used by the participating artists to make installations. The bridge was designed by the French civil engineer Gustave Eiffel in 1864, before he went on to create the Eiffel Tower.
“When the ruins of the Eiffel Bridge, which represent the Industrial Revolution, were transported to and rebuilt in Shunde, a modern global manufacturing and processing center, it was like a bridge was built connecting past and present,” Lu Mingjun, one of the curators for the opening exhibition, told the Global Times.
Fan Zhe, the art director of the park project, initiated the recycling of the Eiffel Bridge, hoping the metal could gain new life in the artists’ hands. Fan’s theme for the exhibition is “AA Utopia” — “AA” means to “go Dutch” in Chinese slang and refers to the idea that all parties are participating equally in the “Utopia” of the art park.
Big-name artists like Wang Guangyi, Sui Jianguo, and Xu Bing have participated in the project. French artist Catherine Val and Chinese artist Li Ming each built a sculpture of Charles de Gaulle and Chairman Mao respectively. The statues have been placed so it looks like the two figures are in conversation.
Culled from artnet
ArtRubic 