One for the Road: The Transportation of Place

by Kelly Amabile on

New York in Las Vegas. Did you ever stop and think about the cultural ramifications of this while zig-zaging among casinos along the strip?

One creative couple has spent a large portion of their career devoted to observing representations of this concept, which they call The Transportation of Place. The term, used by Andrea Robbins and Max Becher, describes what they define as “situations in which one limited or isolated place strongly resembles another distant one.” This surreal nonfiction book examines the placement of locations and explores questions surrounding globalization, tourism and cultural identity.

The body of work this artsy duo has created can be seen in museums and private collections around the world. And the most recent exhibit of this theme opened just last week at the French Institute in New York. Location Dislocation looks at contradictions — where a culture or place has been copied and relocated. For example: Germans who dress as Native Americans or an American chain store in the French countryside. The images are meant to challenge our notions of place, and question, among other things, why non-authentic locations seem to be accepted as genuine locales.

More Very Weird Amusement Parks

by Willy Volk on

Our recent post on Very Weird Amusement Parks was wildly popular. We got emails, phone calls, and love letters from adoring fans the world over. Rather than settle for the love we got, though, we needed more, More, MORE!

Consequently, today we bring you More Very Weird Amusement Parks, 5 more offbeat and unusual theme parks for your summer vacation.

Enjoy — and book early!

The Ocean Dome
Leave it to the Japanese to create the world’s largest indoor water park. Massive enough to surf in, Miyazaki’s Ocean Dome — part of the sprawling Phoenix Seagaia Resort — makes a bigger splash than anything else on the planet.

According to Ron Gluckman, the Ocean Dome features a “heated ocean with a width of 140 meters [that] sends 13,500 tons of salt-free water sweeping across 600 tons of polished marble chips that constitute a 85-metre long shoreline, ringed by a three-story promenade of shops.” The Dome also boasts its own rain forest; a volcano that erupts every hour; and a massive beach. Don’t think the Ocean Dome is weird? What about the fact that this indoor beach is located less than 1000 feet from a real beach!

Strangely, brochures for the Ocean Dome tout the fact that it “is a place where we can feel that we are part of nature.” I guess that’s because it features a retractable roof. On clear days, they even let the sun shine in! Ah…nature.

To see what the Ocean Dome looks like, check out these images, or watch this commercial announcing the grand opening.

Grutas Park (a.k.a., Stalin World)
Lithuania’s Grutas Park is large on history, but small on “amusement.” This 20-acre park, located 75 miles south of Vilnius, Lithuania’s capital, recreates life under Stalin.

Grutas features a zoo, a small playground — and 82 Communist-era sculptures positioned along a 1.2-mile-long exposition, where guard towers, fragments of concentration camps, and remnants of Siberia have been lovingly positioned. Also featuring an electrified fence and wooden guard posts, visitors enter a gulag similar to the one to which 360,000 Lithuanians were sent. Hopefully, you have to be “this tall” to take this particular ride.

Operated by Viliumas Malinauskas — former heavyweight wrestler and current canned-mushroom tycoon — Grutas’ statues have been donated by the country’s cities, anxious to distance themselves from unhappier times.

Mukluk Land
Decidedly low-tech, Alaska’s Mukluk Land features the large Alaskan cabbage, the world’s largest mukluk, the world’s largest mosquito, and an assortment of odd displays, including a large yurt and a collection of large, rusting snowmobiles. It also has Skee Ball.

Named after the traditional soft boots worn by native Alaskans, Mukluk Land — 350 miles northeast of Anchorage along the Alaska Highway– is like walking through a larger-than-life history book of this larger-than-life state.

If you want to live large at Mukluk Land, though, you have to plan you trip carefully: this frontier-style amusement park has a very small window of operating hours. It’s only open June through August.

Love Land
If you thought Mukluk Land was a bit limp, I’m guessing you’re going to get excited about South Korea’s “Love Land.” Located on Cheju Island (known locally as “Honeymoon Island”), the Park features all manner of porn-y memorabilia and art, from giant golden statues dripping with carnal abandon, to something called, um, “most big penis.”

Particularly beautiful at night when aglow, this couples-friendly amusement park was erected (tee hee) to help show newly-married lovers the proverbial ropes. After looking at some of the displays, though, I wonder if these ropes didn’t scare them more than they encouraged them!

For some insightful penetration into Love Land, check out Spiegel. For probing and NSFW (if X-rated statues can get you in trouble) photos of Love Land, check out either Flickr or Ebaum’s World.

Amora
South Koreans aren’t the only people who think sex = amusement. It turns out the Brits are into sex-themed amusement parks, too. The recently-opened Amora sexual theme park aims to offer an “upscale, grown-up way of looking at, and discovering, sex.”

Amora London has no electronic rides. However, the organizers are hoping that the, um, mental ride through the tactile displays of life-sized silicone models will be enough to stimulate interest in erogenous zones. Boasting exhibits with provocative names like Sensorium, Sexplorium, Amora Sutra, Love & Desire, Amorgasm, Taste Amora, Fantasy & Fetish, and Aphrodisiac Lounge, this amora-sment park also offers hands-on workshops designed to inspire, educate, and entertain (read: stripper classes).

With exhibits like the Spankometer, an orgasm tunnel, and a wall sporting dozens of molded genitals, Amora is one wild ride that’ll leave you panting for more. Want more? Check out The Sun’s video tour of Amora.

A Canadian in Beijing: Old and New Embrace

by Ember Swift on

Here in Beijing, I am surrounded by the past and the future at every turn. I see technology grabbing the hand of history and pulling it closer, as though history has a history of being afraid to dance and technology cannot take no for an answer. What has resulted is an occasionally awkward intermingling of old ways and new ways here. But, I will hold that the perception of awkwardness is likely only coming from me, the outsider, because I can also appreciate the grace and rhythm that old and new have together, as though they have danced this way for years.

Neither seems in any hurry to step on the toes of the other.

Both are equally (but differently) stubborn.

Both are great dancers.

This kind of dance is evident in simple things that I noticed almost every day here when I first arrived. The kinds of things that are strange to an outsider but eventually become the norm after two months of living in this amazing city. Well, not exactly the norm and I’m still moved every time I notice another example, just no longer surprised. I’ve learned to expect the unexpected in Beijing.

For example, most of the brooms here in China are just tree branches. They are bound together in bunches and attached to a bamboo pole. They’re used to sweep up the leaves and dirt and dust that this windy city blows into walkways and pathways. Every morning at around five o’clock, I hear the sound of a campus worker sweeping the road outside of my building. That is his job every day. He uses this kind of broom and I hear the sound of tree branches on pavement, swishing in a reliably steady rhythm, and it warmly greets my dreams through the open window.

Of course, this way has been used for centuries and there is no need to improve on an idea that doesn’t need improving – something we westerners could learn from! – and so I haven’t seen near as many plastic options for brooms in this city. And we all know how often those plastic brooms break, loose bristles, etc. Cheap replicas of a system that was once based on what we could find in nature. Weren’t all systems? Yes, I believe they were.

As I was walking the other day, a woman was walking in front of me balancing two large pots, each dangling from the ends of a pole. This pole was perched horizontally across her shoulders. Again, this technique has been used for centuries and it obviously works; the weight is more evenly distributed and she walked quite easily with what appeared to be two quite heavy (full) soup pots.

Also, in Wudaokou – where the school district is and where huge buildings are being constructed as we speak with glossy signs and glass fronts – there is a railway crossing right beside the subway station. At this railway crossing, there are four large traffic arms that are lowered (by two attendants, one on each side, not automation) in order to stop the flow of traffic when the trains pass. They use big ropes and pulleys and the arms come down with a clang.

Well, one of these traffic arms is a tree. It’s not just made of wood; it’s actually a tree that has just been stripped of its branches and painted black and white. You can still see where it grew slightly bowed in the wind! It isn’t perfectly straight and it tapers at the far end just as a tree trunk tapers at the top. Why? Because it’s a tree!

When I noticed this, I had to take a picture. The other traffic arms have been replaced with more modern metal ones that were factory-made and look all uniform and boring, but this relic of a traffic arm remains (and entertains its metallic friends with its stories, I’m sure). I’m just touched that they didn’t replace it when the others were replaced or rotted away. Maybe that’s the Chinese way, i.e. “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” It would appear so. (Does anyone know if there’s a Chinese “chengyu” (idiom) with this same meaning?)

Finally, in Shanghai, I was moved by the rows upon rows of laundry that seemed to float in the air above the streets. Of course, not literally. All of the upper apartments have these long metal arms that stretch out from their windows on which the residents hang their laundry outside of their homes to dry. I wondered how often someone loses a pair of underwear to the wind, or fetches their laundry only to find that a bird has taken off with one of their socks?! The colours floated like dozens of multinational flags. Somehow the gentle movement of the laundry in the breeze made the streets feel more neighbourly, as though everyone were open and airing their lives with abandon. “Who cares what people think of my pink underwear!” says the man upstairs . . .

I love it.

I love the connection points between old ways and new ways. It seems so real and raw at once, both stubbornly fighting to exist and/or remain. It seems to me that each has realized that only through an embrace can they survive.

Embracing survival.

Yet another lesson, courtesy of China.

Haiti Part 4: Art & Souvenirs

by Adrienne Wilson on


Art is everywhere in Haiti. Evidence of such can easily be seen long before arriving in the so-called arts epicenter of Jacmel. Within moments of hitting the bustling Port-au-Prince streets I found myself googly-eyed, head turning left and right just trying to zone in on all the details found on a passing tap-tap. Tap-Taps are small pick-up trucks that are transformed into magnificent, colorful vehicles of public transportation. The painted pick-ups often times tell a story, some have scriptures from the Bible and many have the faces of popular music artists going from front to back. Discussing the artwork found on tap-taps could make up their own individual post and photo gallery, so allow me to proceed to other areas of art found in the country.

I’ll begin by suggesting a visit to the Foundation Sant D’A Jakmel (FOSAJ) in Jacmel. FOSAJ is a non-profit institution with a mission to empower the Haitian people through art and cultural initiatives. By visiting their art gallery I could see their mission in action.


There are a number of interesting and vivid paintings in addition to mixed media pieces worth spending a few gazing moments. I would have loved to have taken many back home, including a large vibrant piece that had just been painted by one of the local artists hanging around the gallery. Unfortunately, I had some other souvenir purchases that had to be made before acquiring any paintings and now I could kick myself for not taking it off his hands.

At the very least I knew I would have a few photos and some memories to keep me going until the next trip in to explore more about Haitian art and the artists behind the brush.

The items I was holding out for more than anything were the voodoo flags. It was a D.C. based photographer that put me onto them long before taking off and with the way he described their beauty I knew it would be a souvenir I would like to have and give to family and friends.

Finding them was not always easy. There were a few art and gift shops selling beaded mermaids, but I was more interested in the flags with sequins – one-of-kind pieces. My first attempt to find a flag led me and my fellow travel companions to an area of Jacmel supposedly known as the red-light district of the town. We didn’t know it at the time. We waited in a small home while someone went to find the voodoo priestess who made the flags. Our wait was not a long one as a woman with a stern face came wondering in and then out looking for the key to unlock where ever it was the flags were kept. She returned with a very large, beautiful sequined piece of what I regarded as art and she regarded as something much more. The flag was done in black, white and red sequins. The material behind it was a light lavender color and the picture was of a knife pointing to a bowl of blood with the word ‘KRIMINAL’ beneath the bowl. She took all this very serious and it was the only flag she would allow me to see without being baptized in the religion. I passed on purchasing the flag because I wanted something a bit brighter and smaller. I did not beg to see others and she didn’t seem as though she were playing hard to get in not revealing the others. The search here was over.

The rain had started to come down in buckets as we pulled up to a second home where I was told there would be flags for sale. Again, I saw only large flags. Large wouldn’t be so bad if I were into the stuff for religious purposes or had a huge place back in the states waiting for my new world trinkets, but neither particularly applies to myself – at least for the time being. Though the two flags I was shown didn’t have the sequins or beads I was told the symbol found on them represented all voodoo symbols. Still, it was not what I was hoping for and so I held off once again. There was only one last hope in the area and we would not be able to get to it that day as the rental car could not cross the river where this last woman lived. I paid the man who had become our assistant in finding the flags to have the woman bring her flags to me when it stopped raining.

The next morning she arrived by motor-bike to my hotel with only three flags. Two were identical with the exception being in size and the other was only partially covered in sequins. I decided to purchase one of the larger fully sequined flags for all the trouble she had gone through. The flag had the word ‘Ba Ron’ at the top which she said meant cemetery. It seemed like a dark moody flag, but it was still quite beautiful. She said she had other colorful ones of the voodoo heart, but no further transactions were made that day as the other flags she brought back only got larger and larger in size.

It was on my last day in Port-au-Prince that I found a man who had obviously somewhat embraced the art of making flags for many people to include tourists. Buying five flags was never my initial intention, but he had a variety that were right size, price and he was also able to provide me with the story behind the spirits seen on each flag. He told me ‘carrefour’ which meant intersection was the gateway for all spirits to pass. The peach colored one (I cannot remember the name of that spirit) is the one that opens up ‘carrefour.’ La Sirene’ is the mermaid spirit and a very popular good spirit.

My lessons in voodoo spirits, flags and artwork in Haiti had to end there that day. I had a flight to catch, but I was pleased. I had successfully gotten souvenirs from Haiti that I would probably never find on any other Caribbean island.

Yesterday: Hotel Cyvadier & Other Jacmel Hotels
Tomorrow: Festival Mizik Jakmel Update

Santa Fe, New Mexico: Three Major Art Festivals

by Jamie Rhein on

If you’re looking for a place to go where art abounds, consider Santa Fe, New Mexico. With Santa Fe’s spot on UNESCO’s list of most creative cities, you know it’s bound to be a visual paradise. Take it from me, I’ve been there several times and it is. This summer it’s earning its stature with three major art festivals.

At ART Santa Fe, July 12-15, the focus is contemporary art. At the El Museo del Cultural, galleries representing artists from Europe, Asia and Latin America will have the artists’ work for sale. This is a place to pick up something fabulous and fine arts-like. In addition to the exhibit, other Santa Fe arts organizations have activities that are on the things to do list. If you do open your pockets to purchase, you’ll be competing with museum curators who come scouting for acquisitions.

If folk art is your style, At the International Folk Art Market, July 14-15, art from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe are on the list of countries participating. This is not the kind of folk art made by just anyone either, but the type that is considered the best of the best. Even if buying is not your thing, this will be a great place to see the range of what people around the world create to sell. If I went, there would be no stopping me, even though our house already looks like a Unicef store.

And if Native American art is what you’re after, the Santa Fe Indian Market is August 18-19. With over 1,200 artists from 100 tribes selling their wares, be on the lookout for some wonderful jewelry, pottery and rugs. The range of pottery among tribes is truly stunning. Acoma pottery is among my favorite. If you go, pick up a seed pot.