The World’s largest artwork – a somewhat intriguing premise for even the least artistic of people wouldn’t you agree?  I mean, how big could it actually be?

Well, prepare to be open mouthed at this nine square mile creation!

As with many artistic installations it is the final product that gets shown off, but because of how fragile nature can be, this is all about documenting the process followed by a fleeting moment of the final artefact as the wind and snows sets it.

Eight people and a broom led onward into Siberia by Jim Denevan created this somewhat temporary masterpiece on Lake Baikal, the world’s largest lake.  How apt.  Even more appropriate is leader Jim Denevan (who created the previous world’s largest artwork in the Sahara), is known for creating expansive and repeating patterns over endless scale.

Given the ferocious Siberian winds it’s a marvel the artwork survived in the tundra for as long as it did, making the photography and documentation of this work even more important than usual.

Living in a yurt in the centre of the lake the team survived by creating a daily fire (as the flames would periodically freeze), eventually giving up when ever so slightly warmer temperatures arrived and the circles melted away.

The complete experience has been documented in its entirety on The Anthropologist so do check it out.

Inspired by the Jacquard Loom, the first computer to use punch cards, artists Nora Ligorano and Marshall Reese are looking to “marry traditional hand-woven crafts with information technologies” with their new project: Fiber Optic Tapestry.

The tapestry is set to be a nine panel work of art, woven by fiber optic threads (instead of traditional woolen threads) connected to RGB LEDs.  These LEDs are in turn connected to a computer which can control their outputs to create a wonderful array of patterns and colours.

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It seems only yesterday that we were getting annoyed with the vuvuzelas in the opening game as “Bufana, Bufana” announced the first African World Cup, but as we now approach the 2010 World Cup final we have become accustomed to the noise.  Hearing that buzz reach my ears stimulates excitement, the association that two of the best teams in the world are about to play out 90 minutes.

Alas, we are but days away from this event coming to a close, four long years away from the next.  Of course there will be replays and archived footage shown for months to come, the Blackstars’ dancing celebrations, Frank Lampard’s goal that never was, and of course Van Bronckhorst’s screamer against Uruguay.  But if you want a real lasting memory of the 2010 World Cup you should get yourself over to eBay and bid on one of these absolutely incredible pieces.

Oh, and did I mention all the proceeds go the Nelson Mandela’s 46664 Foundation? – a charitable organisation that aims to build a better world for everyone.  This campaign is a series of ‘Live Quest’ paintings.

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It comes as some kind of eco-irony that when Starbucks put out an open brief to “reduce the number of non-recyclable cups that are thrown away every year by creating a more convenient alternative to the reusable coffee cup”, that the winning result is not actually a cup at all, but (essentially) a blackboard. The Karma Cup has arrived.

What is actually most impressive about it is that the designers have considered what most would neglect, and approached the problem from the point of the view of the user, rather than Starbucks’ sole approach of looking to reduce waste. Fortunately by encouraging the user to change their behaviour this solution offers both and will (probably) successfully achieve the latter too.

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