Of all the people in the world

A new show that uses grains of rice to represent the 6.7 billion of us on the planet has been touring where the rice has been used to replicate a whole range of statistics from the population of the USA (1st image shown above) to the number of people who have walked on the moon (2nd image shown above). People are invited to compare the one grain that is you to the millions that are not. The statistics can be shocking, witty, moving and really thought provoking. 

The show adapts to its setting: the country, city and building it is in. The amount of rice used varies according to which version is performed, Of All The People In All The World: UK is a standard small version using 1,000Kg of rice to represent 60,000,000 people. Of All The People In All The World: Europe at 12,000Kg is an example of a medium size version. So far there has been a single presentation of Of All The People In All The World in which the whole world's population was represented by 104 tons of rice in Stuttgart. See more images at Flickr.

Tunnel Grafitti

A disused road tunnel in south London has been turned into a giant exhibition space by graffiti artist Banksy. It is not a location that has been listed among London’s main cultural attractions. In fact, it compares unfavourably with other dank tunnels in the capital, however the exhibition, entitled The Cans Festival, aims to "transform a dark forgotten filth pit" into "an oasis of beautiful art". Banksy himself has contributed depictions of a self-harming hoody, the Buddha wearing a neck-brace, a council worker spraying over some ancient cave paintings and a sculpture of a tree sprouting CCTV cameras. People can even add their own stencil work to the tunnel walls!

It is the first exhibition staged in Britain by Banksy since Crude Oils in 2005, when he filled a shop in Westbourne Grove, London, with 164 live rats and vandalised pastiches of works including Van Gogh’s Sunflowers, Edward Hopper’s Nighthawks and Jack Vettriano’s Singing Butler!

Cloth the homeless

Next summer, artist Adrian Kondratowicz, with Miuccia Prada's patronage, will cloth the homeless with green ready-to-wear, thus “beautifying urban parks and calling attention to human waste"!

TRASH: anycolouryoulike

Anycolouryoulike is a vivd citywide art intervention that will travel New York City streets in the summer of 2008. The project will consist of select city blocks in which standard piles of trash are replaced with new artist-created bags. Adrian, a contemporary artist living and working between Berlin and NYC, will transform neighbourhoods through the participation of local business owners and residents seeking to beautify the city and will continually document public interactions with TRASH throughout each community. 

Each Art Related Product TRASH bag is 100% biodegradable and naturally scented to repel insects and vermin! See more at anycoloryoulike.biz