DAVID ADAMS looks at the odder side of life…
• An art gallery was emptied of its works in Tokyo recently, but no there was no mastermind art thief behind the plundering. Would-be robbers had been given permission to take what they could at the ‘Stealable Art Exhibition’ in an experiment which its creator reportedly said was designed to alter the relationship between artists and visitors. Some 200 people packed streets near the Same gallery before it was opened at midnight on 10th July and people poured in to lift the works. But the creators had underestimated the allure and, while the exhibition had been scheduled to run for 10 days, all the works were cleaned out in under 10 minutes. Some items were apparently spotted on auction websites soon after.
• Like music with your ice-cream? Researchers at two Melbourne-based universities – RMIT and Monash – have created two 3D printed, wireless ‘WeScream!’ cones that allow two people to “interact with musical sounds or their preferred playlist which is generated through the act of eating ice cream together”. “Our research found that WeScream! facilitated an enjoyable experience for participants eating together, whilst also increasing their awareness and attention to the taste of the ice cream,” says Professor Florian ‘Floyd’ Mueller, project lead and director of the Exertion Games Lab in Monash University’s Faculty of Information Technology. Team members are hopeful the technology will soon make an appearance in the hospitality industry.
• Thankyou for being a friend. The LA house which was used to depict the exterior of the property at the centre of the 80s and 90s TV show, The Golden Girls, has been listed for sale with an asking price of $US2,999,000. Shots of the home’s exterior – which is based in Brentwood in real life but in Miami, Florida, in the show – were used in the sitcom’s first season in 1985 before a replica was constructed on set for use in later seasons. It is the first time the home has been on the market since it was built in 1955.
