Constantin Boym and Laurene Leon Boym, designers in London, have taken everyday, mundane objects and cast them in a polymer that looks like bronze, focusing attention on the forms of ordinary objects and elevating them to a heroic, artistic status, forcing us to reevaluate the design that we encounter everyday in jugs, bottles, plates, and lamps, to name a few. "'Constantin and Laurene use design as a forum for exploring contemporary culture,' said Zoë Ryan, design curator at the Art Institute of Chicago. 'Their singular approach illustrates the notion that design is not only about industry or formal and functional considerations, but also about ideas.'" Join discussion...

Marko Kulju, a 26-year-old Finnish tourist, knocked an ear off of one of Easter Island, a territory of Chile's, famous and iconic moai statues. He was climbing on the statue (directly disobeying both a prohibitive sign and common sense). The vandal was fined $6,000, with $17,000 for damages, and is now banned from Easter Island for three years. He narrowly escaped a five-year prison sentence supported by the Chilean government. It will be very difficult and expensive to repair. Join discussion...

Many countries want to collect artifacts experts agree was initally made in the country, clearly for cultural reasons. For this reason, the Italian Culture Ministry is seeking to recover Italian artifacts from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The U.S. museum has agreed to return 13 ancient Italian artifacts as well as an Italian Renaissance cross to their original country. However, the Cleveland Museum is not giving up all of the artifacts without a fight. Having purchased many of the artifacts from other international museums that were not always sure of the previous ownership, there is some question as to whether all of the pieces were initially from Italy. For instance, there is a statue of Apollo killing a lizard (made out of Bronze), that many believe to be of Greek descent. Such valuable artifacts as this, the Cleveland museum is reluctant to return without confirmation of its origin. The Greek government claims the statue was discovered in the water and is of Italian descent, but the statue is now being examined by experts to see if they can deduce the culture from which the statue came. However, the Italian Cultural Ministry says they hope to continue the "cultural exchange" of valuable artifacts, if lending them only for a short while. The Cleveland Museum has been given three months to send the artifacts to Italy. Only soon will we know if some of the more controversial artifacts are indeed from Italy. Join discussion...

People have begun to donate their bodies to an art program, where artist Angela Whalley, a certified physician, removes the skin of human bodies and preserves their muscles. This not only shows people what the inside of their body looks like, but also educates them about certain systems within their bodies. Over 8,700 people have signed up for this opportunity. The average age of donors is 54 years old, but there are also several fetuses and embryos that are around twenty weeks old. Doctors remove all of the fat and water from the muscles before putting rubber silicone in its place, thus freezing the muscles. It takes approximately a year to complete one body, and over 1,500 of labor (per body!). This is a traveling exhibit, and is also extremely popular. Over 25 million people have already come to see this unusual exhibit, and many more are expected to visit it in the future. Join discussion...

In Britain, there are many statues in public parks. They have been criticized to be revolting and ugly by art critics as well as others. People from magazines said that the statues are infesting public areas and are causing a problem. The critics have also been criticized for criticizing, though. A spokesman of a union which had a statue built for memory of the construction workers said that the art critics should focus more on what the art stands for. Join discussion...