Casablanca piano sold at auction

The piano is played by pianist Sam in one of the film's iconic scenes

A piano that features in the classic 1940s film Casablanca has been sold for more than $600,000 (£370,000) at an auction in New York.

The upright piano appears in one of the film's most iconic scenes, in which Humphrey Bogart's character Rick utters the line: "Here's looking at you, kid."

It was sold to an unknown buyer at Sotheby's in New York.

The piano had been offered for sale by its Japanese collector owner to mark the film's 70th anniversary.

It was expected to sell for as much as $1.2m, The owner originally paid about $154,000 for the piano at auction in the late 1980s.

It is used in the film by pianist Sam, played by Dooley Wilson, to play the song As Time Goes By during a key flashback scene set in a Paris bar.

Rick Blaine, played by Humphrey Bogart, delivers the famous line as he and Ingrid Bergman's character Ilsa Lund lean on the piano, toasting with glasses of champagne.

The piano's sale marks the 70th anniversary of the Oscar-winning World War II classic, which is largely set in the Moroccan port city of Casablanca, then part of unoccupied French North Africa.

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/

Chainsaw Animal Carvings

by Rebecca

 

And this was the finished product. Pretty cool stuff, huh!

Checked out his website and it looks like he’s been doing this stuff since the ’80′s.

http://www.animaltalk.us/chainsaw-animal-carvings/

The boy

Simon Beck’s Snow Art

 

Every winter’s day Simon Beck puts on his snowshoes and goes for a walk on the frozen lakes of Savoie, France. After 5-9 hours of wandering through on the snow, his footprints form clear geometrical shaped patterns as large as 3 football fields.The most interesting thing about those patterns is that they start to look 3D-ish from the bird’s eye view. Simon started his snow artist’s career after he injured both legs while he was free riding. The only painless physical exercise he was able to do was slow walks on the clear snow. Creating patterns brought sense to his long and boring everyday walks. After that Simon started to take photos of his masterpieces, that made him famous on the interweb.

 

http://www.yousaytoo.com/

 

 

 

Here Now, Frank Gehry's Mindbending Plans for Toronto

 by Amy Schellenbaum

  

Rendering via Dezeen

Frank Gehry has just released some pretty overwhelming-looking plans for an enormous new entertainment district in Toronto, the architect's hometown. Planned are three 80 to 85-story residential towers—each with a "complementary but distinctive design," per the release—a new facility for the Ontario College of Art and Design, and a 60,000-square-foot gallery for abstract art. For what would be his largest urban undertaking to date, Gehry has teamed with David Mirvish, a theater producer and philanthropist who seems very invested in sweeping his name over the cultural corridor: there are six properties owned by the Mirvishes already in the area, and that giant art gallery is intended to display his own collection. While Toronto has yet to approve this cosmopolitan megaplex, Gehry and Mirvish hope to build it in three stages over a decade, according to Architizer. And if these renderings look more like the usual "iconoclastic, swoopy structures that look like bashed-in sardine cans" than anything that belongs in, say, Toronto, don't worry: "With this project, I wanted to create buildings that were good neighbours to the surrounding buildings and that respected the rich and diverse history of the area," said Gehry in a statement.

 

Rendering via Dezeen

 

http://curbed.com/

 

Rob Mulholland

http://www.robmulholland.co.uk/

Golan Levin makes art that looks back at you

http://www.beautifullife.info/art-works/coin-sculptures-by-stacey-lee-webber/

Coin Sculptures by Stacey Lee Webber

This time we want to show you very interesting metal sculptures and jewelry. Philadelphia based artist Stacey Lee Webber creates these unique metal sculptures, creative jewelry and everyday objects from coins. “Webber’s sculptures embody a refined aesthetic and challenge the conventional possibilities of everyday materials. Through her investigations, Webber’ celebrates working class families which make up the heart of American culture.” Have fun!

 

 

http://www.beautifullife.info