From January 21 – 31, 2010, for every purchase a customer makes at a US-based Upper Playground retail location or on the Upper Playground web store, Upper Playground will donate a new t-shirt to Fashion Delivers. To encourage people to be a part of the relief effort, Upper Playground is offering 50% off on all purchases made in US-based Upper Playground retail stores and on the Upper Playground web store.
Many thanks to Word To Mother for his lovely ‘ESP’ header that has run for the past 6 months. Get ready for a new slick-looking banner from another close friend in the next few days….
City Monkey – A great little video on Parkour & Freerunning in China. Imagine how many ex-gymnasts China has! Bored rudeboys sitting around parks and street corners.
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A house in Mexico built with plastic and glass bottles. I don’t know to what point it is stable and solid but this is surely original.
Based on recent estimates there are approximately 30-50 million species on Earth. Among those species were the common birds, dogs, cats and fishes but did you know that there are strange and weird species which you probably haven’t heard of?
Say, have you heard of a Leafy Sea dragon? or do you know how strange the Komondor Dog looks like? or did you even know that the weird-looking Hag Fish is not even considered as a fish by many scientists?
To answer your questions regarding the strange and weird species, here listed below is a compilation of the strangest and weirdest animal species on Earth.
[ By Angie in Abandoned Places, Graffiti & Drawing, History & Factoids, Urban Images. ]
Muhahaha and enter. This place in Warsaw, Poland, was once a fluorescent light factory. The plant was called many things but is known as “Polam” aka “Rosa Luxemburg.” Rosa was born in Poland in 1871, and was a philosopher, activist, and ideologist of the Polish and German worker’s movement. She was shot with a pistol to her temple. Her corpse was thrown into the Berlin Canal Division and not found until 1919. As turbulent as her life was, so too is the history of this abandoned factory.
Abandoned Factory
(image credits:mlociny)
The sign on the right reads, “This building is out of order! You are not allowed to enter because you may DIE!” Welcome to the abandoned Polam Philips factory in Poland. “Polam” manufactured fluorescent lights, mercury lamps and electron tubes. The factory was partially modernized before renovation stopped due to a very high mercury contamination.
Polish Abandoned Chemical Factory Complex
(image credits:mlociny)
Through the trees, you can glimpse the abandoned Polam factory. On the upper right is the front main entrance for this production plant. The bottom photo shows two of the many overgrown back entrances into the building. There is an underground floor, and the building has 10 floors above ground as well as a ladder leading to the roof.
Enter If You Dare
(image credits:mlociny
Like the wildly swinging door, this factory has had many names and many uses in the past. Construction started in 1922 and the plant produced light bulbs, radio tubes, insulated flask bottles, capacitors, resistors, coils, and scales. This was only the beginning for this factory.
Dark Past of Polam Abandoned Factory
(image credits:mlociny,mlociny)
In 1939 – 1944, the Germans took over the Polam factory. The Nazis produced transceiver equipment for submarines, tanks, and aircraft. In 1944, the factory was taken back by insurgents during the Warsaw Uprising, but the Nazis stopped construction, dismantled equipment, and shipped everything to Germany and Austria before burning many of the factory buildings they had occupied.
Entrance to Mercury Rooms
(image credits:mlociny)
The door on the left leads to what was the W-3 Department of Mercury Lamps. Extreme levels of mercury is what shut this factory down. Oddly enough, its closing was right after a substantial dump of money to fix it up and right in the middle of renovations to bring this place back to its glory.
Are There Ghosts Haunting the Halls of This Factory?
(image credits:mlociny)
It is said by some that ghosts roam the halls of this abandoned factory, but no “proof” is readily available. With such tempestuous, war-torn pasts of both Poland and this building, it is unknown how many individuals died here. It is even unknown how many were poisoned by mercury contamination and other chemical spills.
Is There Beauty to be Found in the Decay?
(image credits:mlociny,mlociny)
Is there beauty to be found among the decay? Scattered throughout the factory, old Polam pinups, plans, blueprints, and other documents can be found. The broken elevator on the top right is stuck almost in the middle. Some of the windowed corridors or floors are open, but some have coverings to hide away the light and keep anyone on the outside from looking in. The underground level and first floor are filthy and dirt covered. Rusty electric coils and cables hang among the ruins of this abandoned factory.
Workers Left in a Rush, Abandoning Everything
(image credits:mlociny)
There are items like boots, shoes, and drinking cups, items people used every day, left as if everyone deserted the building in a rush. Peeling paint and graffiti add dashes of color and character to a building complex with an already colorful past. Many of the entrances are overgrown, but you can be sure many curious people still enter this abandoned factory.
Abandoned Remains
(image credits:mlociny)
Above is what is left from an “electric wall.” The chair sits in the same room as chemical spills still staining the concrete floor. The mercury contamination, high enough to close down the place in a hurry, has never been completely cleaned up. Some parts of the Polam building, very few in such a huge factory, were refurbished and are being used.
Was Safety Ever Truly a Big Factor in this Factory?
(image credits:mlociny)
Fire extinguishers can be found in a multitude of photographs, but with the mercury poisoning levels so high in this factory, one might wonder how important safety was ever ranked there. One thing that can be stated with certainty was that this place came to a bad end.
Pools of Mercury Under the Production
(image credits:mlociny)
Fuses boxes, electricity walls, remnants of equipment and paperwork attest to the fact that this was a place where goods were produced. When Philips ran production here for fluorescent lights, this factory employed hundreds of workers. But this place passed ownership and production items throughout the years. Under the floors were “pools” of mercury, which poisoned many workers.
Trashed Interior Looks Like a War-zone
(image credits:mlociny)
Be it kids having vandal-type fun or workers who were ill due to chemical poisoning and later bent on revenge, this building is absolutely trashed in all the previous laboratories. Several layers of falling paint make the corridors and rooms pretty colorful yet still eerie with echoes of a tragic past.
Abandoned Equipment & Company “Secrets”
(image credits:mlociny)
Gauges and switches remain for either trespassers or ghosts to play with. Every level, from the walk-out underground up past the 10th floor to the roof has abandoned equipment, blueprints or other company documents left behind in a hurry.
Chemicals Still Bottled or Broken Remain
(image credits:mlociny,mlociny)
On nearly every floor, remnant containers of chemicals were abandoned when extremely high levels of mercury contamination shut this factory down for good. Besides ammonia and other chemicals, empty beer and hard liquor bottles can be found throughout the building. Like many abandoned places, despite the risk, people come into this one for everything from photographing the place to partying.
Inside Polam’s Abandoned Factory
(image credits:mlociny,mlociny)
Here are more photos of the Polam abandoned factory. The top left storage cabinet was left locked. It is curious what might be inside, considering poisonous chemicals were neither cleaned up nor locked away.
Restrooms Out of Order
(image credits:mlociny)
Most of the restrooms in this building have been ripped apart either by vandals or those looking for free “parts” as if this were a plumbing supply store. Most of the sinks as well as toilets are missing.
Beautiful Glass Wall
(image credits:mlociny)
The glass wall next to the staircase is one of the still beautiful architectural elements left at Polam. With the elevators obviously out of order, the 10 flights of stairs are how curious people must get around inside the abandoned factory.
Abandoned Laboratory
(image credits:mlociny)
This laboratory still has the vent hood, test tubes, glass bottles and other assorted scientific equipment left behind to rot and fall to ruin. There are also rusted vents and a vent room as well as massive storage tanks on the upper levels of the abandoned building.
Ghostly Gauges
(image credits:mlociny)
The indicator or gauge above is only one of dozens, like fuse boxes and rusted cables throughout the building. In 1928, when the plant became Polish Phillips Company SA, one of the various products made there were radio valves. In 1944, the Philips Plant Buildings in Warsaw were burned and destroyed, therefore making this factory a place of trauma early on in its history.
Deserted Terrace, a Balcony Overlooking Warsaw Poland
(image credits:mlocinymlociny)
The terraces on the 6th and 7th floors are not the only place where graffiti thrives and wild birch trees try to grow. Looking out from the abandoned factory over Warsaw Centre, areas are renovated like a previous tram power-plant which is now a museum, Daewoo skyscraper, banks, and flats where people within Warsaw still thrive.
Graffiti Throughout the Building
(image credits:mlociny,mlociny)
These are only samples of the graffiti found inside the abandoned factory, proving that people still come inside to “play.” It is unclear if the holes in the bottom right graffiti stencil are bullet holes. Unlike many of the rejected pieces of equipment, there are no signs of rust as if metal had been yanked from the wall. Whether you consider graffiti to be art or not, there are other clear signs of true vandalism throughout the building.
Get Out While You Still Can
(image credits:mlociny)
We thank the overly curious Urban Expedition in Poland photographers who ignore such posted warnings as “This building is out of order! You are not allowed to enter because you may DIE! ” We thank those who roam abandoned buildings and factories such as Rosa Luxemburg Polam Light Factory Complex to share the decaying and mysterious, eerie interior with those of us who would not otherwise see such sights.
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[ WebUrbanist - By Angie in Abandoned Places, Graffiti & Drawing, History & Factoids, Urban Images. ]
The winner of the Wildlife Photographer of the Year award has been disqualified after judges ruled that the featured wolf was probably a “model”.The 2009 winning image was taken by photographer Jose Luis Rodriguez who strongly denies the claims.
Louise Emerson from the Wildlife Photographer of the Year competition office explained that the judging panel had been “reconvened” and had concluded that it was likely that the wolf featured in the image was an animal model that could be “hired for photographic purposes”.
See our original article HERE
In a fleeting collaboration, Theatre503 has brought together ten artists to transform the theatre space in conjunction with ‘Decade’. The artists’ work, which is created as a response to photo-journalistic imagery of the noughties, will anticipate and participate in its theatrical environment, breathing new life into the ghosts of the decade’s photo morgue. The artists are diverse and dynamic, taking on many forms and media, from graffiti to sound art. The work will live a brief dual life, over five days it will engage with its audience through the performance of ‘Decade’ which will happen in its midst each evening, whilst also having a life beyond the performance – a theatrical event in itself – as the audience explores the art in installation in the theatre space.
The artists are:
Rebecca Foster (fine artist)
Dan Kitchener (street/graffiti/commercial artist)
Greig Burgoyne (site specific wall drawings)
Babel (street/graffiti artist)
Code (Graffiti/Street Artist)
Snub23 (street/graffiti/commercial artist)
FCP – Manchester based collective consisting of:
Ess (Street Artist/Sculptor)
El Zab (Street Artist/Fantasy Artist)
Fya (Street Artist)
Design Curated by Cherry Truluck
The theatre space will be open each day
20th January – 22nd January between 1pm and 5pm
for members of the public to view this incredible installation.
In the evenings, at 7.45pm, the art will play host to Theatre503’s ‘Decade’, a night of ten short plays reflecting on the last ten years.
For more information on ‘Decade’ and to book tickets
visit www.theatre503.com or call 020 7978 7040
Charlie Tuesday Gates buys roadkill off e-bay, picks dead things up off the streets of East London- practicing DIY taxidermy. Making bizarre and surreal sculptures of Uncanny, subconscious ramblings. Dark humor twists the natural with the artificial, internal opposites and peculiar familiarities………
The exhibition is divided in two huge rooms, one devoted to the group show ‘Socle’ and the other side is this solo show, viewed by candlelight and the tinkly tinkle of an old piano.
PRIVATE VIEW TUESDAY 19TH JAN 2010 6-9PM
The show will run for two weeks until Tuesday, 02 February.
1-15 The Old Alsphatic Building | High Street Bow | London
Robert Sample is a young artist with a very contemporary view of the past. He explores, by the use of many traditional figurative methods, a world that has strong visual references to earlier masters and styles, yet is very much rooted in the present. In his forthcoming solo show at Signal Gallery, we will have the chance to see his most recent fine body of work.
The Signal Gallery solo show is called ‘The Removal’. The title is intended to be both ambiguous (implying loss) while also specifically referring to the primary of the sources of inspiration for the show.
8th – 23rd January
Signal Gallery, 96a Curtain Road, Hoxton, London, EC2A 3AA
HELLE MARDAHL “STAGE POWER” OPENING JANUARY 20, 5-10 PM
Circleculture Gallery / Gipsstrasse 11 Berlin-Mitte Germany / open daily until march 6 2010 / tue-sat 2 – 6 pm
With Stage Power, Danish artist Helle Mardahl makes us experience an opulence of material and structure as the technical essence of her art. The exhibition consists of a series of individual works that become a single coherent installation, including paintings, drawings, three- dimensional textile collages, photo-collages, prints, and sculptures. With Stage Power, the artist distances herself from the clichés of fashion while she simultaneously creates her art in the hand-crafted skill of a Haute Couture production.
read more at www.circleculture-gallery.com
Alison Denbow ● Amir Khatib ● Cara Nahaul ● Caroline Bugby ● Charlotte Cranidge ● Claire Wheeler ●Daisy McMullan ● Deborah Nero ● Finn Stone ● Francesco Benenato ● Janet McKay ● Joanna Kay ● James ● Juan Blanco ● Louise Ashcroft ● Liesel Böckl ● Lynn Todd ● Marcha Garnier ● Nazir Tanbouli ● Nurith Lumer-Klabbers ● Rakhee ● Sally Swingewood ● Shoran Jiang ● Sophie Fishel ● Stuart Alexander ● Tamar Lev-on ● Tari June Goerlitz ●
With accompanying London sound-scapes by Aldis aka DJ Error
Private View: Friday 15th January 2010 – 6pm to 11pm
Exhibition runs from: Friday 15th January to Thursday 4th of February 2010
Gallery Opening Hours: Mon – Fri: 11am – 6.30 pm – Sat: 12.30pm – 5pm
Last day of Exhibition: Thurs 4th February: 10.00 am to 5.00 pm
London Vox is an exciting new group show of 30 artists living and working in London. Featuring works in a variety of media held at Red Gate Gallery, the exhibition aims to showcase stimulating art by both emerging and established artists.
Red Gate Gallery
209a Coldharbour Lane,
London. SW9 8RU. UK
Once again, Medicom & Roen are milking the Disney name with their latest re-incarnation; a shoeless Mickey Mouse! Roen is a ‘uber-trendy’ brand created by Hiromu Takahara and he has collabed on many an occasion with toy-makers, Medicom.
They have also released a Clash-inspired Mickey that smashes his guitar like that seminal photograph taken at that seminal concert all those years ago…..
You can see more ‘Alternative Mickey’ Posts:
Scary Mummy Mickey
Riot Police Use Mickey Mouse
Evil Mickey Mouse
Mickey Mouse Used In WW2 Propaganda
Transformers X Mickey
Halloween Transformers Mickey Mouse
Runaway Brain & Jack Skellington Mouse
