| "Dot-Com" News - Pothole artists set sights on UK | ||||
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A pair of designers are itching to brighten up some of Britain's two million potholes - by turning them into artworks. For urban artists David Luciano and Claudia Ficca the nation's potholes offer the perfect backdrop for a series of wacky pictures. And the pair, from Montreal in Canada, say they would love nothing better than to bring their unusual art to the UK. So far, they have used their imagination to transform potholes in cities across Canada and America. For their eye-catching pictures they have utilised pockmarked roads for everything from washing, fishing, and even conducting a baptism. Mr Luciano, 31, explains: "It came to me after our car hit a giant pothole and it cost us hundreds of dollars to repair the damage. "The hole we drove into was so deep that we imagined a woman using it to wash her clothes. "Soon we realised that there were a whole load of scenarios and began our looking at them in a different way. "We have had hundreds of e-mails from people in Britain who have told us about their potholes - we would love to shoot over there. "It would be inspiring to see the people and the culture and find innovative ways of using the holes in the road - and you have plenty." Extreme trader looks after the pennies A Brighton gardener who wanted to see what he could swap for 1p has just traded for a portrait of ex-HBOS chief Andy Hornby - made out of pennies. Luke Seall, 27, started 2011 by deciding to see what he could end the year with if he began it with a single penny and a wish to trade. He used the penny to buy two goldfish from a friend. He then traded them for an old guitar, which was swapped for a mountain bike which he sold for £50 which he used to buy a 10 square-metre area of land in Bulgaria. The land was swapped for a 'custom-made steel object', which Mr Seall swapped for a week's yurt holiday in France, which he traded for the portrait. His project is the latest example of what might be dubbed extreme bartering, to harness the power of the craigslist website to turn something small into something bigger. "I was keen to trade some art and typed 'penny artist' into a search engine," said Mr Seall. "That brought up a website for an artist called Adrian Firth, who has made a whole series of portraits using 1p coins. "It's ironic that Project 1p has so far traded up from one penny, to a portrait made with thousands of pennies, of a man who lost... well, a lot more pennies!" In fact, the portrait of Hornby is made of 2,500 pennies. So, Mr Seall has already increased his investment by at least 2,499 pennies. However, a similar 'penny portrait' of former Royal Bank of Scotland boss, Sir Fred Goodwin, created by the same artist, fetched £2,999 at an auction in 2008. "I'm willing to consider offers of cash or any other items," he says. "I should point out that any offers made by Andy Hornby himself will be given priority. It would be lovely to hear from him." Fontwell welcomes Royal Wedding The owners of a racehorse called Royal Wedding have chosen a rather appropriate fixture to run their pride and joy - the Royal Wedding Race Night at Fontwell Park on Friday 29 April. The nine-year-old, trained by Nick Gifford, will be aiming to record his second victory at the West Sussex racecourse. Royal Wedding will line up in the Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer Handicap Chase off at 5.30pm on William and Kate's big day. The owners of a racehorse called Royal Wedding have chosen a rather appropriate fixture to run their pride and joy - the Royal Wedding Race Night at Fontwell Park on Friday 29 April. The nine-year-old, trained by Nick Gifford, will be aiming to record his second victory at the West Sussex racecourse. Royal Wedding will line up in the Crabbies Alcoholic Ginger Beer Handicap Chase off at 5.30pm on William and Kate's big day. The gelding has proved to be a grand servant for his owners over the years with victories on the flat, over hurdles and over fences. He has earned £27,000 in prize-money from his 39 runs. Fontwell Park's General Manager Phil Bell said: "We are delighted the owners have decided to run the horse on our Royal Wedding Race Night. It will provide national publicity for both Fontwell Park and horse racing in general. We hope Royal Wedding can register a very topical victory at the track." The meeting is also raising money for the Lisa Wilson Scholarship Fund, a charity set up by the parents of a 24-year-old woman from Hampshire who died in a car crash in Australia in 2002 (there is further information at www.lisathedaddy.com). The gates open at 3pm and the first race is off at 5.30pm. The gelding has proved to be a grand servant for his owners over the years with victories on the flat, over hurdles and over fences. He has earned £27,000 in prize-money from his 39 runs. Fontwell Park's General Manager Phil Bell said: "We are delighted the owners have decided to run the horse on our Royal Wedding Race Night. It will provide national publicity for both Fontwell Park and horse racing in general. We hope Royal Wedding can register a very topical victory at the track." The meeting is also raising money for the Lisa Wilson Scholarship Fund, a charity set up by the parents of a 24-year-old woman from Hampshire who died in a car crash in Australia in 2002 (there is further information at www.lisathedaddy.com). The gates open at 3pm and the first race is off at 5.30pm. |
| අවසන් යාවත්කාලීන කිරීම ( 2011 අප්රේල් 25 වෙනි සදුදා, 15:45 ) |
