Fun With Art (11 Photos)

These artists found new possibilities in pipes, straw, pebbles, crosswalks, walls, and discarded tires.

A New York vent becomes a bright red telephone. Rice straw becomes a giant goat in Niigata, Mekong pebbles become a portrait in Thailand, and Darth Vader goes fishing beneath an Amsterdam bridge. These eleven works show what happens when artists make their surroundings part of the idea.

More: See 15 Clever Artworks Built Around Their Surroundings

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☎️ “Call Me” — By Tom Bob in New York City, USA 🇺🇸

Documented as “Call Me” in New York City, the work turns a fixed pipe and its concrete housing into a full-scale telephone. Tom Bob completes the transformation with a painted keypad, handset, and curling cord.

More: See 33 Clever Street Interventions by Tom Bob

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🐐 “Goat” — Wara Art Festival 2018 in Niigata, Japan 🇯🇵

The Japan Cultural Expo identifies this horned sculpture as “Goat” and dates it to 2018. It was displayed at Uwasekigata Park. The wider Wara Art project began in 2006 as a collaboration between Musashino Art University and local residents.

More: Inside the Wara Art Festival (12 Sculptures)

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🪨 “LaLisa” — By Justin Bateman in Thailand 🇹🇭

Bateman’s original post identifies this 2022 portrait as “LaLisa” and says it was made with pebbles from the Mekong River in Thailand. The natural colors and careful placement of the stones supply every line, shadow, and highlight.

💡 Nerd Fact: The portrait’s subject is BLACKPINK member Lisa. Her debut solo single “LALISA” was released in 2021, and Guinness World Records recorded 73.6 million views for its music video in the first 24 hours—at the time, a record for a solo artist’s new music-video release.

More: Explore Justin Bateman’s Pebble Portraits (12 Photos)

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🌈 Rainbow Spray — By Be Free in Melbourne, Australia 🇦🇺

This untitled intervention appears in Street Art Utopia’s 2014 Be Free artist collection. A small stencil figure holds the spray can while a broad painted rainbow runs across the bricks; the photograph is credited to Andrew Haysom, who publishes as ajhaysom.

More: See More Street Art by Be Free in Melbourne

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🎼 Crosswalk Recorder — By SAO in São Paulo, Brazil 🇧🇷

SAO used an existing crossing stripe as the body of a giant recorder and a circular drain cover as its finger holes. The São Paulo intervention is documented in Street Art Utopia’s 2014 collection of the artist’s work.

More: See More Street Art by SAO in São Paulo

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🦋 “Mr. Manly” — By Naomi Haverland in South Salt Lake, Utah, USA 🇺🇸

The official Mural Fest listing places “Mr. Manly” at 2890 South Main Street, on the south side of Element Ring Co. Haverland told the South Salt Lake Journal that she imagined a male counterpart to a Disney princess: a burly man charming nature, with flowers and a butterfly providing the contrast.

More: See Naomi Haverland’s 3D Murals

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🎣 “Darth Fisher” — By Frankey in Amsterdam, the Netherlands 🇳🇱

The Amsterdam Light Festival archive lists “Darth Fisher” as an Edition 10 work by Streetart Frankey. At De Torontobrug over the Amstel, Darth Vader holds a glowing red fishing rod beneath the bridge, echoing the anglers who fish Amsterdam’s canals for pike and bass.

More: See All 6 Photos of “Darth Fisher”

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🐢 3D Painted Turtle — By Hebs Art in Akumal, Mexico 🇲🇽

Hebs Art extended this sea turtle across two walls and the pavement in Akumal. Its painted shadow follows the corner beneath the animal, making the turtle appear to float in front of the orange building.

💡 Nerd Fact: Akumal means “place of the turtles” in the Maya language; green turtles are among the marine species recorded in its bay.

More: Explore 6 Murals by Hebs Art

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😜 “Emoji Dispenser” — By Leon Keer in Fayetteville, Arkansas, USA 🇺🇸

Leon Keer’s own project page gives the title as “Emoji Dispenser” and places the anamorphic mural at the Fayetteville Town Center parking deck at Rock Street and East Avenue. The City of Fayetteville describes the machine as a reflection on emotions becoming commodities; stacked painted boxes extend the illusion around the corner.

💡 Nerd Fact: “Emoji” is not derived from “emotion.” MoMA traces the word to the Japanese e (“picture”) and moji (“character”). Shigetaka Kurita’s original 176-symbol set was released by NTT DOCOMO in 1999 and designed on a 12 × 12-pixel grid.

More: 8 Times Artists Made the Surroundings Part of the Idea

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🦉 Owl and Poppy — By CAL in Lyon, France 🇫🇷

CAL placed the tiny owl inside an existing break in the wall and left the real red poppy beside it to complete the scene. The work belongs to the artist’s series of small interventions around Lyon.

More: See CAL’s Small Street Interventions in Lyon (4 Photos)

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🐘 “Elephant” — By Villu Jaanisoo in Jyväskylä, Finland 🇫🇮

Jaanisoo’s official listing gives the title as “Elephant” (2018). The 360 × 420 × 250 cm work is made from steel and recycled tires. The Kangas public-art guide places it at the intersection of Rusokinkatu and the cycling route in Jyväskylä.

💡 Nerd Fact: “Elephant” forms part of Kangas’s “Percent for Culture” model. About 1% of the profit from plot sales, development charges, and building costs is allocated to permanent and temporary art and cultural events in the district.

More: See More Photos of Jaanisoo’s Tire Elephant

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Which one is your favorite?