Strange Finds (8 Photos)

By Vidar
Two photographs: Jon Foreman arranges a ribbon of loose stones over rocks on a beach, beside Adventisโ€™s portrait of a woman holding a flower on a building with peeling plaster.

Eight strange finds from the street to the shoreline

A nightclub fits inside a hole in a Sydney wall. In Finland, a crowd of grass-headed figures fills a field. The rest runs from a painted doorstep to a building balanced on an old city wall.


Pale stones arranged in graduated rows form a nearly closed ring on wet sand at Poppit Sands, with the sea behind them.

๐ŸŒŠ โ€œDirectโ€ โ€” By Jon Foreman at Poppit Sands, Wales ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

Smooth stones form a nearly closed ring across the wet sand at Poppit Sands. Their size changes along the curve, giving Foremanโ€™s โ€œDirectโ€ a sense of movement without anything actually moving.

More: Explore more land art by Jon Foreman

๐Ÿ”— Follow Jon Foreman on Instagram


A portrait of a woman holding a blue iris covers the weathered front of a building near El Torcal, Spain.

๐Ÿชป Portrait with an Iris โ€” By Adventis near Antequera, Spain ๐Ÿ‡ช๐Ÿ‡ธ

Peeling plaster stays visible through this portrait of a woman holding a blue iris. Adventis uses the worn wall near El Torcal as part of the painting, so the face seems to belong to the buildingโ€™s surface.

More: This Art Will Make You Calm

๐Ÿ”— Follow Adventis on Instagram


Jon Foreman kneels behind a straight ribbon of smooth stones aligned across large beach boulders toward the sea at Druidston.

๐Ÿงต โ€œStone Ribbonโ€ โ€” By Jon Foreman at Druidston, Wales ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

A narrow band of smooth stones crosses the gaps and slopes of a much rougher beach. For Stone Ribbon, Foreman lined them up toward the sea, turning scattered boulders into one continuous route.

More: Jon Foreman Uses Nature Like This

๐Ÿ”— Follow Jon Foreman on Instagram


A child looks down at PEJACโ€™s painted WELCOME doormat, made from tiny human figures spreading across an Aberdeen doorstep.

๐Ÿ‘‹ โ€œWELCOMEโ€ โ€” By PEJAC in Aberdeen, Scotland ๐Ÿ‡ฌ๐Ÿ‡ง

In WELCOME, the doormat at this Aberdeen doorway is a crowd of tiny painted figures, and some of them spill out over its edges.

๐Ÿ’ก Project Fact: PEJAC chose a building that houses charities and some of Aberdeenโ€™s most vulnerable residents, which gives the word โ€œwelcomeโ€ a practical setting.

More: See PEJACโ€™s WELCOME up close

๐Ÿ”— Follow PEJAC on Instagram


The timber-framed upper story of the Eschif de Creyssac projects over a narrow stone wall, supported by wooden braces.

๐Ÿชต Eschif de Creyssac โ€” Pรฉrigueux, France ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ท

The timber-framed upper story projects far beyond its narrow stone base, held by a row of wooden braces. This is the Eschif de Creyssac, a real medieval building on Pรฉrigueuxโ€™s old city wall.

๐Ÿ’ก History Fact: Although it is also called the โ€œOld Millโ€ or โ€œChapter Mill,โ€ the Eschif never served as a mill.

More: 6 Real Buildings That Look Impossible


Rows of figures with grass heads and colorful clothes stand in a field beside a forest in Suomussalmi, Finland.

๐ŸŒพ The Silent People โ€” By Reijo Kela in Suomussalmi, Finland ๐Ÿ‡ซ๐Ÿ‡ฎ

A field beside Highway 5 is filled with clothed figures whose heads are clumps of grass. Reijo Kela first created The Silent People for a 1988 performance; the figures have stood at this location since 1994.

๐Ÿ’ก Installation Fact: The figures are repaired and given new outfits twice a year, using donated clothes.

๐Ÿ“ท Photo and cover crop: /kallu / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).


A tall building in Bratislava is painted as a framed still life with flowers, a small bird, and a green geometric backdrop.

๐Ÿ’ Still Life with Flowers and Bird โ€” By Rascals in Bratislava, Slovakia ๐Ÿ‡ธ๐Ÿ‡ฐ

A tall Bratislava facade becomes a framed still life, complete with flowers, a small bird and a green patterned backdrop. Even the frame is painted; the building is the canvas.

More: See more walls bloom with flowers

๐Ÿ”— Follow Rascals on Instagram


A miniature nightclub entrance glows purple and red inside a hole in a stone wall, with a round M sign above it.

๐Ÿชฉ Nightclub โ€” By Michael Pederson in Petersham, Sydney, Australia ๐Ÿ‡ฆ๐Ÿ‡บ

Purple light leaks from a gap in the stonework, with a tiny round sign above the entrance. Pedersonโ€™s miniature nightclub makes a damaged wall look like somewhere you might need to know the password.

More: Take a closer look at Pedersonโ€™s Nightclub

๐Ÿ”— Follow Michael Pederson on Instagram

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Discussion 18 comments

    1. Not tidesโ€”Pรฉrigueux is far inland. The Eschif de Creyssac is a medieval building on the old city wall, and its timber upper story simply overhangs the narrow stone base on wooden braces.

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