Strange Finds (9 Photos vol. 2)

October 24, 2026

By Vidar

Nine more strange finds, from a salt lake to a desert highway

A forest in Argentina is shaped like a guitar. On a salt lake in Western Australia, thin metal figures stand far apart. Others turn up among the palms in Tulum, on a hill above a Caribbean bay, in a sidewalk crack and beside an empty road in Texas.

More: Strange Finds (8 Photos)

🔩 Steel Lace Figures — By Jean Martin in Saint Barthélemy 🇧🇱

Four figures look out over a Caribbean bay, and the bay shows through them. Each body is built from stainless-steel nuts, in a series the gallery calls Steel Lace. Martin, a French welder turned artist, lives on the island; his gallery describes the figures as made from 20,000 stainless-steel nuts, each welded by hand.

💡 Material Fact: The nuts are the same high-grade stainless steel used to build superyachts, welded together one by one.

More: Statues Made of Stainless-Steel Nuts by Jean Martin

🔗 Follow Jean Martin on Instagram

🎸 The Guitar Forest — Near Laboulaye, Argentina 🇦🇷

From the ground it is a line of trees on a farm in the Pampas near Laboulaye, in Córdoba province. From the air it is a guitar about a kilometer long. Pedro Martín Ureta and his children began planting it in 1979 as a tribute to his late wife, Graciela.

💡 Forest Fact: The guitar is made of about 7,000 cypress and blue eucalyptus trees. Ureta was afraid of flying and never flew over the forest himself.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsLa Guitarra de ÁrbolesPedro Martín Ureta and family · 1979 · General Levalle, CórdobaLiving treesFamily memorial1The planting commemorates Graciela Yraizoz, the creator’s wife.viapais.com.ar2An April 2026 report describes the family maintaining the planting.batimes.com.ar1979Planting began · history recorded by NASA20072 NovTerra satellite image acquired201427 AprNASA publishes Guitar Forest202314 FebVía País profiles the memorial planting202630 MarAFP aerial photograph, reproduced in Buenos Aires Times202616 AprFamily maintenance reportedRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Marco Guoli.

More: The Guitar of Trees

🌿 “Ven a la Luz” (“Come into the Light”) — By Daniel Popper in Tulum, Mexico 🇲🇽

A wooden giant sits among the palms and pulls its own chest open. The gap is a planted passage, and visitors walk straight into it. Popper built Ven a la Luz in 2018 for the Art With Me festival; it is 33 feet tall. It stands at Ahau Tulum, a beachfront hotel on the Tulum–Boca Paila road.

💡 Sculpture Fact: Ven a la Luz was the first of three Popper giants built around the same open-chest pose. A later one, Thrive, was unveiled in 2020 at the Society Las Olas residential building in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsVen a la LuzDaniel Popper · 2018 · Tulum201833 feet1According to the artist, the work was created for Art With Me in 2018.danielpopper.com2Ahau dates its permanent relocation to October 2021.ahautulum.com2018Created for Art With Me · artist project record202113 SepClosure and relocation plans reported2021OctPermanent relocation dated by Ahau20219 NovReopening inside Ahau reported20258 JulGuide documents the sculpture-park locationRead the full file →

More: Daniel Popper Builds Giants You Can Walk Through

🔗 Follow Daniel Popper on Instagram

🎊 The Colorful Tree of Mitla — Museo Ervin Frissell, San Pablo Villa de Mitla, Mexico 🇲🇽

In the courtyard of the Museo Ervin Frissell, a real tree trunk holds up rings of red, blue, yellow, green and purple paper decorations. Seen from below, the tree seems to have grown a festival canopy.

💡 Place-Name Fact: The name Mitla comes from the Nahuatl Mictlan, which Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History translates as “place of the dead”.

More: The Colourful Tree of Mitla

🌱 Upfest 2015 Stencil — By Dr Love in Bristol, England 🇬🇧

A patient in a hospital gown wheels a potted tree on a cart and breathes from it through a mask. The scene is stenciled in black and white; only the tree’s crown is green. Durham University’s Life of Breath exhibition lists it as an Upfest 2015 work by Bacha Khoperia, known as Dr Love, first seen in Bedminster. Khoperia is a Georgian stencil artist whose street work is mostly in Tbilisi.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsUpfest 2015: patient with a treeDr Love (Bacha Khoperia) · 2015 · BristolDr LoveUpfest 20151Life of Breath identifies the work as part of Bristol Upfest 2015.lifeofbreath.webspace.durham.ac.uk2According to Life of Breath, the work invites dialogue about people and their environment.lifeofbreath.webspace.durham.ac.uk201525 JulDaz Smith photographs the work at Upfest201526 JulPete Woodhead photographs the work at Upfest2017Photo reproduced in World Environment Day essay; not a new wall sighting201910 DecWork documented in virtual exhibition; not evidence of survival on the wallRead the full file →

More: By Dr Love at Upfest 2015 in Bristol

🌼 Marigolds in a Sidewalk Crack

Orange and yellow marigolds grow in a long line down the crack between the sidewalk and the curb, and more follow the foot of the wall.

More: Seeds in the Crack of the Sidewalk

🎢 “Tiger & Turtle – Magic Mountain” — By Heike Mutter and Ulrich Genth in Duisburg, Germany 🇩🇪

A rollercoaster stands on top of a hill in Duisburg, but the track is a staircase and there are no cars. Visitors climb its stairs on foot. The sculpture was built on the Heinrich-Hildebrand-Höhe, a former slag heap in the Angerpark, and at night it is outlined by 880 LEDs.

💡 Place Fact: The hill is named after the Duisburg local historian Heinrich Hildebrand, and its fill includes slag from the former MHD Sudamin zinc works. Entry is free and the site is always open.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsTiger & Turtle – Magic MountainHeike Mutter and Ulrich Genth · 2011 · Duisburg880 LEDs20111According to RVR, the official opening was 12 November 2011; the artists date public access to the next day.rvr.ruhr2Duisburg’s tourism page describes 880 LEDs along the sculpture.duisburg.de201112 NovOfficial opening recorded by the regional authority201113 NovOpened to the public · artists’ project record201817 SepAvda photographs the sculpture from the southwestRead the full file →

📷 Photo: Avda / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

🧍 “Inside Australia” — By Antony Gormley at Lake Ballard, Western Australia 🇦🇺

One thin figure stands in shallow water on Lake Ballard, doubled by its reflection. The others are spread far across the lakebed. Gormley installed 51 metal sculptures over about 10 square kilometers in 2003, for the 50th anniversary of the Perth International Arts Festival.

💡 Installation Fact: Each figure is based on a laser scan of a resident of Menzies, the nearest town. The sculptures were meant to come down after the festival, but they stayed: in 2007 Gormley gave the 51 figures to the people of Western Australia as a permanent work.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsInside AustraliaAntony Gormley · Lake Ballard, near Menzies51 figuresGifted to WA in 200751 km west of Menzies1Each figure comes from a laser scan of a Menzies resident, kept at full height but made half as wide.Shire of Menzies2Western Australia announced on 25 October 2007 that Gormley had gifted the work, making it a permanent fixture.Government of Western Australia2003CSIRO field trip photographs a figure (Commons gives 7 Nov 2003; its description says May 2003)2003JanInstallation recorded by the artist200725 OctPermanent gift announced by Western Australia200911 MarTamsin Slater photographs Inside Australia at Lake Ballard201123 AprPhoto of a rust-brown figure on dry white salt crust202127 DecRick Ardon visits the 51 sculptures · The West Australian / Countryman202417 JulFirst-person account published with photographs; visit date unspecified2024DecListed among WA's top public artworks, 51 figures · RAC HorizonsMore photos2003 First yearPhoto: Sarah Dowling, CSIRO / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 3.0)2011 Rusted figurePhoto: cardboardbird / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)Read the full file →

📷 Photo: Tamsin Slater / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0).

👠 “Prada Marfa” — By Elmgreen & Dragset near Valentine, Texas, USA 🇺🇸

A Prada boutique stands alone on a stretch of highway in West Texas, with shoes and bags on display. It is a sculpture, and the door is always locked. The goods inside come from Prada’s fall 2005 collection.

💡 Land Art Fact: Ballroom Marfa calls it a permanent land art project. It opened on October 1, 2005, one mile west of Valentine. Ballroom Marfa commissioned it together with the Art Production Fund.

📂 Artwork File · Sourced factsPrada MarfaElmgreen & Dragset · 2005 · Near Valentine, Texas2005Permanent installation1The door is permanently locked as part of the artwork.ballroommarfa.org2Art Production Fund and Ballroom Marfa co-produced the installation.artproductionfund.org20051 OctInstallation established · Ballroom Marfa record201025 MayFront view photographed by robzand2020James Evans photograph reproduced by Domus202516 SepTwenty-year artist interview publishedRead the full file →