Over the past decade, over 1,000 artists and 60,000 visitors have taken part in this incredible seasonal arts event, coming together to create an annual temporary community-on-ice in one of the nation’s coldest states.

Known as the “Land of 10,000 Lakes” but also as a center for the arts, Minnesota seems the perfect place for the Art Shanty Projects – a temporary autonomous zone where two disparate concepts to come together: the tradition of ice shacks built for fishing and the idea of public, interactive, community-built art on those same iced surfaces.

Comparisons have been made to Burning Man, but those sell short the unique local nature of this undertaking. One thing they do share, however, is a harsh (if opposite) environmental context that makes serious demands on buildings and shapes their form and function. The resulting structures are a mixture of wooden stick-framed shacks, metal geodesic domes, triangular tipis and other proven engineering approaches mixed with creative touches and unusual applications.

In years past, first on Medicine Lake and later White Bear Lake, the spaces these shape have featured a little bit of everything, from interactive games and dance floors to indoor and outdoor theatrical and musical performances. Sometimes a wild art car or two can be spotted patrolling the streets of the the shanty village as well and strange sculptures have been known to crop up in between buildings as well. While some things are scheduled, visitors learn to expect the unexpected.

This winter, the Art Shanty Projects is taking a break from the On-Ice Program to celebrate 10 years of success and complete a pivotal transition into an official non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. However, the organization is hosting a fundraising retrospective featuring some of the best shanties of years past as well as a custom-brewed beer specifically created for the event, taking place on February 28th at the Fulton Brewery in Minneapolis (more details can be found on ArtShantyProjects.org). Anyone wishing to donate to next year’s program can also do so online at Give.MN. This year, ASP is also a finalist for an Art Place America grant and is competing for a Black Rock Arts Foundation grant.

More about ASP: “Art Shanty Projects is an artist driven temporary community exploring the ways in which relatively unregulated public spaces can be used as new and challenging artistic environments to expand notions of what art can be. Our organization values artists, art in all communities, and the importance of interaction between the two. Through an array of artists receiving fair wages for their work, we broaden perceptions of art while maintaining respect for the environment and communities in which we work.” Note: the writer of this article serves as on the Board of Directors for the Art Shanty Projects, an unpaid position.

Geeks may rule the internet, but do they rule the world? To take a look at some modern graffiti, one might think so. Plenty of street art has begun to take on a tech-inspired flavor, whether it’s graffiti that references geek culture or some new kind of gadget that makes tagging easier. These prime examples of geeky graffiti might make you think that geeks spend much more time outside than previously believed.

Techy Take-Over

(images via: rebel:art and Wooster Collective)

What would happen if the familiar computer-based images we see every day actually made their way into real life? Would we see broken image links where billboards and signs used to be? Would we get rid of unwanted objects in a hilariously pixellated trash can?

(image via: Questionmarc)

With the ubiquitous status updates hitting us from all angles at all times of the day, it was only a matter of time before they started spilling over into meatspace. This Twitter update lasted a month on its wall, according to its creator: Nottingham, UK artist Questionmarc.

(images via: Skunkadelic)

In Berlin, graffiti has taken on some mighty interesting shapes. On the left, some operation is taking longer than expected and the dreaded 8-bit “wait” icon is prompting viewers to be patient while the world works on whatever is going to happen next. On the right, passers-by are tempted to zoom in on a wall containing a rather mundane sign (“keep exit clear night and day”).

Inside Jokes

(images via: Filippo Minelli and Luca Vanzella)

Geeks are famous (and somewhat disliked) for their love of inside jokes. They taunt the technology-illiterate with their hilarious (?) jokes told in dead programming languages, then wonder why no one invites them to the good parties. While these geek graffiti pieces do require some tech knowledge, they aren’t so obscure that “normal” people will simply roll their eyes and walk off. Far above, a huge “CTRL + ALT + DELETE” on the West Bank wall in Palestine is more a social commentary than a straight act of geek defiance. Above, a geeky little poem decorates a building in Brussels…but loses a bit of its meaning when translated here into digital form.

(images via: ideacat and cjbj)

These pieces are graffiti that only a geek could love. Far above, “amor” (“love” in Spanish) is spelled out in binary. Is it a hidden courtship message from one robot to another? Or just a supremely geeky bit of public decoration in Barcelona? Just above, a bit of Silicon Valley graffiti reveals just how nerdy the population there is. On the Oracle campus, this line of code adorns a curb and makes Oracle developers shudder…not because it is scary, but because they have hammered out those characters on their keyboards countless times.

Nerdy Retail Intervention

(images via: rebel:art)

Many geeks and nerds have a long-standing contempt for all things Windows. They also have access to design software and high-quality printers, so this type of intervention shouldn’t come as a surprise, really. These particular stickers are sold by the Evil Mad Science shop and can be slapped onto any product that has undergone an “update” that proved to be anything but helpful…though we would never actually condone retail vandalism, of course.

High-Tech Graffiti

(images via: Dornob)

Tagging with cans of spray paint certainly has an old-school satisfaction to it, but if you want to get really futuristic about your street art you’ll find a high-tech way to paint the city. The above pieces were created with a portable robotic mural machine. It lobs paintballs at walls at over 100 miles per hour in pre-programmed patterns. When the balls hit the wall, they explode and create surprisingly sophisticated pictures.

(image via: Gajitz)

Using a deceptively simple-looking hand-held device, the SMSlingshot “shoots” user-generated text messages at walls and splatters them there like splotches of paint. The system is more complicated (and geeky) than it looks, involving lasers and projectors and all sorts of fun-looking gadgets.

(image via: Karolina Sobecka)

This running tiger is definitely one of the most amazing forms of temporary graffiti you’ll ever see. The image of the tiger is projected onto buildings from a moving car. The animal’s movements correspond to the car’s speed, giving it a shockingly realistic look as it races through streets and alleyways, mystifying onlookers.

As of 2008, New York City was estimated to have a population of around 8.3 million people. It happens to be the most populous city in the entire United States. So just how long would it take to draw a picture of every single person in New York? Artist Jason Polan is on a mission to find out by creating two-minute sketches of every last person in the city.

Everywhere he goes, the people around Jason Polan are subject to being sketched. From the train to the museum to a fast food joint over lunch, he’s observing and recording the masses of humans all around him. And if you live in New York, the chances are good that he’s already sketched you – or will at some point. He posts his sketches on his blog, Every Person in New York, whenever he has a fresh batch to share.

He’s caught celebrities walking around, but most of Polan’s sketches depict random, ordinary people going about their random, ordinary business. There are mothers changing diapers in the middle of restaurants, kids playing, pedestrians window shopping, and lots of people hustling through train stations. Some of his subjects are aware of his presence (particularly those he knows personally) but most are oblivious, simply going about their normal daily activities.

One of the most lovely aspects of Polan’s sketches is the feeling of movement they embody. Even with a stationary subject, the simple lines and lack of color denote a shortness of time on the artist’s part. Some sketches are more detailed than others, suggesting that Polan had more than a few minutes to watch the subject. And some are little more than squiggles, just a few lines here and there to imply a face or a body walking by.

The artist prefers to stay quiet about his activities, not calling attention to himself when he’s sketching a subject. But he may, if invited, swing by a pre-determined place for a period of two minutes to do a sketch on request. He makes no promises that he’ll be able to meet every request for a sketch…but if you email him the details of your whereabouts and he happens to slink by at the appropriate time, there’s a good chance that your face will be the next posted on Every Person in New York.

Most music lovers can agree that music doesn’t always follow the rules. Some of the most beautiful melodies have come from artists who chose to do their own thing despite conventional wisdom. The same is true for artists who create new instruments. Where would modern music be without the “crazy” instruments and techniques invented and modified over the years? These instruments are among the most innovative, the most creative, and the most bizarre out there.

Uberorgan

(images via: Oddmusic)

When Los Angeles artist Tim Hawkinson toured around the country with a massive indoor sculpture, he caused big reactions from just about everyone who saw it. Many of them wondered just what it was, and they can be forgiven for not understanding immediately. After all, the 300-foot long sculpture was comprised largely of 13 bus-sized inflated bags and was simultaneously organic and alien. But when it started playing, it was obvious: the Uberorgan was a massive musical instrument. The entire assembly looked like massive ethereal jellyfish suspended in mid-air, but operated like the giant lovechild of a bagpipe and a pipe organ. A visual sensor “read” notes from a scrolling 200-foot-long roll of Mylar to entertain viewers with a score he composed just for the Uberorgan.

The Great Stalacpipe Organ

(images via: Oddmusic)

The world’s largest instrument resides in a cave in Virginia, and the music it produces is both earthy and otherworldly. The Great Stalacpipe Organ was created in 1954 after Pentagon scientist Leland W. Sprinkle noticed that the stalactites in Luray Caverns produced resonating notes upon being struck. He spent three years tuning stalactites to precise pitches – with sandpaper. He then wired rubber mallets to strike the stalactites when corresponding keys are depressed on the organ’s keyboard. The organ still plays today for visitors to Luray Caverns.

The Nano Guitar

(image via: Cornell)

If you thought playing a ukulele was hard, try plucking this tiny guitar. It’s a six-string guitar made of crystalline silicon, and it’s no bigger than a single cell. Each string is 50 nanometers wide: the width of 100 atoms. Researchers at Cornell University created it in 1997 to showcase emerging technology for manufacturing a new generation of electronics. Though it can technically be played (if you happen to have access to an atomic force microscope), the 10 micrometer-long instrument would only resonate at inaudible frequencies.

Croatia’s Sea Organ

(images via: Oddmusic)

Visitors to the sea front in Zadar, Croatia used to be greeted by grim, ugly concrete walls. But since the public unveiling of the Sea Organ in 2005, visitors have been able to visit the sea front to enjoy the music of nature. The Sea Organ is a musical instrument that consists of 35 musical tubes with openings on the above concrete stairs. Movement of the sea’s waves pushes air through the openings, creating incredible chords and dissonant tunes. Similar instruments exist in San Francisco and Blackpool, but Zadar’s version can be heard more consistently and has done wonders for the tourist trade in the area.

The Viennese Vegetable Orchestra

(images via: Vienna Vegetable Orchestra)

Thought to be the only orchestra in the world using nothing more than vegetable instruments to make music, the Vienna Vegetable Orchestra has been performing around the world since its formation in 1998. Its members carve, cut and tweak fresh produce to create a multisensory musical experience. Their instruments are made fresh right before every performance, and after they wow audiences with their musical prowess their staff cook makes a delicious vegetable soup from some of the vegetables – hopefully not the parts the musicians have been blowing into. Just don’t ask the orchestra members if they’re all vegetarians; they’re tired of hearing that question over and over.

“It would be so nice if something made sense for a change,” exclaimed Alice. While his work may seem as amazing and fantastical as something straight out of Alice’s Wonderland, Brad Downey‘s creative street artwork does have a rhyme and reason beneath the madness. Downey is a New York street artist with a twist: his bizarre contributions to the urban art of public spaces could, if only for a moment, be confused with traditional street furniture.

Downey’s work often conveys characteristics of animation and life to inanimate objects and in many cases encourages interactivity. While not always legal, his street art does cause him less trouble with the law than that of other urban artists. Also, by cladding himself in the apparel of a typical city street worker he manages to pass himself off as virtually invisible while installing most of his projects.

Being raised in an always-traveling military family has informed Downey’s complex perspectives on the urban environments around him. His later studies at the Pratt Art Institute helped him hone his vision into a variety of media, sculpture more than most but film and painting as well. With his experience, praise and awards, Downey can be expected to keep transforming city street furniture around the world to realize his visions of Wonderland, one art object at a time.