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Visual Arts

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S-O-F-T Double E, Mister Softee

A one-man band of an adman recorded an infectious three-minute earworm that will disrupt your sanity this summer

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Meet Food “Information Artist” Douglas Gayeton

The images convey invisible or purposely obfuscated ideas related to food, explained by the experts themselves

Nouveau Pac Man Cuisine

Food and Video Games

Video games may be the art medium of the 21st century, but they’re also an advertising medium. Here are five notable games that promoted foods

In Mass Effect 2, human colonies in space mysteriously vanish.

The Art of Video Games

For decades, video games have enthralled and inspired, and now they are the subject of a new exhibit that views them as serious works of art

Blueberry endocarp

Fruits and Vegetables Like You’ve Never Seen Them Before

Microscopy artist Robert Rock Belliveau says, “I couldn’t believe the things I found on the things we eat every day”

Bedtime Reading From Beatrix Potter: Amateur Mycologist

Would Flopsy, Mopsy and Peter Cottontail have been conceived had it not been for the biases of Victorian era science?

The Curious Case of a Gigantic Sham Clam

Geoducks are a staple of Chinese New Year. But did one grow to the size of a wheelbarrow?

terra cibus no. 4: fortune cookie

A Closer Look at What You Eat

A photographer uses a scanning electron microscope to zoom in on everyday foods—and makes art

Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

How to Plan a Party Based on Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party

I’m putting on my event planner hat to offer up the following ideas for a party inspired by an Impressionist painting

In 2007, cartoonist Kate Beaton, pictured on the right in a self-portrait, launched her webcomic "Hark! A Vagrant," which features spoofs on historical and literary characters.

Finding the Humor in History

The irreverent take on the giants of literature, science and politics could only have come from the brain of cartoonist Kate Beaton

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Q and A with Cake Wrecks Blogger Jen Yates

“I’m not out to vilify bakers; I’m just trying to find a little funny in unexpected places”

Consider food—and food-themed gifts—this holiday season.

Last Minute Food-Themed Gift Ideas

Food, jewelry, toys and books for those hard-to-shop-for people on your gift list

Gingerbread men

The Gingerbread Man and Other Runaway Foods

The tale of the gingerbread man is part of a genre of folklore about goodies gone wild, specifically “The Fleeing Pancake” stories

Pumpkin pies

Thanksgiving in Literature

Holiday readings from Louisa May Alcott, Mark Twain, Philip Roth and contemporary novels that use Thanksgiving as the backdrop for family dysfunction

Luncheon of the Boating Party (1881) by Pierre-Auguste Renoir

Where’s the Lunch? Looking at Renoir’s Luncheon of the Boating Party

“It’s like a painting about the most perfect meal that ever was—but you can’t tell what most of it was,” says a Phillips Collection curator

The boulder artist Michael Heizer chose for his installation weighs 340 tons and is as tall as a two-story house.

How to Install a 340-ton Work of Art

Michael Heizer waited decades to find the perfect rock for his Levitated Mass, and now he awaits its slow journey from the quarry to an L.A. art museum

Yves Klein produced controversial and boundary-breaking single-color paintings, elemental canvases of fire, water and air, and even galleries emptied of all artworks.

Simple Pleasures

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Ten Horror Movie Food Scenes That Will Make You Shudder

Movie directors know that the quickest way to the audience’s gag reflex is through its stomach

Colonel Sanders, a great Halloween costume idea

Stuck for a Halloween Costume Idea? Think Food

Paula Deen, Colonel Sanders, the Swedish Chef—the food world is rife with costume potential

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