1. The Multicolored Murano Glass Christmas Tree (Italy):
Giovanni and Simone Cenedese, motivated by a great passion for their work and for their own city, created this monumental installation for Christmas together with the Architects Studio DDF. This gigantic project stands 24 feet tall and is made with 1,000 multicolored handmade and mouth blown glass tubes.
2. The Swarovski Crystal Color Changing Christmas Tree (Paris):
Housed inside the classic Paris department store Galeries Lafayette, the 70-foot-tall tree is dripping in 120 Swarovski crystals and rests on a chandelier base with 5,000 smaller crystals. The large round crystals actually change colors from white to blue to red to gold.
3. The Porcelain Plates and Mugs Tree (Belgium):
The Taste Tree is a Christmas tree made up of upcycled plates and cups sourced from local families by Inge Vanluyd and Stefan Vanbergen of the creative firm MOOZ. The tree stands 9 meters high and 6 meters in diameter and features around 5,000 items of crockery. The plates and cups were sourced from Hassalt residents who raided their cupboards for odd plates and cups of white porcelain that may or may not include a gold or blue design.
above images courtesy of inhabitat
4. The Heineken Beer Bottle Tree (Shanghai):
Made with 1,000 bottles of Heineken beer, this tree stands in Shanghai's commercial center of Nanjing Road.
images courtesy of Chine Informations
5. The Pac Man Christmas Tree (Spain):
This Pac-Man Christmas Tree can be seen at Nuevos Ministerios in Madrid, Spain. It uses thousands of multicolored LEDs to display an animated tribute to the popular classic 80s arcade video game from Japan.
above photo by Antonio Garcia Rodriguez.
From Pac Man To Porcelain, Five of The Most Spectacular and Unusual Christmas Trees From All Over The World.
Metalmorphosis Moving Water Sculpture by David Černý.
Most recently you may have heard the name of Czech artist David Černý during the London Summer Olympics as he was the artist who created the London Double Decker "push-up" bus, Booster (shown below).
A piece of which I was not a fan, I thought I'd share with you something of his I do like. Metalmorphosis is an imposing kinetic installation of a giant head that spits water. Part sculpture, part fountain and wholly impossible to ignore, the piece is 30 feet tall and weighs 14 tons.
Video:
Metalmorphosis:
Stainless steel, motors, computer driven control centre, water, etc.
Installation on 3700 Arco Corporate Drive, Charlotte, North Carolina
Height: 30 feet
Weight 14 tons
David Černý
The 2012 ArtPrize Winner Adonna Khare And A Close Look At Her Mural.
above: detail from 'Elephants', the first place winner of the 2012 ArtPrize
ArtPrize has become the world’s largest art competition by combining $560,000 in total prizes with an open call for artists, venues, and critics. This year's first place winner, "Elephants" by Adonna Khare is an illustrated series of life sized Elephants, intertwined with a menagerie of animals. (Links to all the finalists are at the end of this post).
above: Adonna Khare and her winning piece, "Elephants"
The large mural was setup to function as a triptych and engage the viewers in the transformation of the work. The triptych is still a work in progress. Below are many images and details from the piece (courtesy of the both the artist and ArtPrize).
The Full Mural:
Left Panel:
Right Panel:
The Artist and the Center Panel:
Mural in progress from afar:
The Incredible Details
Detail (See No Evil): 
Detail (Sleeping Chimp):
Detail (All chimps):
Detail (Chimp and Mini Giraffes)
Detail (Crane and balloon dogs):
Detail (tree):
As exhibited at ArtPrize in Michigan:
Close-ups:
Links to the other ArtPrize finalists and juried awards:
2012 Top Ten
Second Place: "Song of Lift" by Martijn van Wagtendok
Third Place: "Rebirth of Spring" by Frits Hoendervanger
Fourth Place: "Stick-to-it-ive-ness: Unwavering pertinacity; perseverance" by Richard Morse
Fifth Place: "Lights in the Night" by Mark Carpenter and Dan Johnson
Sixth Place: "Life in Wood" by Dan Heffron
Seventh Place: "Origami" by Kumi Yamashita
Eighth Place: "The Chase" by Artistry of Wildlife
Ninth Place: "Return to Eden" by Sandra Bryant
Tenth Place: "City Band" by Chris LaPorte
2012 Juried Awards
Juried Grand Prize: "Displacement (13208 Klinger St)" by Design 99
Urban Space Award: "Flight" by Dale Rogers
2-D Award: "Habitat" by Alois Kronschlager
3-D Award: "More or Less" by ABCD 83
Venue Award: "SITE:LAB" at 54 Jefferson
Time/Performance Award: "Three Phases" by Complex Movements
About the artist:
Adonna Khare has been recognized by The Los Angeles Times, U-Press Telegram, and Edward Goldman on NPR
B.A. in Art from California State University Long Beach
M.F.A in Art from CSULB
2007 Award for Distinguished Acheivement in Creative Activity
Permanent collection of the Long Beach Museum of Art as well as numerous private collections throughout the world. Member of The Drawing Center New York.
Selected works can be obtained from the Lora Schlesinger Gallery at Bergamot Station, Santa Monica.
For a current pricelist please contact Adonna Khare.
Nude Nutcrackers. 18 Life-Size Female Mannequins Crack Pecans Between Their Thighs In An Interactive Art Installation.
Exhibited in The Dallas Contemporary’s largest gallery space, Nutcrackers - an installation by artist Jennifer Rubell, consisted of 18 life-size interactive sculptures of women (aka mannequins) surrounding a pedestal holding one ton of Texas pecans.
Each prefabricated female mannequin was mounted on her side in an odalisque position and had been retooled to function as a nutcracker. Visitors interacted with each sculpture by placing a pecan in the mannequin’s inner thigh, then pushing down the upper leg to crack open the nut so they could eat it in the gallery. 
Rubell was inspired by nutcrackers depicting female figures - and in particular one found on the internet of Hillary Clinton, The Hillary Nutcracker
More pics of the installation:
Photos by Andrew Ryan Shephard
About the artist:
Jennifer Rubell creates participatory artwork that is a hybrid of performance art, installation, and happenings. The pieces are often staggering in scale and sensually arresting, frequently employing food and drink as media: one ton of ribs with honey dripping on them from the ceiling; 2,000 hard-boiled eggs with a pile of latex gloves nearby to pick them up; 1,521 doughnuts hanging on a free-standing wall; a room-sized cell padded with 1,800 cones of pink cotton candy.
Viewers are encouraged to partake in the work, violating the traditional boundaries of art institutions and engaging senses usually forbidden in or absent from museum and gallery contexts. Rubell’s work explores the intersection of the monumental and the ephemeral, and serves as a counterpoint to the virtual nature of much of contemporary life.
Some of Rubell’s notable previous projects include Old-Fashioned, at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; The de Pury Diptych at the Saatchi Gallery, London; Icons, at the Brooklyn Museum; Creation, for Performa, the New York performance-art festival; and, since 2001, a yearly breakfast project in the courtyard of the Rubell Family Collection in Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach.
Rubell, 42, received a B.A. from Harvard University in Fine Arts, and subsequently attended the Culinary Institute of America. She wrote about food for over a decade prior to beginning her artistic practice, including columns in the Miami Herald and Domino magazine, and the book Real Life Entertaining (Harper Collins). Rubell lives in New York City.
See more of artist Jennifer Rubell's work here
