Sick of the cold and snow? Spring seem like it’ll never come? The outdoors may seem like a bleak wasteland, but there’s incredible beauty to be found. This week’s links look at art?including music?That’s dependent on cold temperatures.
Orchestral Ice
Talk about seasonal shows! This CNN photo feature highlights a unique Swedish orchestra that combats the wintry weather by creating music on handcrafted instruments made from ice. Why ice? According to the instrument creator, a stone sculptor, ?Ice makes a sharper sound than wood.? Of course the fragile nature of the instruments means that the slightest bit of melting can throw off their precise sound, so they are suspended from the ceiling to avoid heat damage from their players.
Snow Designer
No canvas? No paints? No problem?not if You’re snow artist Simon Beck, whose beautiful designs went viral late last year. Created with a mix of careful on-paper planning (no tracing here) and up to ten hours outdoors, each design is etched on a blank snowfall using only Beck’s footsteps. For more designs, see Beck’s Facebook gallery.
All Natural
This year’s unusually harsh winter may have caused a lot of inconvenience, but It’s also offered some rare opportunities. This Smithsonian magazine feature shows a glimpse of the sea ice caves on Lake Superior’s Apostle Islands. These natural wonders are usually inaccessible to visitors, but this winter It’s been possible thanks to the prolonged cold temperatures that have made it safe to make the one-mile walk across the frozen lake to the island caves.
