Art and Music WSC

Auld Lang Syne | Folk song

"Auld Lang Syne" is a song from a Scottish Gaelic poem Robert Burns wrote in 1788. The song is roughly translated to "For the Old Times' Sake." This song is about New Years Eve, and reflecting on the events of the year, remembering friends we held on to as well as the lovely family moments that occurred. Contrary to most New Year songs, this song talks about reflecting and remembering the events of the past year, rather than moving on and making wishes for the next year.

Big Yellow Taxi | Joni Mitchell

"Big Yellow Taxi" was written, composed, and recorded by Canadian musician Joni Mitchell while she was on holiday in Hawaii. Mitchell talks about how she is amazed looking at the landscape outside her hotel: the mountains, the sea, but she says that when she looks down her window, she sees a parking lot. The song tackles the issues of climate change: pollution, deforestation, extinction of fauna and flora, and insecticides, "hey farmer, farmer put the DDT away now." DDT was a popular insecticide causing damage to birds, and giving cancer to people. It gained infamy when the book 'Silent Springs' came out talking about all the damage it caused. This led to a public outcry, and caused the USA to ban the insecticide. In her last verse, Mitchell talks about a "big yellow taxi" leaving, taking "his old man away" which could be interpreted as many different things: a lover, husband leaving, or an arrest- Metro Toronto Police patrol cars were bright yellow.

Cloudbusting | Kate Bush

"Cloudbusting'' is a song that has been composed, performed, and recorded by Kate Bush. Bush inspired himself from Peter Reich's 1973 memoir, "A book of dreams" which Bush really enjoyed. In his memoir, Reich talks about his memories of Wilhelm's research facility, where there was this machine called the Cloudbuster. This machine aimed to increase harvests by making it rain. The song then talks about Wilhelm's arrest, and how he tried to sell his orgone accumulators, which he claimed could cure cancer, and make people live longer. In 1957, Wilhelm died in prison due to a heart attack. In his song, Bush expresses the sadness and trauma Peter Reich felt as a child when he learnt that adults weren't infallible, and how difficult it was when his father (Wilhelm) was taken away from him.

A New Argentina | Evita

"Evita" is composed by Andrew Lloyd Webber with lyrics by Tim Rice. The song concentrates on the life of Eva Péron, wife of Juàn Péron, both Political leaders in Argentina. The song talks about Evita's early life, rise to power via her marriage with Péron, charity work, resignation due to cancer, and death in 1952. In "A New Argentina," LuPone (actress representing Eva in the song) sings to Péron, and tells him that he should not resign just because he is afraid of other Political leaders. She encourages him with her words, telling him that the population is with him, and that he shouldn't be afraid. Eva was a working class woman before becoming the first lady; she describes Péron's love for the working class. "If not, how could he [Perón] love me [Eva]?"

Rebecca Black | Friday & Saturday

"Friday" is an infamous song from Rebecca Black written and produced by Clarence Jey and Patrice Wilson which was released in March 2011. In the first four months after it's release, it had 166 million views on youtube. It was taken down in June 2011 due to legal issues between the record label, ARK music, and Rebecca Black. In 2013, Rebecca Black released the sequel, "Saturday" which explores the day after Friday. It has many references to Friday: printed pictures, and the lyrics themselves. Like the first song, it talks a lot about going out, and having parties with friends. Although it resembles Friday a lot, it is still much more mature, and doesn't talk about choosing which seat to sit in, in her car. A lot of people liked how she still had the courage to create a sequel, even though her original song was infamous.

Hallelujah | Leonard Cohen vs. Jeff Buckley

"Hallelujah" is a song that was first written and released by Leonard Cohen in 1975. It went almost unnoticed, until 1991, when John Cale released his own version of the song. This version significantly gained more auditors, and was much more successful. This inspired Jeff Buckley to release his own version in 1994. This version was not an instant hit, but got a lot of people's attention in 2006. It sold around 1,144,000 copies in May 2010. An article, by the Independent States, "Cohen has allegedly acknowledged [Buckley's cover] to be his favorite version." Without Buckley's version, the song might have been lost and forgotten by now, and this song has 300 different covers!

Hugin and Munin | Corvus Corax

"Hugin and Munin" is a song composed by Corvus Corax, a German band named after the scientific name of a raven. It talks about the eyes and ears of Odin (the god of poetes and magic in Norse Mythology.) It talks about the ravens that Odin sends every morning for them to bring back information from the world. The song comes from the Eddic poem, "Grímnismál" that tells the story of Odin. First two sections of song translated: ​Hugin and Munin Fly every day Over all the world; I worry for Hugin That he might not return, But I worry more for Munin Land is holy that I see lying near the Asa and Alf but in Trondheim will Thor dwell until the gods will vanish Thund rushes The giant wolf is swimming joyful like a fish in the flood Too sharp it seems the flock of Val-Deads they are wading in the stream Odin!

New World Symphony, 3rd movement | Antonin Dvorak

"New World Symphony, 3rd movement" was composed by Antonin Dvorak in 1893, and is seen as one of his best symphonies. The third movement of his symphony (molto vivace) was suggested by Indians that dance in Hiawatha. As well that, legends say that Neil Amstrong played this symphony as he made his first steps on the moon. If this is true, then it would mean that Dvorak would be one of the only composers to have their music played as humanity explores outer space.

New Year's Day | Blood Red Sky vs. U2

"New Year's Day" was first performed by the Irish band 'U2.' Bono, the leader and songwriter of the band, had pictured Lech Walesa, the Polish solidarity leader, leading a worker's strike in the snow on New Year's Day. This song was later replayed by Blood Red Sky, a band that goes around pubs and bars playing songs in the evening. It is quite impressive a band like them managed to replay New Year's Day. However, the fact that Blood Red Sky replayed this song begs the question, is it okay that this band replays New Year's Day, when the four people of U2 are still alive? This song seems more like an imitation of U2, however it was not the purpose of Blood Red Sky.

Buddy Holly | Peggy Sue & Peggy Sue Got Married

"Peggy Sue" is a love song written by Jerry Allison and Norman Petty. Buddy Holly, however, released and recorded the song. Holy was added as a co- author once he died. Allison insisted upon that. When it was released, the song was meant to be called "Cindy Lou," after Holly's niece, however the name was changed once Allison broke up with his girlfriend Peggy Sue Gerron, in the hope to get her back. Eventually, it did get her back as Peggy Sue became his wife. Holly then wrote a sequel, "Peggy Sue Got Married" with rumors in the song that Allison got married with her.

Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word | Elton John

"Sorry Seems to be the Hardest Word" is a song written by Elton John and Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and recorded in 1976. The song talks about how the singer wronged his lover, and how hard it can be to apologise. It says that apologising is a small yet significant step to mending a mistake. He also talks about the horrible guilt he feels for what he did. In his song, there are many sad lines like, "what have I got to do to make you love me?" and "so sad, so sad." The melody is beautiful, and the lyrics are easy to understand.

St. Matthew Passion | Johann Sebastian Bach (repopularized 1829)

"St. Matthew Passion" is a song that was written in 1727 by Johann Sebastian Bach. It retelles chapter 26 and 27 of the Bible by Mattew. It is regarded as one of the greatest songs in classical sacred music. The song talks about Jesus' Crucifixion, his last supper, his trial under Pontius Pilate, his death on Good Friday, and his burial. This song is in two parts: the first one talks about events leading to his arrest, while the second one is much more soft tonally, and talks about his trial leading to his death and burial. The song ends sorrowfully. This song was almost only listened to in Leipzig, Germany, until 1829 when a man (Felix Mendelssohn) reperformed this song in Berlin. He was highly acclaimed. Mendelssohn revived Bach's song, and brought people's attention.

Symphony No. 7, 4th movement | Dmitri Shostakovich

"Symphony No. 7, 4th movement" also known as "Leningrad" was written by pianist Dmitri Shostakovich to commemorate Lenin, but was then repurposed to commemorate the city of Leningrad. This song was placed when Leningrad- the second largest Russian city- was besieged by Nazi troops. Today, it is played as a symbol of resistance against military forces across Western countries and the Soviet Union. The beginning of the song is very somber, sad, scary and quiet. Then, the song transfers into woodwinds and string instruments that depict an upcoming war. There is a sense of urgency, and severity across the rest of the piece of music. It is also played at the cemetery of Leningrad where 27 million Soviets lost their lives in WWII.

The Future Soon | Jonathan Coulton

"The Future Soon" was written by Jonathan Coulton (JoCo) in 2004. JoCo is a self-described geek in songs. "The Future Soon" was his first extended play (longer than a single but shorter than an album- is usually 3-5 songs.) The song was a sort of anthem for geeks. Later, Mike Spiff Booth made a music video for the song, further popularising it. The song talks about the hopes of a boy in love with a girl called Laura. He is made fun of for expressing his love. The song conveys the dreams of the boy: him wanting to become a scientist to save the world of hunger, a scientist teaching dolphins how to talk, and building robots. It talks about how he still has hope, but that his body still feels incomplete without Laura.

Amelie (film main theme) vs. Amelie (Broadway main theme)

Amélie Poulain is a French film released in 2001 about this girl, Amélie who interests herself to people, and punishes the people who cause harm. It was later adapted into a musical, which is quite different in terms of the genre, tempo, and sound. The film was also very very French, while the musical was more for Western people. There was also a change in language- the musical being in English and film being French. However, the musical still follows the same events and plot, about this timid waitress who is interested in other people, and develops a love of her own.

Don't Stop Me Now | Queen (repopularized 2018)

British band Queen released "Don't Stop Me Now" in 1979, and recorded the song in 1978. It is written by lead singer Freddie Mercury, and is considered a classic, often featuring in films, commercials and shows. It was rather unpopular, but was repopulised in December 2018, when Bohemian Rhapsody, (a musical drama film by Bryan Singer) was released. The original music video of "Don't Stop Me Now" was played at the end credits of Bohemian Rhapsody. This film talks about the life of lead singer Freddie Mercury in Queen. This film contained many inaccuracies on Mercury's life, but was still a big success, grossing over 903 million worldwide, and repoparising the song.

I Will Always Love You | Dolly Parton vs. Whitney Houston

Dolly Parton released, "I Will Always Love You" in 1973, and it was a huge success. It reached number one on the Billboard Hot Country Songs twice in 1974, and 1982. About 20 years later, Whitney Houston released her own version, for a film- Bodyguard. During a period of time, Houston's version reached number one in the weekly charts of 25 different countries. Houston and Parton seemed to like each other, and both thanked each other for writing such a beautiful song, and for extending the song's audience. When Houston passed away, Parton said to Houston, "mine is only one of the millions of hearts broken over the death of Whitney Houston. I will always be grateful and in awe of the wonderful performance she did on my song and I can truly say from the bottom of my heart, 'Whitney, I will always love you. You will be missed.'"

Edo Castle | Tokyo, Japan

Edo Castle was a castle in Tokyo from 1607-1638. It was built as a symbol for peace. It was burnt down over 300 years ago. We do not know exactly what it looked like, as all the remains of it were burnt. However, a map of one of the towers has been found; the map had been hand drawn by the architect himself. This has helped Masayuki Miura to create a 3D model to see what the tower looked like. The Group for the Reconstruction of Edo Castle is planning on rebuilding Edo Castle exactly where it was located in the past. A lot of Japanese people see the Castle as a symbol of Japan, and want it rebuilt. The castle, though, is on the land of the residence of the emperor, which is not very fortunate. People that want to rebuild the Castle say they will begin once they have the technology and materials needed to do so.

Guggenheim Abu Dhabi

Guggenheim is the project of building a giant construction for exhibiting art in Abu Dhabi from around the world. This project would take a decade, and the construction would look very funny, with many different shapes attached all around. Guggenheim is recognised as an architectural marvel, and there is already one in Venice, and in Bilbao; this project has begun to expand since the 1980s. This construction has only begun a few years ago, and will be composed of giant irregular shapes, and have giant galleries for art, some rooms being much bigger than the other Guggenheims! This project demonstrates the need of art globally, and explains why we need to reinforce the idea.

Mural in Reactor No. 5 | Guido Van Helten

Guido Van Helten made this painting to show one of the reactors (reactor number 5) that exploded in the Chernobyl disaster. In this disaster, many people were killed; it is considered the greatest nuclear disaster to have ever taken place. In 2016, on the anniversary of the 30th year since the disaster had occurred, Van Helten created this painting, and took inspiration from a photograph that Igor Kostin had taken earlier. Kostin was a journalist who had documented the Chernobyl disaster and its impacts. However, he was exposed to too much radiation, and passed away in 2015. Van Helten created this painting as a commemoration, to remember Kostin, and to preserve the inside of the nuclear power plant. Today, wildlife is beginning to return to Chernobyl, but it is still an abandoned

A Rumor in St. Petersburg | Anastasia

In 1997, the film about the Russian princess, Anastasia Romanov was released. A musical comedy was later released. The film talks about how the Russian royal family was overthrown before the communist revolution. In the film, a rumor goes around that the Duchess, (Anastasia) is still alive, so the Dowager Empress decides to offer a large sum to the person that can bring Anastasia back. Dmitry and Vlad decide to find a lady that can play the role of Anastasia so that they can win the sum. The song was written by Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. It is also revealed in the song that this event takes place at Leningrad.

Ussuriysk | Rossiya Airlines

In 2017, Rossiya Airlines painted a Ussuriysk on the nose of one of their Boeing planes. Ussuriysk is an Amur Leopard. The Amur Leopard is a wild cat, living in Russian forests bordering China. They are critically endangered, with lots of sources stating that there are less than 80 left in the world. This caused a conservation campaign to occur, led by 'Far Eastern leopards.' Rossiya got involved with the campaign, and now offer small stuffed Amur Leopards and Tigers for children on their flights. They even give them Leopard games to play, in hope to raise awareness of this endangered species. These efforts may seem small, but they are a great way to raise awareness.

Jaegersborg Water Tower | Copenhagen, Denmark

Jaegersborg is a water tower situated in Denmark. It was built in the 1950s when there was a large demand for water because of population growth. However, later this tower didn't have any more purpose, so they made a contract that the tower would become a mixed space building. Today, this building is a youth centre, with youth residences. All the residences are on the outside of the building, and the middle is used for storage. Each residence has a balcony and a window allowing light to enter. The lower floors have multi purpose rooms to do a large variety of things. This water tower is a great example of a modern day reuse.

Introducing Me | Nick Jonas vs. I'm Yours | Jason Mraz

Jason Mraz wrote the song 'I'm Yours' in 2008. This song was extremely popular, and extremely successful. Two years later, Nick Jonas from the Jonas Brothers recorded a song written by Jamie Houston for a movie he was the principal actor in, Camp Rock 2. However, "Introducing me" wasn't as successful as "I'm Yours," because it was more targeted for Disney Channel Viewers. "Introducing Me" caught Mraz's attention, as he saw how similar the two songs were. They both show the same chord progression as well. Mraz decided however, that he would not sue the Jonas Brothers as he believed it would cause more harm than good.

Vintage McDonald's

Mc Donald actually only opened up a few decades ago. The fourth Mc Donald to open is found in L.A, and is the first Mcdonald's to open that is still here today. This Mc Donald opened in 1953, and had a few notable differences between it and the other McDonalds; instead of seeing multiple golden arches, you could only see one. This place also had a different menu, and it wasn't the exact same things you could eat: for example it didn't have the big mac. This McDonalds was independent from the wider chain. However, it was later sold in 1990, as it was the last McDonalds to be separate from the wider chain, and was changed into looking exactly alike to the other McDonalds; its menu is almost the same. This place also contains a museum today.

Giant Manure Rooster | Mikhail Bopposov

Mikhail Bopposov created this giant rooster out of manure in Northern Siberia. This rooster symbolises the Chinese new year, and the beginning of the year of the rooster. In the past years, he had previously made other animals: a goat and a monkey symbolising the year of the monkey and goat, but also sculptures of dragons and horses. All of this was sculpted in manure. The reason why Bopposov used dung to sculpt this rooster was because it was the easiest material to sculpt considering the harsh weather and climate in Northern Siberia. This sculpture is over four meters tall, and is strong enough to stand on even though it melted during spring as it got warmer.

Titanic | Muhammad Ansi

Muhammad Ansi is a self taught painter from Yemen, who painted the titanic while being in prison. He painted based only on his imagination, and his memory of clips he had watched in the past. When the Titanic film came out, he and other members in jail were allowed to watch it, and he produced this painting, depicting people's hope in the Titanic. He was imprisoned in Guantanamo Bay for 15 years, a US prison located in the South of Cuba where "terrorists" are imprisoned. Amnesty International (an organisation working on making sure human rights are respected by research) declare that there is a high breach in human rights over there, due to the torture of prisoners, and them not having fair trials. Barack Obama promised to take every single prisoner into justice in Guantanamo Bay before being elected, but did nothing of it. Ansi was released in 2017.

Notre-Dame de Paris | Paris, France

Notre Dame de Paris is a Cathedral in France in Paris that was constructed from 1160-1260 AD. It had four architects working on it.It was first damaged during the French revolution. In 2019, there was an accident, and a large piece of the beautiful Cathedral burnt down including most of the roof. The Prime Minister in France (Edouard Phillipe) opened a competition of how the spiral should be rebuilt; whether it should be built like it was originally, or whether it should be modernised. 55 percent of French people would like it to be rebuilt exactly like it was before. It does look like the Government is inclined to restore rather than recreate, but it would take 20-40 years. People have competed on how they should rebuild the roof, and people have had many different ideas; Swedish architects have even proposed making a giant swimming pool on the top!

Orville Main Title Theme | Bruce Broughton

Orville is a Science Fiction comedy, much resembling Star Trek. Both have similar adventures; a spaceship soaring through space, racing into the future facing many dangerous disasters all along. Orville's opening is extremely similar to the one in the first season of Star Trek. Both mimic a spaceship passing through many beautiful things in space, from beautiful stars to threatening asteroids.

Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams I | Ibrahim Al-Salahi

Reborn Sounds of Childhood Dreams I shows black figures standing together ominously, and blending into each other. The Sudanese artist Ibrahim Al-Salahi says that the, "elongated, black-eyed, glittering facial shapes might represent the veils our mothers and grandmothers used to wear in public, or the faces of the drummers and tambourine players I had seen circling wildly during funeral ceremonies and chants in praise of Allah. Al-Salahi is an artist that paints from his memory, dreams, or visions during meditation. For him, lines convey communication, because lines create words, and words create sentences and writing is a way of communicating. Once Sudan gained independence from Britain, what he painted mirrored society more; African people, Arab cultures, etc. This painting is not very literal, and it is not evident to guess what it is demonstrating.

Qaumajuapik | Riit

Riit grew up in the province of Nunavut (in Northern Canada) where most people speak Inuktitut. "Qaumajuapik" was released in 2019, featuring Riit demonstrating her singing abilities. The name of the song, Qaumajuapik, means 'you are shining' in Inuktitut, and is a love song inspired by her touring in Australia. She talks about how she broke up with her boyfriend because he had a bad effect on her Wellbeing. However, she was still heartbroken. Her band later convinced her to set up a Tinder account where she met another man. The entire song is written in her language, in the attempt to motivate younger generations to speak in the language because it is dying out- it only has 30 000 native speakers. Her and her band hope that this language might one day be the language of the Nunavut province.

The Passing of Shah Jahan | Abanindranath Tagore

Shah Jahan was an Indian Mughul, who was well known for constructing the Taj Mahal for his favourite wife. This painting is painted in Mughal style. This style was invented between the 16th and 18th century, but this painting by Tagore was completed in 1902. Tagore usually painted using the style of 'realism,' but this time he did something different due to the fact that his art tutor, Binfield Havell had taught him a vast amount of different styles, and had shown him loads of Indian Mughal paintings. When Shah Jahan and his favourite wife died, they were both buried inside the Taj Mahal. In the painting, we see Shah Jahan dead on a bed, facing or gazing at the Taj Mahal, with his daughter at the end of the bed. This painting is a miniature painting (Mughal style is usually in miniature) but it has a strong and powerful meaning.

Stamba Hotel | Tbilisi, Georgia

Stamba Hotel was a hotel that first came from a Soviet printing press. As they transformed the building, they focused on keeping the architecture of the place exactly the same as it was before. "We wanted to show what the building was like when it was a publishing house. We didn't change the walles, we didn't change the ceiling, we kept it like before," says Valeri Chekheria, leader of the restoring team. Their main change was adding a swimming pool on the roof of the hotel, with a transparent bottom so that the light could circulate downwards to illuminate the place. The guest rooms in the hotel are also quite big- 56m2. The rooms also have books, and works of Tbilisi artists.

Tate Modern | London, England

Tate Modern | London, England The Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It used to be a Bankside Power station, (a station that created electricity) and was later not used anymore. There were plans made to demolish the building, however the Tate Gallery announced that they would use the ancient Power station as an art gallery. The Tate Gallery took four years and a half to transform the building into their gallery, and spent 135 million pounds. They added glass extensions to the building, and had to demolish half of the Switch House. They decided to keep most of the inside of the building the same. As they transformed, they kept the same style of architecture, and mainly used bricks. This newly transformed power station looks amazing, and very well done. Three oil tanks have also been added inside the gallery as pieces of artwork.

Detroit Industry Murals | Diego Rivera

The Detroit Industry Murals is a twenty-seven mural gallery located in Detroit, USA. This Fresco cycle was created by Diego Rivera, with the only rule that it reflects on the city's history, about it's industrial development. The murals show many different things regarding the industry: harmony in nature, how there is both a good and bad industry, and different races, and different elements. The South wall depicts the industry of automobiles, while the North wall talks about factories. In a corner, are two members of the Ford company, who were Rivera's patrons during the creation of the Murals. There are also many symbols of the Christian and Aztec cultures, as well as items depicting a utopia. Rivera wants to show us a world where nature and industry work together in a nice way.

Ecce Homo | Cecilia Giménez

The Ecce Homo is a painting that Cecilia Giménez tried to restore in 2012. It was a portrait of Jesus, and she wanted to use it in her church. The face of Jesus was getting more and more damaged, and she was afraid he wouldn't be recognisable anymore. She began restoring it, but went on a long holiday, and a historical organisation found out about what she was doing. This organisation posted images of what the painting looked like before and after Giménez's initiative of restoration. Today, this painting is a tourist attraction in Borja, Spain. Today, this town has four times more tourists than it did before they began showing Giménez's work.

The Empire Strikes Back | Roger Kastel

The Empire Strikes Back is the fifth film in the Star Wars series, considered by a lot of people as the best one out of the nine. A single and unique poster for this film was created, and was sold as an auction. According to the Heritage auction, this poster was to be sold at a price around 500 dollars to 10 000 dollars, but it was actually sold at 26 400 dollars! This poster is considered to be the rarest poster out of all Star Wars posters. To create this poster, Roger Kastel inspired himself from 'Gone with the Wind,' and George Lucas inspired himself from The Empire Strikes back to create a new design. George Lucas removed a few characters as he altered the poster, and changed the tone of a few colours. He also added a character to the poster.

Gulf of Maine Temperature Variability | Jill Pelto

The Gulf of Maine is a gulf situated to the East of the USA. It has over 2 000 different species of fish and birds, however, the temperature is madly increasing by O.O6 degrees celsius due to Climate Change specifically in this area. The temperature rise is seven times faster than the global average of the rest of the Ocean. In his painting, Jill Pelto uses a temperature graph drawn above the Gulf of Maine to show how the temperature keeps fluctuating. Lobsters and shrimps can also be seen, retreating towards the ground, and clams burrowing themselves under the soil. We can also see cods disappearing; Pelto shows that these animals are all fleeing their natural habitat due to Climate Change. Pelto has also added a boat, to show that not only climate change affects the Gulf of Maine, but also overfishing.

The Killers | Mr. Brightside & Miss Atomic Bomb

The Killers released Mr. Brightside in 2003, and received little success. It was written by Brandon Flowers, lead singer, and by Dave Keuning, guitarist, who composed the song. It talks about the girl Flowers loved, who cheated on him. He talks about the paranoia, the jealousy, and the pain he felt while dating this girl throughout the entire song. The name of the song is also ironic, 'Mr. Brightside. Today, this song is one of The Killers' best-selling songs, and is one of the Uk's top 15 downloaded rock songs. Almost 10 years after its release, The Killers released the sequel, 'Miss Atomic Bomb' explaining that even though Brandon Flowers is old today, he still feels pain for the girl that cheated on him. He has moved forward, and his injury, ("It just feels like a dagger buried deep in your back,") has healed, he still has a scar. He explains how sometimes his dreams take him back to her, and bring him more harm, and that his scar keeps reminding him of these times. There are also indications in both songs to show that there is a sequel, and that both songs are somehow connected.

Matrix of Leadership | Sara Pitre-Durocher

The Matrix of Leadership is an artifact with great power. The Matrix can do many things such as building new transformers or communicating with transformers that have died. It is at the center of the 'Autobot religion'. Decepticons, the people against the Autobots, have noticed its power and have tried to retrieve the Matrix. This artwork is the cover for Transformers : Historia. This artwork shows the leaders of the past erupting out of the Matrix. This artwork also shows how the leaders of the past have helped build what is now.

The Thinker | Rodin

The Thinker is a very famous sculpture, made by Rodin. The sculpture represented Dante focusing on his work. This sculpture was first named "The Poet" but the name was changed due to the fact that workers said that Rodin's sculpture looked too much like The Poet of Michelangelo. This resulted in Rodin separating his piece of art for an individual exhibition in 1888. His sculpture was later enlarged (in 1904) and was cast 28 times during Rodin's life, and many other times once he died. The casts have been exhibited in many museums across China, India, France, and other countries. His first ever one of his casts can be found in Rodin Museum.

Zeitz MOCAA | Cape Town, South Africa

The Zeitz MOCAA is also an art gallery today located in South Africa. It was originally a construction to store grain silos, and could store 116. Today, there are eighty galleries inside the Zeitz MOCAA, and contains the largest collection of temporary work in Africa! It has beautiful spiral staircases and transparent elevators to communicate between floors, and admirate the beautiful art. There is also The Silo Hotel on the top floor, with nice gardens and restaurants.

Zodiac Heads | Ai Weiwei

The circle of Zodiac heads is a series of sculptures located close to Beijing at The Old summer Palace, built by Ai Weiwei, a Chinese artist, but were designed by the Italian artist Guiseppe Castiglione. The sculptures were built in 1860, while France and Britain had invaded China, and were fighting against The Yanming Yuan. These sculptures do not only have a historical meaning, but also a political story. The intention of those sculptures was probably to spread European culture and belief through China, so should these sculptures be considered Chinese? Someone has also decided to recreate these Zodiac heads that had previously been destroyed.

Salt Building | Vancouver, Canada

The salt building is located in Vancouver, and previously was used as a salt refinery for salt being brought from San Francisco by ship. It also had a little doc-like structure to unload salt. Later, railway became the primary source of transportation, and the Salt building was changed into a paper recycling power plant. They later attempted to make sure that the building stayed in the people's interest, and city's history, so they changed it into a bakery, brewpub, and a coffee shop. By adapting the Salt building into many different things instead of rebuilding, they save altogether an amount of 19 000 dollars. The building hardly changed throughout all this, and 75 percent of the outside and supports remained the same.

Mine Kafon Wind-Powered Deminer | Massoud Hassani

There are loads and loads of landmines underground in the world, and we do not know exactly where they are. When people walk around, they may step onto one, and be killed. It is estimated that there are around 110 million landmines around the world. Demining is something that costs an extreme amount of money, which is why there are still so many mines around the world. This inspired Massoud Hassani, and he came up with this object that weighs about the same amount as a human, and that rolls around with wind. Each time it rolls over a mine, the mine will explode, causing there to be less danger each time. Sometimes, the legs of the machine fall off, and are needed to be replaced later- the whole machine is only made out of biodegradable materials! Thanks to GPS tracking, people are able to know where the machine ends up to be able to find it and replace legs. The machine also only costs 40 US dollars!

Android Lawn Statues | Google, Inc.

These are a series of different statues located in front of the Google visitors centre. All these statues are based on a different kind of sweet food. All these statues are named after desserts like cupcakes, or eclair. They have made these statues to promote their different devices, and apps. For example, they have statues featuring the Android Alien, by making a weird looking Alien jelly bean statue, with jelly beans pouring out of him. A few days after each new update that is sent, they send out a new statue representing the update.

Айыптама | Ninety-one vs. Sober | Big Bang

These two songs are similar, but not completely plagiarised. Sober was released in 2015, five months prior to Айыптама, which translated means 'don't blame me.' The style, and rhythm is strongly similar, as well as the tone of the song, and the way it is filmed. Both show a sense of isolation, and loneliness. There is a huge ressemblance in the way the bands move, and act. The songs' structure is also almost the same, both having raps, drops during the chorus, instrumental introductions and endings. Overall, they are both very similar, but we cannot call this outright plagiarism.

Notre Dame du Haut in Zhengzhou

This building was constructed in Rochamp, France by Le Corbusier in 1955. This building is used as a chapel, and is mostly made out of concrete, but also has stained glass windows. It also has a very irregular shape. It has a suspended roof, allowing a certain amount of light to come in, but also creates a fountain when it rains. However, this building was copied almost exactly the same way in Zhengzhou, China. Le Corbusier was not happy at all, and intervened which caused part of the building in Zhengzhou to be demolished. Today, it is a restaurant that owns Notre Dame du Haut in Zhengzhou. This example shows perfect plagiarism.

Impossible Triangle | Barti Kher

This is a modern day piece of artwork that Barti Kher created. A chair made out of concrete. Kher simply found a nice wooden chair made from the Rajasthani style, at an antiques store, and just made the exact same one out of concrete. Just the change in material completely changes the quality, and appearance of the chair. There are also concrete beams that were also copied from the wooden beams. These pieces of concrete are attached with electrical wires. This changes the appearance even more, and causes the chair to have a strange, irregular shape.

The Royal Family in 1846 | Franz Xavier Winterhalter

This is a painting of Queen Victoria with Prince Consort Albert and all the children they had in 1846. The theme of royalty is conveyed within the painting with the beautiful coloured chairs, and the clothes and jewelry that the Queen is wearing. It is also quite surprising to see the Queen and Prince wearing such formal clothes while just being in their house with their children. Franz Xavier Winterhalter created this painting, the Court- painter of France. Victoria liked the painting. This painting was first just meant to be kept private, but she thoroughly enjoyed seeing it, and decided to show it in public later on. The press wasn't so nice about the painting, and criticised the Royals for being drawn as 'sensual and fleshy' in the painting.

Ladies Celebrating Diwali | Unknown

This is a watercolour painting created in 1760. It depicts the Hindu Festival (Diwali) also known as the festival of lights. This festival symbolises the victory of light over darkness, and is mostly celebrated by Hindus, but also by other types of Buddhist: Sikhs, Jains, and Newars. This celebration also symbolises renewal and new life. During this event, people light up oil lamps, visit relatives, set up nice decorations, and feast. The painting shows the third day of Diwali, the one which is most heavily celebrated, with people sending off sparklers and fireworks. The gorgeous painting shows the beautiful and majesticness of Diwali.

Bladelight | Blake Robinson

This is simply a different introduction to Star Wars, created by Blake Robinson. She reimagined it in 2019 for the Star Wars trailer, The Rise of Skywalker. Robinson's version is very similar, but much more grandiose and orchestral, while William's version is more like a marching band. In Robinson's version, there is also a slower tempo, and no snare drum. This makes her version much more dramatic and monumental, as if it was marking the end of an era or the beginning of devastation.

The Last Supper | Julie Green

This last super is not a painting of Jesus, but ceramic bowls and plates. On day, when Julie Green was living in Oklahoma, she read the newspaper; she read about the prisoners that had been executed by the death penalty, and read all about the last meals they had. She began painting one different bowl or plate, showing what each prisoner had had as their last meal before dying. Her ceramics show that the prisoners are human, and that they do not deserve to be killed under any circumstance. The fact that each plate represents a dead prisoner breaks your heart. She decided she would produce fifty of these plates a year, for the prisoners that had been killed in the USA. She produced 800 of these plates before dying on the 17st of October 2021 at the age of sixty. She had planned to continue producing those plates until the abolition of death penalty. Unfortunately, she died before the abolition of the death penalty. Let's hope that this penalty is abolished as her wish, one day.

Spring Lantern Festival | Zhang Daqian

This painting is a painting of the Chinese Lantern Festival, which is traditionally celebrated on the 1st month of the new year in the Chinese calendar. This festival has been traced all the way up to the Emperor Ming, during the Han dynasty (Han dynasty explained in History.) This was over 2000 years ago. What most people believe, is that the Emperor Ming himself saw buddhist monks lighting the lanterns in their temples. They believe that everyone also lit up lanterns in their workplaces and at their homes. Red lanterns symbolize good fortune. Today, these lanterns have much more complicated designs than they did in the past- you can see the complicated designs in Daqian's painting.

The Last Supper | Sister Plautilla Nelli

This painting of the Last supper was painted by Sister Plautilla Nelli. It is important because she painted at a time where women were considered they shouldn't paint. A lot of women at that time couldn't paint. She self-taught herself, and one day decided to do a Last supper painting, of Jesus and his 12 apostles. Her and her friends would normally make smaller projects, but she decided she wanted to recreate the last supper. She created the painting in the 1560s. It was hung in her convent for 40 years before being taken into storage in the 1900s, and was then found in the 1980s. It was found very damaged, and was taken in charge by scholars in the 1990s. For four years, a group of women restored the painting. A lot of other artists, from experienced to inexperienced, took part in restoring the painting. The restoration finished in 2019; it took such a long time because of the extreme detail in Sister Plautilla's work.

Inauguration | Jack Levine

This painting shows many different things and objects. At first, it looks like there are only two people painted, with many things around it. However, this painting actually shows the swearing of the US president. It is not the painting of one single president, but of Woodrow Wilson, Harry Tuman and Dweight Eisenhower. It has many different symbols representing the USA, including the American flag and a great eagle. It also has many other objects that aren't discernable. Levine also depicts the chaotic nature of politics in the USA. He has also added a lot of detail to the painting, and he also shows how power can change very quickly.

Who I'd Be | Shrek the Musical

This song is based on the Shrek movies. At this point Shrek has rescued Fiona from the castle, and he and the donkey wonder if they can escape the dragon. Shrek believes that his future is sealed, that his destiny has already been decided. The song talks about the three characters' most desires: Shrek wants to be accepted and loved by others, Donkey wants a companion friend, and Fiona wants her fairytale dreams to come true. They all want a happy ending. In "Who I'd Be," they talk about how they want their world to change.

Ding-Dong! The Witch is Dead | The Wizard of Oz (repopularized 2013)

This song is composed by Harold Arlen and written by E.Y Harburg. It is played in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz. It is played when Dorothy defeats the Wicked Witch of the East (when Dorothy's house falls on the Witch) and when the Wicked Witch of the West is defeated (when Dorothy throws a bucket of water on her.) An anti- Conservative group later made a campaign for the song; these people encouraged the song to be bought so that it would chart after the death of the British Stateswoman, former Prime Minister of the UK, and former leader of the Conservative Party, Margaret Thatcher in 2013. The song reached number 2 on the UK Singles Charts. However, it was also met with negative reactions stopping the BBC radio from broadcasting the song. But this song did become popular in 2013.

The Man Who Sold the World | David Bowie vs. Nirvana

This song was first released by David Bowie in 1970 in his third album. It was later re-sung by Nirvana in 1993. Both versions were by very influential singers, and both were extremely successful. David Bowie said that he had sung it because there was a part of him that he was looking for. Bowie was an English artist, and didn't know a lot about America. He was unaware that the band 'Nirvana' had liked his song. When Nirvana sung it in America, it gave him a much greater audience, and expanded his song over the whole world. This shows one of the benefits of people ressinging other people's songs.

Can't Help Falling in Love With You | Justin Shandor vs. Rudraksha vs. Elvis Presley

This song was first released in 1961 by Elvis Presley, and was recovered many times after. This song was used for the film, 'Blue Hawaii.' 33 years after Presley died of a heart attack, Justin Shandor won an Elvis tribute contest held by Elvis Presley enterprises- his voice was so beautiful, and he imitated Presley very well. This was a huge success, and Shandor was able to keep the memories of Presley, instead of turning a new page. In 2018, an Indian-western band, Rudrashka, reperformed the song. They performed it in quite a different way; they spread their own culture through their song, instead of singing it as the other American artists did.

1812 Overture | Pyotr Tchaikovsky

This song, also known as "what if we added cannons to classical music?" was written by Russian composer Pyotr Tchaikovsky in 1880. It was used to show the upcoming invasion of Napoleon Bonaparte in Russia. After 1812, the song was used to celebrate Russia's victory over Napoleon Bonaparte (see in epic mishaps of history) who's army seemed undefeatable. Small bits of the French national anthem is also used in the piece of music. The song ends with firing cannons, very dramatically.

One Spring | Karl Bodek and Kurt Conrad Löw

This watercolor painting was painted by Bodek and Löw, at Gurs internment camp not far away from Pau in France. Bodek and Löw painted this during World War II. It is a tiny painting, 15cm over 10cm, but has a powerful message; it shows hope even in the worst times. The painting shows a butterfly, sitting on the barbelled wires, (representing the eagerness for freedom) with the camp and Pyrénées mountains in the background. There is also a bus passing by inside the camp. Löw managed to escape from Gurs camp to Switzerland- Switzerland was neutral in World War II- but Bodek unfortunately died at the camp.

Africa | Toto vs. Weezer

Toto released this song in 1982, although the keyboardist David Paich had been working on it six months before the recording. Paich explains how this song is about someone's love towards Africa, not to a real person. Paich had never been to Africa, and based his song on articles he had read in National Geographic, and it took him six months before showing it to Toto. This song uses many interesting instruments like the kalimba, marimba, and congo. In December 2017, a girl called Mary Klym tweeted @WeezerAfrica "@RiversCuomo it's about time you bless the rains down in Africa." (Rivers Cuomo is Weezer's keyboardist.) This inspired Weezer to release his own version in September 2018, where Weezer had fun replacing Rivers Cuomo with Yankovic, and other people replacing the rest of Weezer. The new version was totally different to Toto's original version!

Geo Co Lab | Zachary Skinner

Zachary Skinner is an artist that is passionate about climate change, and geoengineering. This inspired Skinner to create The Geo Co Lab, a place where there is a gallery of ideas of geoengineering that are exposed. People can come, and write their ideas to fight against climate change on chalkboards, and the best ideas are added and displayed onto the walls. He then spends time making diagrams to expose the ideas into more detail. Skinner wants to show that the world has many ideas, and that by being enthusiastic and creative, we may be able to save the climate change crisis. He also shows us the importance of collective human effort, and that scientific solutions will not help unless everyone works together to produce the ideas.