Honeycomb Kintsugi, Green Mug #1, ceramic (made by @makikohicher) and honeycomb.

There is an old Japanese adage embedded in the philosophy of kintsugi: a broken thing, once mended with gold, becomes more beautiful than it ever was before. The cracks act as the very record of an object's life. Artist Ava Roth has taken that ancient wisdom and handed it, quite literally, to the bees.

Her new series, Kintsu-Bee, is a quietly astonishing body of work in which deliberately fractured or damaged ceramics are placed inside active beehives. The insects do what insects do: they build. And what they build, cell by hexagonal cell, is something neither purely natural nor purely human, but something altogether more tender and strange than either alone.

For over a decade, the Toronto-based encaustic painter and mixed-media artist has collaborated with thousands of Ontario honeybees alongside Master Beekeeper Mylee Nordin. Earlier works involved embroidered and woven panels placed inside hives for the bees to alter freely, resulting in intricate compositions disrupted by the organic swell of wax and comb.

Now, Roth has carried that collaboration into pottery. A chipped green mug, a cracked terracotta vase, a fractured dinner plate—each object enters the hive already imperfect. Into those gaps, the bees build.

The series draws from the Japanese practice of kintsugi, which emerged in 15th-century Japan as a method of repairing broken ceramics with lacquer mixed with powdered gold. Rather than concealing damage, kintsugi highlights it, transforming fractures into part of an object’s history. The philosophy is closely connected to wabi-sabi, the appreciation of impermanence and imperfection.

Roth’s substitution of honeycomb for gold feels especially resonant. Where traditional kintsugi depends on deliberate human repair, Kintsu-Bee relies on living architecture—structures that are functional, mathematical, and completely unpredictable. Honeycomb carries its own kind of value: it requires immense collective labor, biological precision, and time.

What makes the work especially compelling is Roth’s surrender of control. The bees decide how much to build, where to build, and whether the repair succeeds at all. A missing mug handle may return as an amber arch of hexagonal wax cells. A fracture in a plate might become covered with a thin veil of comb that follows the original crack line almost perfectly.

The finished objects are astonishing to look at. The honeycomb never attempts to imitate ceramic; it remains unmistakably organic, glowing softly against smooth glazed surfaces. Yet the repairs feel strangely right, as though the objects were always meant to heal this way.

The series also carries an ecological weight. By placing broken human objects into the care of bees, Roth subtly reverses the relationship between humans and pollinators at a time when bee populations continue to decline worldwide. The works become meditations not only on repair, but on coexistence, dependence, and care.

In recent years, kintsugi has become a cultural shorthand for resilience. Kintsu-Bee makes that metaphor literal. These are truly broken objects repaired by living creatures whose own survival has become increasingly fragile.

The resulting sculptures sit at the intersection of Japanese craft philosophy, ecological art, and contemporary sculpture. Quiet yet deeply affecting, Roth’s works ask viewers to reconsider repair not as concealment, but as collaboration.

To keep up to date with the artist’s work, follow Ava Roth on Instagram.

Canadian artist Ava Roth places cracked ceramics inside active beehives, where honeybees rebuild the damaged spaces with delicate honeycomb structures.

Kintsubee mug with gold band.

Kintsugi Vase, terracotta, vintage terracotta vase with natural honeycomb.

Honeycomb Kintsugi Blue Bowl, ceramic, honeycomb

Honeycomb Kintsugi, White Plate #1, ceramic (made by @satoshi_yoshikawa_ceramic) and honeycomb.

Honeycomb Kintsugi, White Plate #1, ceramic (made by @satoshi_yoshikawa_ceramic) and honeycomb.

Inspired by the Japanese philosophy of kintsugi, which repairs broken pottery with gold to celebrate its history rather than hide its damage, Roth allows bees to mend fractured ceramics with glowing honeycomb instead.

Ceramic Vase with Honeycomb and Dried Flowers, ceramic vase made (made by Satoshi Yoshikawa) with wild honeycomb and dried flower.

Honeycomb Kintsugi, Green Mug #2, ceramic (made by @makikohicher) and honeycomb.

Honeycomb Kintsugi, White Mug, ceramic (made by @makikohicher) and honeycomb.

Ceramic Vessel with Natural Honeycomb, ceramic vessel (made by Satoshi Yoshikawa) and wild honeycomb.

The resulting sculptures transform broken objects into quiet collaborations between humans and pollinators, turning fracture, repair, and coexistence into works of art.

(Swipe to see the honeybees assessing their fine work.)

 

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Ava Roth: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Ava Roth.

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READ: Artist Works With Bees To Repair Broken Ceramics in Kintsugi-Inspired Honeycomb Pottery

For centuries, the church at Herkenrode Abbey stood as one of Belgium’s most important religious landmarks. The Gothic structure formed the heart of a wealthy Cistercian abbey near Hasselt before war, fire, and demolition erased it from the landscape. Today, almost nothing of the original church survives.

Belgian architectural practice Gijs Van Vaerenbergh has now revived the vanished structure in a striking new form. Instead of rebuilding the abbey in stone, the studio created CLAUSURA, a monumental steel installation that outlines the former church in midair. The result feels both ancient and futuristic, like a cathedral drawn directly into the sky.

Architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh designed the project to mark the studio’s 20th anniversary. Thousands of slender steel tubes trace the church’s towers, walls, and vaulted forms at full scale. The structure remains completely transparent, allowing the surrounding ruins, trees, and shifting light to move through the work itself.

As visitors walk around the installation, the architecture constantly changes. From some angles, the lines align into a recognizable Gothic silhouette. From others, the structure almost disappears into the landscape. That tension between presence and illusion defines much of Gijs Van Vaerenbergh’s work, which often merges sculpture, architecture, and perception into one experience.

Rather than reconstructing the abbey exactly as it once stood, CLAUSURA focuses on memory and absence. The installation preserves the scale and spirit of the church without imitating its original materials. In doing so, the project transforms empty space into architecture.

The work also reflects a broader shift in contemporary sacred design. Many modern architects now explore transparency, atmosphere, and abstraction instead of relying solely on monumental stone structures. CLAUSURA embraces that approach while remaining deeply connected to the site’s history.

Alongside the installation, Gijs Van Vaerenbergh is celebrating its anniversary with a publication and exhibition titled Fictional Ruins. The project examines how architecture can preserve memory through incomplete forms, imagined structures, and spatial storytelling.

With CLAUSURA, the architects created more than a memorial to a lost abbey. They turned history into an immersive experience that feels suspended between ruin, sculpture, and mirage.

Built from thousands of slender steel tubes, CLAUSURA traces the exact footprint of Herkenrode Abbey’s lost 16th-century church.

From certain angles, the transparent installation aligns into a complete Gothic cathedral before dissolving back into the landscape.

Architects Pieterjan Gijs and Arnout Van Vaerenbergh created the monumental work to celebrate 20 years of experimental architectural design.

Gijs Van Vaerenbergh: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permissions to feature photos by Club Paradis.

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Photo: bloodua/Depositphotos

For decades, seeing the Mona Lisa at the Louvre Museum has meant navigating packed crowds, lifting a phone above hundreds of visitors, and catching only a brief glimpse of Leonardo da Vinci’s famous portrait. Now, the world’s most visited museum plans to completely transform that experience.

The Louvre recently unveiled the winning design team behind “Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance,” a sweeping redevelopment project focused on easing congestion, modernizing circulation, and creating a dedicated new home for the Mona Lisa. Selldorf Architects and STUDIOS Architecture Paris won the international competition alongside landscape architects Base. The project marks one of the museum’s largest architectural transformations since I. M. Pei’s glass pyramid debuted in 1989.

Instead of remaining inside the overcrowded Salle des États, the Mona Lisa will move into a purpose-built gallery beneath the Cour Carrée. The new exhibition space aims to give visitors a calmer and more immersive viewing experience while relieving pressure on the Louvre’s busiest rooms. The painting’s new setting will include a separate access point designed specifically to better manage the massive crowds that gather around the portrait each day.

The redesign centers on the Louvre’s eastern facade, known as the Grande Colonnade. Plans include new underground entrances, expanded pathways, updated infrastructure, and additional gallery spaces integrated beneath the historic palace complex. France’s Ministry of Culture praised the winning proposal for its ability to balance contemporary architecture with the surrounding heritage site while improving the overall visitor experience.

The project follows growing concern over overcrowding at the Louvre, which welcomes nearly 9 million visitors annually. The museum officials hope the redesign will encourage visitors to engage more deeply with the Louvre’s broader collection instead of rushing directly toward a single artwork.

Architecturally, the project continues the Louvre’s long history of reinvention. Early renderings show understated glass-and-stone interventions integrated into the landscape below the colonnade, creating a lighter connection between the palace exterior and the new subterranean spaces. Rather than competing with the historic architecture, the design attempts to fold contemporary elements quietly into the existing structure.

The announcement has already sparked conversation about the future of museum design and the challenge of balancing accessibility with preservation. Yet the project also reflects a larger cultural shift: major museums increasingly need to rethink how audiences move through spaces shaped by global tourism, social media, and blockbuster artworks that attract millions each year.

Construction will unfold over the next several years, with completion expected in the early 2030s. When finished, the redesign could reshape the Louvre experience entirely, shifting attention away from the frantic crowds surrounding a single painting and toward a more expansive encounter with the museum itself. For the Mona Lisa, whose fame has long outgrown her gallery, the move signals the beginning of a new chapter.

The Louvre is undergoing a massive redevelopment project.

Photo: TTstudio/Depositphotos

Part of the museum’s redesign will give the Mona Lisa its own dedicated gallery beneath the historic Cour Carrée.

The Cour Carrée of the Louvre Palace in Paris, France. (Photo: French Ministry of Culture)

The special project aims to ease the overwhelming crowds that flood the museum each year.

Photo: liptoncnx/Depositphotos

Louvre Museum: Website | Instagram

Sources: Catherine Pégard, Minister of Culture, announces the winning team of the Louvre Nouvelle Renaissance international architecture competition: STUDIOS Architecture Paris and Selldorf Architects; ‘Mona Lisa’ Is Moving to a New Home. The Louvre Just Announced the Architects Who Will Design Her Private Suite; Louvre Announces Mona Lisa Will Have Her Own Building in Major Redesign to Ease Tourist Scrum.

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Faig Ahmed, “Ancestors,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi.)

Textile artist Faig Ahmed has long transformed the traditional carpet into something alive. His woven works appear to melt, pixelate, dissolve, and spill across floors like liquid code, merging centuries-old Azerbaijani craftsmanship with the visual language of the digital age. Now, at the 61st edition of Venice Biennale, the artist pushes his practice into even more immersive territory with a monumental installation titled The Attention.

Born in Sumqayit and based in Baku, Ahmed has spent years redefining how textile art can function within contemporary practice. While rooted in traditional Azerbaijani carpet weaving, his work consistently challenges expectations of permanence and order. Threads glitch into abstraction, patterns liquefy, and ornamentation becomes unstable, as though cultural memory itself were mutating in real time.

Presented in Azerbaijan’s national pavilion, the sprawling exhibition unfolds like a labyrinth of consciousness. Carpets twist through doorways, knot themselves into sculptural forms, and stretch across multiple rooms as though they are breathing organisms rather than woven objects. Ahmed uses textile not simply as decoration, but as a language, one capable of carrying memory, spirituality, science, and emotion all at once.

Curated by Gwendolyn Collaço, The Attention draws inspiration from Hurufism, a mystical philosophical tradition that interprets letters and symbols as carriers of cosmic meaning. Ahmed connects these ancient ideas to contemporary scientific theories surrounding information systems, quantum physics, and human perception. The result is an exhibition that feels simultaneously futuristic and ancient, where woven carpets become conduits for contemplating consciousness itself.

Among the exhibition, Ancestors glows under black light with psychedelic intensity, while Entropy Altar transforms visitor presence into shifting streams of language through a quantum random number generator. Throughout the installation, Ahmed continually blurs the line between the handmade and the technological, asking viewers to reconsider where meaning originates in an age saturated with information.

What makes Ahmed’s work especially compelling is its emotional undercurrent. Despite the exhibition’s references to science and data systems, the installation never feels cold or clinical. Instead, the woven forms evoke something deeply human: a search for connection amid noise and fragmentation. Carpets, objects traditionally associated with home, ancestry, and ritual, become metaphors for collective memory and shared consciousness.

At the Venice Biennale, The Attention feels particularly resonant. In an era shaped by constant digital stimulation and information overload, Ahmed offers something slower and more contemplative. His installation invites viewers not merely to look, but to pause, wander, and reflect inside a woven world where technology, mysticism, and craft become inseparable.

Faig Ahmed transforms traditional Azerbaijani carpets into sprawling sculptural installations for Azerbaijan’s pavilion at the Venice Biennale.

Faig Ahmed, “Ancestors,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

Faig Ahmed, “I Can Contain Both Worlds But I Cannot Fit Into This One,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

Faig Ahmed, “I Can Contain Both Worlds But I Cannot Fit Into This One,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

Drawing inspiration from Hurufism and quantum theory, Ahmed’s work turns woven textiles into immersive meditations on language, perception, and memory.

Faig Ahmed, “I Can Contain Both Worlds But I Cannot Fit Into This One,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

Faig Ahmed, “I Can Contain Both Worlds But I Cannot Fit Into This One,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026.

Faig Ahmed, “I Can Contain Both Worlds But I Cannot Fit Into This One,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

From glowing blacklight tapestries to carpets that flow through entire rooms, the exhibition blurs the boundary between ancient craft and digital culture.

Faig Ahmed, “Face It,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

Faig Ahmed, “The Knot,” 2026. Installation at La Biennale di Venezia 2026. (Photo: Riccardo Banfi)

Faig Ahmed

Faig Ahmed: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permissions to feature photos by Sapar Contemporary and Faig Ahmed Studio. 

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Marian Zazeela, La Monte Young, Jung Hee Choi, “Leeum 26 IV 29 Seoul Dream House: Sound and Light Environment.” Site-specific Installation, 2026. Sound, fresnel lights, aluminum, wood, white carpet, colored light filters, video projections, neon. Dimensions variable © Cheolki Hong.

At a moment when museums around the world are reexamining whose stories shape contemporary art history, Leeum Museum of Art in Seoul is spotlighting the women artists who helped pioneer immersive installation decades before the medium entered the mainstream canon. Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists 1956–1976 revisits a radical era in postwar art through sensory environments that dissolve the boundaries between artwork, architecture, and viewer participation.

Organized in collaboration with Munich’s Haus der Kunst, where the exhibition first debuted in 2023, the Seoul presentation expands the original project with additional works by Korean and Asian artists. Running through November 29, 2026, the show gathers reconstructed environments created between 1956 and 1976 by women artists across Europe, Asia, and the Americas, many of whom reshaped experimental art while remaining overlooked in traditional art historical narratives.

Rather than asking visitors to simply observe, the exhibition invites them to physically enter the works. Long before “installation art” became institutional language, artists used the term environment to describe immersive spaces activated through light, sound, movement, texture, and atmosphere. The exhibition traces how these experimental works emerged during the postwar decades as artists rejected the static conventions of painting and sculpture.

Among the featured artists are Brazilian Neo-Concrete pioneer Lygia Clark, Argentine conceptual artist Marta Minujín, Italian artist Nanda Vigo, and Japanese Gutai member Tsuruko Yamazaki, whose 1956 work Red is the earliest environment included in the show. Visitors move through installations composed of mirrors, translucent materials, sound frequencies, air currents, and tactile surfaces that transform the body into an active part of the artwork itself.

The exhibition also places important focus on Korean avant-garde artists, including Jung Kangja’s Muche-Jeon (Incorporeal Exhibition), an experimental work incorporating light, sound, and sensory interaction. By placing Korean practices alongside international movements, Leeum reframes immersive art history as a global conversation rather than a Western-centered narrative.

What makes the show especially compelling is its emphasis on reconstruction and archival recovery. Many of the original environments were temporary or poorly documented, requiring curators to rebuild the works through photographs, sketches, letters, and historical records. The result feels less like a conventional exhibition and more like an act of restoration, recovering a lineage of experimental practices that history often sidelined.

At a time when immersive exhibitions dominate contemporary museums and digital culture alike, Inside Other Spaces offers a deeper historical perspective on participation and sensory experience in art. More importantly, it restores visibility to the women artists whose radical experiments helped shape the immersive language contemporary audiences now take for granted.

Leeum Museum of Art’s new exhibition revisits the immersive environments women artists created between the 1950s and 1970s, long before installation art became a global phenomenon.

Tsuruko Yamazaki, “Red.” Outdoor Gutai Art Exhibition, Ashiya Park, Ashiya, Japan, 1956. Bolts, light bulbs, metal fixtures, vinyl, wires, wood. 270 × 360 x 360 cm. Reconstruction National Museum of Art, Osaka, 1985. Loan from the Estate of Tsuruko Yamazaki, courtesy of LADS Gallery, Osaka and Take Ninagawa, Tokyo, Japan © Cheolki Hong.

Jung Kangja, “Muche-Jeon (Incorporeal Exhibition).” National Public Information Center, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 1970. Artificial leather, low fog machine, colored lights, moving lights, spotlights, light bulbs, loudspeakers, artist’s voice. 500 × 500 × 500 cm. Reconstruction Leeum Museum of Art, Seoul, 2026. © Cheolki Hong.

Lygia Clark, “A casa é o corpo. Penetração, ovulação, germinação, expulsão.” Museu de Arte Moderna do Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 1968. Aluminum, balloons, balls, deforming mirror, elastic fabrics, foam, metal, PVC, wood, yarn. 332 × 720 x 226 cm. Reconstruction Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

Marta Minujín. “¡Revuelquese y viva!” Instituto Torcuato Di Tella, Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1964. Hand-painted fabric, loudspeakers, nails, sound, synthetic foam, wires, wood ca. 270 × 245 × 335 cm. Replica Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

Visitors move through reconstructed spaces filled with light, mirrors, sound, texture, and movement that transform the viewer into part of the artwork itself.

Judy Chicago, “Feather Room.” Rolf Nelson Gallery, Los Angeles, United States, 1966. Aluminum, cruelty -free goose feathers and down, fabric, LED lights. 400 × 684 × 770 cm. Replica Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

Tania Mouraud, “We used to know.” Centro Apollinaire, Milan, Italy, 1970. 500w floodlamps, glass doors, loudspeakers, rubber, sound, stainless steel, tripods, wires, wood. 381 × 515 × 422.5 cm. Replica Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

Nanda Vigo, “Ambiente cronotopico vivibile” Galleria Apollinaire, Milan, Italy, 1967. Aluminum, neon crystal tubes, patterned industrial glass, Plexiglas, switches, wood. 200 × 300 × 300 cm. Reconstruction Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

Aleksandra Kasuba, “Spectral Passage.” M. H. de Young Memorial Museum, San Francisco, United States, 1975. Cables, loudspeakers, neon tubes, nylon fabric, Plexiglas, ropes, rug, sound, wood. 550 × 1390 x 2920 cm. Reconstruction Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

Laura Grisi, “Vento di Sud-Est (Wind Speed 40 knots).” Galeria La Tartaruga, Rome, Italy, 1968. Wind machines, wood. 273 × 728 × 566 cm. Reconstruction Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

By recovering these experimental works through archival reconstruction, the exhibition restores visibility to the women artists who helped shape the future of immersive contemporary art.

Installation view of Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists 1956-1976. Leeum Museum of Art, 2026 Photo: Cheolki Hong.

Lea Lublin, “Penetración/Expulsión (del Fluvio Subtunal).” Il Bienal de Arte Coltejer, Medellin, Colombia, 1970. Foam, hooks, painted and unpainted t-shirts, pipes, TPU, radial compressor, valves, water, wood. 200 × 2000 cm (Penetración/Expulsión), 275 × 275 × 275 cm (Phalus Mobilis). Reconsturction Haus der Kunst München, 2023 © Cheolki Hong.

The exhibition brings together pioneering artists from Brazil, Japan, Argentina, Italy, and Korea, revealing how women across the world were simultaneously redefining art as a physical, immersive experience.

Installation view of Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists 1956-1976 Leeum Museum of Art, 2026. Photo: Cheolki Hong.

Marian Zazeela, La Monte Young, Jung Hee Choi, “Leeum 26 IV 29 Seoul Dream House: Sound and Light Environment.” Site-specific Installation, 2026. Sound, fresnel lights, aluminum, wood, white carpet, colored light filters, video projections, neon. Dimensions variable © Cheolki Hong.

Installation view of Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists 1956-1976. Leeum Museum of Art, 2026. Photo: Cheolki Hong.

Exhibition Information:
Inside Other Spaces: Environments by Women Artists 1956–1976
May 5–November 29, 2026
Leeum Museum of Art
60-16 Itaewon-ro 55-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea

Leeum Museum of Art: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Leeum Museum of Art. 

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“Wells Cathedral Church of St. Andrews,” 2015-2016, archival pigment print, 54 5/16 inches x 66 1/8 inches. © Markus Brunetti. Courtesy Yossi Milo, New York.

For more than two decades, German photographer Markus Brunetti has pursued a project that feels equally archaeological and photographic. Through his ongoing FACADES series, the artist documents Europe’s cathedrals, basilicas, monasteries, synagogues, and cloisters with astonishing clarity and scale. Brunetti creates architectural studies that reveal the structural ornamentation and craftsmanship embedded within centuries-old facades.

Brunetti flattens perspective and removes the optical distortion that usually accompanies towering cathedrals. Gothic spires no longer taper dramatically into the sky, and Baroque domes remain fully visible. The facades appear symmetrical and centered in frame, making them formally satisfying and aesthetically pleasing.

This precision allows viewers to study details that often disappear from street level. Sculptural programs carved into portals, rhythmic arrangements of columns and archivolts, and mosaics embedded within tympanums emerge with extraordinary clarity. Brunetti also highlights subtle transitions between Romanesque solidity and Gothic verticality. The photographs become immersive studies in masonry, geometry, and decorative systems.

The series also emphasizes the diversity of European ecclesiastical architecture. Venetian Renaissance churches differ dramatically from French Gothic cathedrals or Tuscan Romanesque basilicas. Yet Brunetti’s consistent method creates a shared visual language that makes regional distinctions easier to recognize. Marble inlays, traceried windows, sculpted saints, rose windows, and layered pediments appear not simply as decoration, but as expressions of local material culture, theology, and engineering traditions.

Born into a family of builders and architects, Brunetti developed an early sensitivity to construction and spatial design. That architectural awareness shapes every aspect of FACADES. The series rejects traditional architectural photography and instead resembles a monumental digital elevation drawing.

Brunetti assembles each image from thousands of high-resolution photographs captured meter by meter over weeks, months, and sometimes years. He and longtime collaborator Betty Schöner travel across Europe in a converted firetruck that serves as both transportation and mobile studio. This process allows them to revisit sites repeatedly under precise lighting and atmospheric conditions.

Many of the buildings featured in FACADES required centuries to complete. Brunetti mirrors that extended timeline in his own process. Some structures require multiple visits across several years because of restorations, weather conditions, tourism, or ongoing construction. His portrait of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, for instance, began in 2007 and reached completion nearly two decades later after seven separate returns to the site.

Patience ultimately becomes central to the meaning of FACADES. The series functions as more than a photographic archive of sacred architecture. It also meditates on endurance, and the way architecture accumulates history through preservation, and time. Brunetti removes modern distractions such as signage, traffic, scaffolding, and crowds. As a result, viewers encounter these structures with rare concentration. The images feel less like contemporary documents and more like idealized architectural memories.

Photographer Markus Brunetti meticulously documents Europe’s historic churches through monumental facade portraits assembled from thousands of individual photographs.

“Amiens, Cathédrale Notre-Dame,” 2009-2016, archival pigment print, 66 1/8 inches x 54 5/16 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York.

“Koln, Hohe Domkirche St. Petrus,” 2008-2014, archival pigment print, 113 3/8 inches x 54 5/16 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York.

Brunetti’s precisely stitched compositions flatten perspective to reveal intricate carvings, mosaics, columns, and Gothic ornamentation with remarkable architectural clarity.

“Roma, Basilica di San Pietro,” 2007-2026, archival pigment print, image 58 1/4 inches x 58 1/4 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York.

“Firenze, Santa Maria Novella,” 2016-2023, archival pigment print,
58 1/4 inches x 58 1/4 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York, shared with permission

Together, the images transform centuries-old cathedrals and basilicas into timeless studies of craftsmanship, preservation, and sacred design.

“Venezia, Santa Maria dei Miracoli,” 2006-2023, archival pigment print, 83 3/4 inches x 54 1/4 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York.

“Milano, Duomo di Santa Maria Nascente,” 2009-2017, archival pigment print, 54 5/16 inches x 66 1/8 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York.

“Amalfi, Duomo di Sant’Andrea Apostolo,” 2010-2026, archival pigment print, 58 1/4 x 58 1/4 inches. © Marcus Brunetti, courtesy of Yossi Milo, New York.

Exhibition Information:
FACADES IV
April 30, 2026–June 20, 2027
Yossi Milo Gallery
245 10th Ave, New York, New York, 10001, U.S.A.

Markus Brunetti: Website

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by Yossi Milo. 

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For nearly a century, Sir David Attenborough has brought viewers face to face with the natural world. Just ahead of his 100th birthday on May 8, the BBC celebrated his extraordinary legacy with a tribute video that looks back on decades of groundbreaking wildlife filmmaking.

The short film moves through Attenborough’s career with a rapid montage of archival clips, breathtaking landscapes, and unforgettable animal encounters featured throughout his documentaries. From early television broadcasts to cinematic scenes from modern productions, the video captures how both nature storytelling and Attenborough himself have shaped generations of viewers.

Rather than feeling nostalgic, the tribute is full of energy and wonder—qualities that have defined Attenborough’s work for decades. His unmistakable voice has guided audiences through oceans, deserts, jungles, and frozen landscapes, transforming environmental storytelling into something emotional, urgent, and deeply human.

The BBC’s celebration arrives as Attenborough’s influence continues to reach far beyond television. Through films and series like Planet Earth and Blue Planet, he helped inspire global conversations around conservation and climate change while reminding millions of viewers to stay curious about the planet around them.

At 100 years old, Attenborough remains one of the most beloved voices in broadcasting—and the BBC’s video is a fitting reminder of the awe, curiosity, and connection to nature that he has spent a lifetime sharing with the world.

This inspiring tribute video by the BBC celebrates Sir David Attenborough’s 100 years of life through breathtaking wildlife footage and archival moments from his legendary career.

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READ: BBC Celebrates Sir David Attenborough’s 100th Birthday With Inspiring Tribute Video

 

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A giant Converse sneaker recently appeared in Los Angeles, turning an ordinary city street into what looked like an interactive public art installation. Covered in layers of graffiti tags and handwritten messages, the oversized shoe quickly caught the internet’s attention.

The project was created in collaboration with Mixed Media and imagines the iconic sneaker as a massive graffiti-covered canvas. In the videos, crowds gather around the towering shoe and begin covering it with signatures and doodles, transforming the familiar silhouette into a constantly evolving piece of street art.

While the activation appears strikingly realistic, the project is an example of CGI-powered “fake out-of-home” advertising, often shortened to FOOH. These campaigns use visual effects to create impossible large-scale public moments designed specifically for social media engagement. In recent years, brands and creative agencies have increasingly embraced the format to produce eye-catching spectacles that blur the boundary between digital illusion and real-world environments.

The concept feels especially fitting for Los Angeles, where murals, tagging culture, skateboarding, and sneaker culture have long shaped the city’s visual identity. Rather than presenting the shoe as a pristine object, the project embraces the layered, chaotic energy associated with urban street art. Every added tag makes the sneaker feel less like an advertisement and more like a collaborative artwork created by the public itself.

The activation also aligns naturally with Converse’s longstanding relationship to self-expression and youth culture. Over the decades, the brand’s Chuck Taylor sneakers have become closely associated with artists, musicians, skaters, and DIY fashion communities around the world.

A giant Converse sneaker appeared in Los Angeles by WHY CGI and Mixed Media, transforming the iconic shoe into a graffiti-covered street art canvas.

@why.cgi Would you tag this giant @Converse shoe? #converse #whycgi #marketing ♬ original sound – WHY.CGI

Converse: Website | Instagram

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READ: Giant Converse Sneaker Becomes a Massive Graffiti Canvas in Los Angeles

Swiss watchmaking has always balanced tradition with reinvention. The new collaboration between Swatch and Audemars Piguet pushes that tension even further. Called Royal Pop, the eight-piece collection transforms the iconic Royal Oak into a colorful line of wearable pocket watches inspired by 1980s street style.

Swatch and Audemars Piguet designed the collection by blending the Royal Oak (one of the most famous luxury sports watches) with Swatch’s playful POP watches from the ’80s. The result embraces exaggerated color, modular styling, and unexpected form. Instead of traditional wristwatches, Royal Pop features Bioceramic pocket watches suspended from interchangeable cords and chains. The collection feels less like classic luxury and more like wearable Pop Art.

Each model features Swatch’s SISTEM51 mechanical movement in a hand-wound format. The octagonal bezel directly references the Royal Oak. Bold colors like electric blue, mint green, candy pink, and fiery orange give the collection a youthful energy rarely seen in Swiss luxury watchmaking.

Royal Pop also taps into fashion’s growing fascination with accessories that blur categories. Wearers can style the watches as necklaces, clip them onto garments, or display them as collectible objects. In many ways, the pieces feel closer to statement jewelry than conventional timepieces.

That fashion-forward approach helped fuel one of the year’s biggest luxury frenzies. Ahead of the May 16 release, crowds gathered outside Swatch stores in cities like New York, Paris, London, Dubai, Singapore, and Milan. Some locations temporarily closed because of overcrowding. Videos online showed overnight lines, police intervention, and chaotic scenes as collectors and resellers rushed to secure the watches.

What followed was immediate. Pieces began surfacing on resale platforms within hours, with prices climbing far beyond retail as demand outpaced availability. Swatch later clarified the collection was not limited, but by then the moment had already been defined by scarcity in practice, if not in design.

Royal Pop succeeds because it confidently embraces contradiction. The collection feels playful yet luxurious, nostalgic yet futuristic, and collectible yet accessible. Instead of preserving watchmaking tradition behind glass, Swatch and Audemars Piguet transform it into something vibrant, wearable, and deeply connected to contemporary fashion culture.

As luxury continues to intersect with streetwear, drops, and internet spectacle, Royal Pop feels less like a novelty and more like a glimpse into the future of design culture.

The new Royal Pop collection transforms Audemars Piguet’s iconic Royal Oak luxury sports watch into a series of colorful pendant-style pocket watches.

Inspired by Swatch’s playful POP watches from the 1980s, the collection embraces bold color, oversized design, and wearable styling.

Bright shades of cobalt blue, neon green, hot pink, and orange turn the classic Royal Oak into something closer to wearable Pop Art than traditional Swiss luxury.

Ahead of the May 16 release, massive crowds gathered outside Swatch stores worldwide as collectors rushed to secure the highly anticipated watches.

 

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Swatch: Website | Instagram

All images via Swatch.

Sources: Audemars Piguet & Swatch break the rules of watchmaking; Shoppers’ Frenzy for ‘Royal Pop’ Pocket Watches Forces Swatch to Shut Stores

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READ: Swatch Unveils Colorful ‘Royal Pop’ Pocket Watches and Crowds Cause a Frenzy To Get Them

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More than two decades after the original Blue Planet changed the way audiences saw the oceans, the BBC has officially announced that Sir David Attenborough will return to narrate Blue Planet III. The legendary broadcaster, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, is once again lending his unmistakable voice to what promises to be one of the most ambitious wildlife documentary series ever filmed.

The upcoming six-part series comes from the BBC Studios Natural History Unit, the same team behind landmark productions like Planet Earth, Frozen Planet, and Blue Planet II. According to the BBC, Blue Planet III pushes underwater filmmaking further than ever before through new technologies such as splash drones, long-term remote underwater cameras, and specialized “mini dome” systems that capture behaviors previously impossible to film. The BBC announced the series during David Attenborough’s 100 Years on Planet Earth, a special event held at London’s Royal Albert Hall to celebrate Attenborough’s centenary. During the tribute, audiences watched a first glimpse of the forthcoming series alongside footage of Attenborough back in the recording booth.

When The Blue Planet first aired in 2001, it became a defining moment in nature filmmaking, bringing viewers face-to-face with deep-sea creatures and underwater ecosystems many had never encountered before. Its 2017 follow-up, Blue Planet II, created an even wider cultural impact and helped spark global conversations about plastic pollution through haunting images of marine life affected by human waste.

Now, Blue Planet III aims not only to showcase the beauty and mystery of the oceans, but also stories of resilience and recovery. The BBC says the series will explore five major marine environments: tropical seas, open oceans, seasonal seas, polar waters, and the deep ocean. A final episode titled Future Seas will focus on ocean conservation and the urgent steps needed to protect marine ecosystems for future generations.

For many viewers, Attenborough’s return carries emotional weight beyond the series itself. Across nearly eight decades of broadcasting, he has become one of the world’s most recognizable voices, transforming nature documentaries into cinematic experiences that inspire both awe and environmental awareness. Even at 100 years old, he continues to champion the natural world with the same curiosity and urgency that shaped his earliest work.

While an official premiere date has not yet been confirmed, the BBC has stated that Blue Planet III will air later this year on BBC One, iPlayer, and BBC America.

Sir David Attenborough is returning to the oceans for the BBC’s highly anticipated Blue Planet III.

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The groundbreaking new series will use advanced underwater filmmaking technology to capture marine life and ocean ecosystems in unprecedented detail.

 

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READ: David Attenborough Will Return To Narrate the BBC Series ‘Blue Planet III’