Thanks, Wikipedia: Codpieces, Syndromes, and Space

by Henry Kaye on July 23, 2014 Wikipedia

 

Cod-Piece_by_Wendelin_Boeheim

All too frequently, we here at Art F City get pulled into Wikipedia K-holes. A page on physics and the colors of noise can link to a page on how the television works, which in turn links to a page on American Idol. In short, we find some weird shit.

So here, in our very first “Thanks, Wikipedia” post, we’ve parsed through the weird art-related articles to find, well, the weirdest art-related articles.

Please, enjoy these three articles, only a few of all that the digital encyclopedia has to offer:

  • Stendhal Syndrome: a psychosomatic condition (relating to the body and mind) in which patients experience rapid heartbeat, dizziness, fainting, confusion and even hallucinations when confronted with immense beauty in the natural world. This often happens when a patient experiences something of personal significance, most usually art.
  • Fallen Astronaut: This is the only sculpture residing on the moon. It commemorates astronauts and cosmonauts who have died in the advancement of space exploration. The idea came to be after artist Paul Van Hoeydonick met astronaut David Scott at a dinner party.
  • Codpiece: Check out the one with the little face. King Henry VIII owned 369 codpieces, according to his inventory. And even though he didn’t own any paintings, mostly just objects of war (armor, ships, weapons), he makes up for it with these. 

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