Not only can travelling be a source of inspiration, sometimes it also helps to release the inner-artist hiding in each and every one of us. That’s what happened to these 7 travellers who have unleashed their creativity outside of their comfort zone, either to spread awareness or simply to spice up the already-fulfilling adventure of wandering the world.
The Irish guy who’s mastered the animal selfie
Meet Allan Dixon, a 29 year old from Ireland whose hobby involves squishing his face next to adorable animals in the bid for the perfect animal selfie. Allan calls himself an “animal whisperer” since he’s a pro at befriending any creature no matter how big or small, and says the bonding process takes “anywhere between five minutes to three hours”.
The Belgian visual artist collective humanising the refugee crisis
On a more serious note, meet the Belgian visual artist collective Schellekens & Peleman, who showcased a massive 6 meter high “Inflatable Refugee” around Europe. The reason? Simple: capture the public’s attention and spark debate on the current refugee crisis. The duo were keen to raise awareness about the refugee struggle and the fact that it can be so easy to dehumanise the plight of people, and so created the colossal figure to really get people thinking not just about the crisis as one big issue, but the people who are affected by it. The creators also chose the mammoth size to “match the extreme reactions his arrival in the Western world would evoke, either as a huge threat or a big opportunity”. One thing’s for sure, their boat was not left unnoticed.
The Danish creative who builds urban birdhouses
For the bird lovers out there, why not follow Thomas Dambo’s footsteps and sculpt your way around the world? In the past 7 years, this Danish artist with a passion for feathered creatures has built more than 3500 birdhouses (all from recycled materials) in various urban areas worldwide. Through this unusual project he aims to fuel the belief that us humans should strive in coexisting more peacefully with other living species. After all, we do tend to forget we’re not the only inhabitants of this wild world…
The paper genius reimagining your favourite landmarks
Meet “Paperboyo”, the imaginative traveller who cleverly incorporates paper cut-outs into real life scenarios to wonderful effect. After noticing his Instagram account’s blooming popularity, Paperboyo decided it was time to take his talent global. His crafty skills have taken him from New York to Sydney to Iceland, with no sign of slowing down any time soon.
The street artist who’s all about the bees
Some people have truly un-bee-lievable dreams, like this graffiti artist from New York who aims to personally paint 50,000 bees in a series of murals throughout the continents. Why this massive number? Well, that’s just how many bees it takes to sustain a healthy beehive. So far, the muralist Matthew Willey has completed 7 murals for a project he entitled “The Good of the Hive”, and about 50 murals will be used in total to portray ALL those buzzing insects. The idea is both creative AND meaningful since it intends to raise awareness about the importance of honeybees, who play an essential part in our ecosystem and whose population is currently on the decline.
The body painter who creates “invisible men”
Meet body artist Trina Merry, who creates surreal-looking scenes through live painting performances. One of her most interesting projects consisted of painting “invisible men” to make them magically blend with 5 of the 7 modern wonders of the world. This camouflage (that took about 8 hours to create) resulted in an incredible photo series where body and background seem to merge into one.
The German lego lover adding colour to the world
Jan Vormann is a German Lego lover who spends hours repairing broken walls by adding these iconic plastic constructions to fill in the gaps around the world. Why, you may ask? “Because nobody enjoys living in dull cities and it’s not only kids that can imagine a more colourful world – adults can too!”. Jan, you have our full support, so go ahead and make the world a cool AF gaming platform. If you want to help a dreamer out and pave the way to a rainbow-like world, submit your lego work to Jan here.
