Tourism Slogan "It's More Fun In The Philippines" Hits The Streets of New York City

The latest campaign slogan of the Philippine Department of Tourism, "It's more fun in the Philippines" hits New York City. Spotted yesterday in the Flatiron District was a Dongbu Tour bus sporting the slogan and colorful photos of attractions in the Philippines. During the last Philippine Independence Day parade, there was also a colorful float for the campaign. The Department of Tourism is aggressively pushing the "It's more fun in the Philippines" slogan to the international community.

Mad. Sq. Eats

Mad. Sq. Eats returns this spring at Worth Square next to Madison Square Park in the Flatiron district. The event is a month-long food market bringing back food vendors including Roberta's, Bar Suzette, Resto, Sigmund Pretzelshop, Piccolo Cafe, P & H Soda Co., Eataly, Nunu Chocolates, and Calexico. The event runs from May 6th to June 3rd and is open 11am to 9pm everyday.

'Tis the Season for Kissing Under the Mistletoe in the Flatiron Pedestrian Plaza

A pair of live, 10-foot high, 30-inch round mistletoe was hung for two days (December 12-13) in the pedestrian plaza at 23rd Street and 5th Avenue near the Flatiron building. The event was a promotion for FindYourFaceMate.com, a dating site that uses facial recognition technology to help members find a mate. Kissing was encouraged under the mistletoe. For every kiss under the mistletoe, FindYourFaceMate.com will donate $1 to Operation Smile, an international charity that provides free reconstructive surgery for children with facial deformities such as cleft lip and cleft palate.

Paper Cup Drawings by Gwyneth Leech at the Flatiron Prow Artspace

The glass-walled ground floor of the iconic triangular Flatiron Building has been converted by Sprint into an art exhibit space called The Flatiron Prow Artspace. The gallery has been showcasing artwork that is as unique and engaging as the building itself, emphasizing pieces that reflect the company's commitment to eco-friendly living, technology and interaction. The current exhibit features the work of Gwyneth Lynch called "Hypergraphia: The Cup Drawings" – illustrations on upcycled take-out paper coffee cups, inspired by mobile technology and the rapid pace of 21st century life. The artist works in the display space five days a week, Tuesdays to Saturdays (11:00 AM - 2:00 PM) illustrating coffee cups, visible to viewers. Since 2007, Gwyneth's drawing surface of choice is the cardboard coffee cup. She turns coffee cups into  beautiful works of art using the jet-black India ink of her Rotring art pen as well as the earthy colors of Faber and Castelli brush pens.  The exhibition runs through December 31, 2011. For more information about the artist, visit her website here.

Flatiron Building Art: Miles Neidinger's "Everything We See Is Never Enough"

On display at the Sprint Store in the Flatiron Building is Kansas native Miles Neidinger' artwork called "Everything we see is never enough". The piece is made of twist ties, vinyl tape, yarn, cellophane paper and hair tinsel. This work is a commentary on consumerist excess , and is the first piece in Sprint's "Art in the Prow" series of installations in the Flatiron Building, which is located at 175 Fifth Avenue.

Antony Gormley's EVENT HORIZON: Nude Sculptures On Rooftops

These are some of rooftop installations of the 30 life-size iron cast sculptures by celebrated British artist, ANTONY GORMLEY in the Flatiron District of Manhattan. The sculptures were cast from his own body, and are currently on display along pathways and sidewalks of Madison Square Park, as well as the rooftops of many architectural icons in the area. The public art installation is presented by Mad. Sq. Art 2010, and runs through August 15. 

“I’m thrilled to be working with New York: people and place,” says artist Antony Gormley. “I don’t know what is going to happen, what it will look and feel like, but I want to play with the city and people’s perceptions. My intention is to get the sculptures as close to the edge of the buildings as possible. The field of the installation should have no defining boundary. The gaze is the principle dynamic of the work; the idea of looking and finding, or looking and seeking, and in the process perhaps re-assessing your own position in the world. So in encountering these peripheral things, perhaps one becomes aware of one’s status of embedment.”

Antony Gormley's Nude Sculpture at the Flatiron District's Madison Square Park

Gormley's nude sculpture with the Empire State Building in the background

The sculpture and the Flatiron Building

One of the 31 body form sculptures by artist ANTONY GORMLEY is installed at Madison Square Park in Manhattan's Flatiron District, right in front of the iconic Flatiron Building. The sculpture is part of an outdoor exhibition called Event Horizon, which runs from March 26 through August 15. The nude sculpture is made of iron, cast from Gormley's own body. The 31 life-size iron and fiberglass figures are scattered in peripheral areas of the park - rooftops and nearby sidewalks streaming with pedestrians. Antony Gormley (born 1950) is an English sculptor.