Philadelphia, Pennsylvania: Giant Glowing Paintbrush

This giant Claes-Oldenburg-designed paint brush stands 51 feet tall and is sticking out of Lenfest Plaza next to the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. Our only disappointment is that we visited during the day -- and at night it is supposed to glow from internal LED lighting, thus its official name, "Paint Torch."

The paintbrush pokes out towards the street, so it was neat to just be turning a corner and see the brush sticking out. The base of the brush is located in a nice little alley with benches where business people were eating their lunch, and hippies were hula hooping.

I've heard that the brush and paint light up, but when we visited it was around noon, so if they were lighting up, we couldn't tell.

Titled "Paint Torch," it's a 2011 example of gigantism from Claes Oldenburg, who's been supersizing everyday objects and calling it art since the 1970s. The brush weighs four tons, it's five stories tall, and it leans at a normally perilous 60 degree angle from where its handle is jammed into the sidewalk. On the pavement is a six-foot tall blob of "paint," and the paint on the brush and the paint blob are lit from within by synchronized LEDs. Oldenburg believes this suggests that the sculpture is "breathing."