Like a scene from a fantasy movie, a dilapidated room that appears to have been literally ripped out of a building remains suspended in mid air above Nantes, France. Its walls were torn apart, revealing bricks below the plaster, and wood floors reveal the joists inside. The floating room is accessible via a ladder. The gravity defying surreal installation is the work of Argentinean artist Leandro Erlich. The large-scale piece, called “Monte-meubles – L’ultime déménagement” (literally - The Furniture Lift – The Ultimate Moving Out), was created for the biannual Le Voyage a Nantes, an art festival which turns the entire French city into an art gallery.

Cordwood construction is a method of natural building that originated roughly one thousand years ago in Greece and Siberia. This method involves using pieces of wood that slightly protrude from the mortar, giving the walls an attractive appearance. Usually, the walls are made 12 to 24 inches thick. However, in some parts of Canada, the walls can be as thick as 36 inches. This method appeals to many people due to its ease of construction economy of resources. Cordwood Construction can be separated into two main types: mortar-insulation-mortar (M-I-M) and Throughwall. M-I-M is a more preferable and widely used choice as it allows for better insulating properties.

More great and peculiar work from Chicago based sculptor Jessica Joslin. Joslin assembles her hybrid creatures from objects found in obscure junk shops, flea markets, attics, taxidermy supply houses, specialty hardware distributors…or even just walking through the woods. “Miniature machine bolts, springs and couplings comprise anatomical structures. Many of the beasts have hidden movements: a spring loaded beak, snapping jaws, jointed legs and adjustable tails. Some creatures are free-standing but have mechanisms to allow for movement or multiple positions.”

A motorway bridge crosses the icy Hunhe River in Shenyang, China on December 12, 2019. (Photo by Costfoto/Barcroft Media)

A woman stands on the footbridge over the river Garry near Pitlochry, Scotland, Britain on October 10, 2018. (Photo by Russell Cheyne/Reuters)

Musician Simon Desorgher walks his giant sphere on the foreshore of the River Thames after a rehearsal for a performance of “Water Cycle for flute and sound system” on the river on September 11, 2009 in London, England. (Photo by Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images)

Women stand on the “martyrs' bridge” spanning the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq, Friday, February 24, 2023. (Photo by Jerome Delay/AP Photo)

Two scavengers collect plastics in the Citarum river in Bandung, West Java on March 28, 2023. (Photo by Timur Matahari/AFP Photo)