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An Experiment on a Bird in the Air Pump is a 1768 oil-on-canvas painting by Joseph Wright of Derby, part of a series of candlelit scenes that Wright painted during the 1760s. The Air Pump departed from previous painting conventions by depicting a scientific subject in the reverential manner formerly reserved for scenes of historical or religious significance. Wright was intimately involved in depicting the Industrial Revolution and the scientific advances of the Enlightenment, but while his paintings were recognized as something out of the ordinary by his contemporaries, his provincial status and choice of subjects meant the style was never widely imitated. The picture has been owned by the National Gallery, London since 1863 and is still regarded as a masterpiece of British art.

The painting depicts a natural philosopher, a forerunner of the modern scientist, recreating one of Robert Boyle's air pump experiments, in which a bird is deprived of oxygen, before a varied group of onlookers. The group exhibits a variety of reactions, but for most of the audience scientific curiosity overcomes concern for the bird. The central figure looks out of the picture as if inviting the viewer's participation in the outcome.

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Credit: by Haloeffect (edited by Blaise Frazier)

A fire twirler with staff. Fire dancing is a group of performance arts or disciplines that involve manipulation of objects on fire. Typically these objects have one or more bundles of wicking, which are soaked in fuel and ignited.

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Gwen Renée Stefani (born October 3, 1969) (pronounced /ˈgwɛn stɛˈfɑːni/), is an American singer, songwriter, fashion designer, and occasional actress. Stefani fronts the rock/ska punk band No Doubt, whose 1995 album Tragic Kingdom propelled them to stardom, selling 16 million copies worldwide. It spawned the singles "Just a Girl", "Spiderwebs", and "Don't Speak". The band's popularity went into decline with its fourth album, Return of Saturn (2000), but Rock Steady (2001) introduced reggae production into its music, and generally received positive reviews.

Stefani recorded her first solo album Love. Angel. Music. Baby. in 2004. The album was primarily inspired by music of the 1980s, taking Stefani's work further into more pop and dance music, and enjoyed international success with sales of over seven million. The album's third single "Hollaback Girl" became the first U.S. digital download to sell one million copies. Stefani's second solo album The Sweet Escape (2006) yielded "Wind It Up", a moderate worldwide success, and "The Sweet Escape". She won the World's Best-Selling New Female Artist at the World Music Awards 2005.

Did you know...

• ... that John Buckler created 13,000 drawings and paintings of historic British buildings, such as Ely Cathedral?
• ... that the album title Even Heroes Need a Parachute was chosen to emphasize "the common ground that all humans share"?
• ... that the North German baroque organ in Örgryte Nya Kyrka‎ is the largest meantone organ in the world?
• ... that New York abstract painter Dennis Ashbaugh is one of the first artists to employ DNA marking patterns in paintings?
• ... that Ronald Ribman's play The Journey of the Fifth Horse, based on a short story by Ivan Turgenev, won an Obie Award and starred a young Dustin Hoffman?
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1. This scheme does not use sub-categories such as: Fine arts, Applied arts, Spatial arts, Plastic arts etc etc, which may be difficult to define.

2. The list of items in each of the four main sections is open-ended.

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