• In October, vandals in Paris destroyed the large, inflatable "Tree" by U.S. artist Paul McCarthy in the city's Place Vendome square, but not before it became widely characterized as a gigantic green "plug" of the type used for anal sexual stimulation. Paris' news website The Local reported in December that the controversy has been a boon to the city's sex shops. "We used to sell around 50 (plugs) a month," said one wholesaler. "Since the controversy, we've moved more than a thousand" (at the equivalent of $23 to $45, in materials ranging from glass to stainless steel to silicone). [The Local (Paris), 12-2-2014]
• Overthinking It: It was billed as the first-ever art exhibition expressly for nonhuman appreciation -- specifically, for examination by octopuses. England's Brighton Sea Life Center featured the five-tank shared display in November (including a bunch of grapes, a piece of Swiss cheese and a plate of spaghetti -- exhibits made of ceramic, plastic, wood and rope) that the center's curator promised would, according to an ITV report, "stimulate an octopus's natural curiosity about color, shape and texture." [Independent Television (London), 11-5-2014]
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