The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) not only stops travelers from bringing dangerous and prohibited items onto airplanes, but it also tallies the finds.
And the agency shares information about some of the more unusual items that show up at the security checkpoints on social media.
For some reason, many travelers pack guns in their carry-on bags. And the number keeps going up.
In the first quarter of 2023, TSA officers found 1,508 guns at checkpoints. That’s 10.3% more than the same period in 2022.
Fake guns and ammunition – even replica versions can’t fly either
Stop it with all those sharp things
It’s not just guns. Check out these sharp objects travelers tried to bring on airplanes, and TSA’s cutting remarks about them.
The collection is now worth millions of dollars and includes work by many noted artists, including Frank Stella, Louis Nevelson, Robert Rauschenberg and many local and regional artists.
One of the more fun and fantastical works is by the MacArthur genius award-winning artist Trimpin.
And it is one of my favorites.
“On: Matter, Monkeys and the King,” is a colorful, 80-foot-long, Rube Goldberg-style kinetic musical contraption that can – once again – be found in Concourse A at Sea-Tac airport.
According to the airport art tour, Trimpin’s airport installation is a metaphor for the movement of travelers throughout the airport.
The mulimedia and kinetic piece is intended to depict “what sound looks like.” Two interactive mobile “contraptions,” as Trimpin calls them, are constructed from found objects. The work is witty and charming, embodying both sound and rhythm. The colorful shapes you see on the roof modulate in different ways the sound originating from within the glass case.
Here’ a short video of Trimpin describing the piece – and the work in action.
The work is charming. It is witty. And it is very complicated. And, sadly, it stopped working a while back.
For months the piece stood still. Then parts start disappearing. Then the 80-foot long glass case was empty. And I was pretty sure it wasn’t coming back.
But it did! Trimpin returned to the airport a few weeks back and fixed it.
Thank-you!
(All photos courtesy Port of Seattle/Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, and Trimpin)
Murmur No. 23, by Richard Barnes. Courtey SFO Museum
The SFO Museum at San Francisco International Airport is hosting an exhibition of photographs by Richard Barnes of starlings over Rome.
Barnes photographs the starlings during their winter migration from northern Europe to the Rome countryside. He waits till dusk, when the birds form dense cloud-like formations known as murmurations, and in his “Murmur” series Barnes has captured the starlings forming impressive aerial shapes.
Look for the Murmur exhibit pre-security on the Departures Level in Terminal 3 of the San Francisco International Airport.
Murmur No. 21 , by Richard Barnes. Courtesy SFO Museum
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport has kicked off a new program, Celebrations at Sea-Tac, to honor holidays, traditions and cultures from the United Stations and global community.
The celebrations begin November with 1 for Dia de los Muertos, or the “Day of the Dead,” a Mexican holiday honoring and remembering loved ones.
Activities will include art installations, candy skull face painting and arts and crafts for children, food and beverage sampling and live performances.
Titled “Livery,” the exhibition includes paintings inspired by the livery and components of commercial airlines. Look for this exhibit near the A Concourse entrance in Terminal 1.
Loran Naviagation by Jeremy Rabus; courtesy STL Airport