Posts Tagged ‘Art’

The Wonderful Cardboard Sculptures of Chris Gilmour

November 20th, 2009 Spooky

Chris Gilmour is a world famous artist who creates representations of every-day objects from cardboard.

You may have seen cardboard art before, but the level of detail and complexity of Mr. Gilmour’s works is simply breathtaking. Although he also works with “dirty cardboard” (salvaged from packaging cardboard boxes with labels and common writings), his “clean cardboard” pieces are he most astonishing. People often have the impression his cardboard sculptures are actually real objects wrapped in paper.

Take a look at some of his most famous masterpieces and be sure to pick your jaw off the floor.

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Mike Stilkey’s Incredible Book Paintngs

November 20th, 2009 Spooky

Mike Stilkey is an artist from Alta Dena, California, who creates amazing works of art by stacking spine-painted books.

Mike had been drawing on book pages for a very long time, even publishing a book with 100 portraits painted on old book pages, called “100 Portraits”, when he realized it would be a good idea to paint on the book covers themselves.

His plan was to paint the books and then place them all against the wall, but he eventually got it in his mind that painting the book spines would be even better.He wasn’t very impressed with his first work, but when he presented it during the second Artist’s Annual group show, it got quite a lot of attention. Now his book paintings made Mike Stilkey one of the most respected artists of his generation

Photos by Dave Kinsey

via Fecal Face

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This Is What They Call Coffins in Ghana

November 19th, 2009 Spooky

These are the famous “fantasy coffins” used by the Ga Tribe, on the coast of Ghana to both mourn and celebrate the death of a beloved family member or friend.

The tradition of burying people in strangely-shaped coffins began roughly 50 years ago when a fisherman was set to rest in a funeral casket shaped like a fish. Ever since then photographers have been buried in camera-shaped coffins, people who like to drink in caskets shaped like beer bottles and avid smokers, you guessed it, in cigarette-like wooden coffins.

Families of the deceased spend enormous amounts of cash on these intricate caskets, sometimes even as much as $600. Sure, that may not seem like a lot to you, but in a country where the average income is somewhere around $50/month that’s a lot of money. The wealthier relatives usually put up  the most part of the sum with the rest of the families providing the rest.

The coffins of the Ga tribe symbolize the essence of the deceased, his profession, a vice or his place in the community.

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Delicious-Looking Edible Chocolate Couch

November 18th, 2009 Spooky

Entitled “You Can’t Have Your Cake and Eat It Too”, the chocolate couch was created by Argentinian artist Leandro Erlich for an art-exhibit appropriately named “Let Them Eat Art”.

The chocolaty art-piece was covered in a thick layer of chocolate that not only made it look like a brown leather couch, but also feel like one. All the couch details, including buttons and stitching were made from chocolate.

That chocolate couch looks so real I bet there was someone at the gallery door telling visitors not to sit on it.

via mocoloco

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Steampunk Animals by James Corbett, The Car Part Sculptor

November 17th, 2009 Spooky

James Corbett takes used card parts and, using them like pieces in a puzzle, creates amazing steampunk sculptures.

Corbett showed artistic talent ever since he was a little boy. Colleagues at his Redcliff school would always tell him he’d grow up to be an artist. But, at 36 years old James was running a motor wrecking business. That’s when he started welding together a bunch of car parts and awakened the dormant talent inside. In just 18 months he closed his wrecking business and became a full-time artist.

James Corbet says he makes these original sculptures because he can and it would be a shame to waste his God-given talent. The Car Part Sculptor has exhibited his works in galleries all across the world.

via John Davies Gallery

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World’s Largest Matchstick Eiffel Tower

November 13th, 2009 Spooky

The Matchstick Eiffel Tower built by Lebanese Tofic Daher was acknowledged by Guinness Book of Records as the largest in the world.

Tofic Daher, a disabled but talented craftsman who spends his days in a wheelchair managed to create the most impressive matchstick replica of France’s most popular landmark. Tofic worked over 2,316 hours on his matchstick masterpiece, over a period of 4 years.

The wooden Eiffel Tower has a base of 190×190, a height of 6.53 meters  and it’s made out of six million matchsticks. To make it even more impressive, Mr. Daher covered his work in 6,240 tiny lamps and 23 flasher lamps. he estimates he spent around $11,000 building the tower.

The world’s largest matchstick Eiffel Tower was unveiled on November 11,  at the City Mall, in Beirut.

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The ASUS Motherboard Mona Lisa

November 12th, 2009 Spooky

The technological masterpiece on display inside the ASUS headquarters in Peitou, Taiwan, is a tribute to Leonardo da Vinci’s work and represents the company’s pledge to support “any kind of crazy ideas”

The Techno Mona Lisa may not look as detailed as the classic painting, but there’s a good reason for that. As you probably know, ASUS is the world’s biggest motherboard manufacturer in the world and they decided to celebrate that by recreating a famous work of art using motherboard components and computer chips. I’m not sure exactly sure how many motherboards were used in the process, but it’s definitely a fine piece of geek art.

via Wired

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Is That A Dragon on Your Back?!?

November 11th, 2009 Spooky

It certainly looks like a dragon biting on this dude’s shoulder, but he doesn’t seem at all alarmed, does he?

That’s probably because the thing on his back is just a backpack. But it’s by far the most awesome backpack I’ve ever seen! Called the Dragon Backpack, this masterpiece was designed by a young artist by the name of Bob Basset, from Kharkov, Ukraine. Be sure to check his website for more cool stuff.

I keep staring at these photos, but I can’t get over how cool this thing looks…

via bookofjoe

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Eatable Bread Shoes

November 6th, 2009 Spooky

Designed by twin brothers Remigijus and Egidijus Praspaliauskas, the Bread Shoes may not be very practical but they are perfect as wacky gifts.

Every pair is unique and they come in a variety of designs, sizes and bread doughs. Bread Shoes are available for purchase at Da Da Da Studio. Each pair costs 22 euros plus a 5 euro shipping tax. Come on folks, get’em while they’re hot!

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The Anamorphosis Works of Bernard Pras

November 3rd, 2009 Spooky

Bernard Pras is considered one of the strangest, most original artists of our generation. He creates art by stacking ordinary objects on a piece of canvas, a process known as anamorphosis.

56-year-old Pras was born in 1952, in the south-west of France and spent his childhood in a toy-store. He later began working as a painter and sculptor of recovered objects. After a short career as an art teacher he came up with a new form of expressing himself some people call “trash-art”.

Starting from a photograph, Bernard Pras creates amazing pieces of art, by adding ordinary objects like used toys, tools, pieces of rubber, or whatever else you can think of. From up-close his works look like nothing more than random stacks of stuff, but from a certain angle and distance, they reveal their true beauty.

Photos by vvdm-gallery

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The LEGO World of Nathan Sawaya

November 2nd, 2009 Spooky

Nathan Sawaya, a 36-year-old former lawyer has stunned the world with his incredible LEGO artworks.

If giving up a successful career in law that paid a six figure salary, to follow a childhood dream doesn’t spell passion, then I don’t know what does. That’s exactly what Nathan Sawaya did, but he managed to build himself another career brick by brick and now he sells his LEGO masterpieces for thousands of dollars.

Right now, Nathan has an inventory of 1.5 million LEGO bricks to use on his sculptures, at his New York studio and says his largest artwork was made up of about half-a-million bricks. His LEGO works are now as valuable as they are beautiful, selling for more than $10,000 each.

After posting his early work on the internet, Nathan Sawaya started getting orders for his art and realized the huge potential of his work. Now he has even created a piece for Donald Trump. he believes there is nothing he can’t create out of LEGO.

This isn’t the first time Nathan Sawaya’s work has been featured on Oddity Central, we posted some photos of his amazing LEGO cello, a while back.

via Telegraph.co.uk

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10 Cool Examples of Airplane Tail Art

November 2nd, 2009 Spooky

Airlines have found an artistic way of attracting clients, by covering tails of their airplanes with gorgeous paintings. Airline Post has come up with a list of the ten coolest painted airplane tails in the world.

10. British Airways – Ethnic Livery

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Stephen Wiltshire,Autistic Artist,Known As “The Human Camera”

October 30th, 2009 Spooky

Stephen Wiltshire, who is autistic,drew in detail a 7 square-mile area of London from his own memory after just a 20 minutes flight with the helicopter over the city.The artist has amazed everyone by drawing hundreds of London’s buildings in exact scale, such as the Swiss Re tower or Canary Wharf  on a 13ft curving canvas in 5 days.

Stephen,actually named as “the human camera”,was diagnosed with autism at the age of three.At that early age he was unable to make himself understood.Some teachers from Queensmill, a school in Fulham for special needs children,forced him to shout “Paper!!!” by taking away his materials and then he managed to develop language skills by learning words related to his work.Now,at the age of 33,Stephen Wiltshire is capable to communicate with others,leading an independent life.

Via DailyMail

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China’s Toilet Seat Waterfall

October 20th, 2009 Spooky

The Toilet Seat Waterfall, a bizarre art project made up of thousands of recycled toilet seats, urinals, and sinks, attracts visitors to Foshan, in South China’s Gunagdong Province.

The 100-meter-long, 5-meter-tall Toilet Seat Waterfall was created out of approximately 10,000 toilet accessories, like urinals, toilet seats and sinks. It is a part of a local tradeshow for pottery and porcelain products.

via ImagineChina

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Hello Kitty Made Out of Hello Kitty

October 20th, 2009 Spooky

I really don’t get why Hello Kitty is so popular these days, I really don’t, but people keep coming up with various Hello Kitty-themed stuff.

The latest Hello Kitty project comes from designer Jason Mecier, who recreated the popular Japanese character from various Hello Kitty items. Toys, clothes and tons of other accessories come together to form a hideously pink, giant Hello Kitty. Disgusting, but I’m sure there are plenty of girls out there who love it.

via If it’s hip it’s here

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Chinese Artist Makes World’s Largest Paintbrush

October 6th, 2009 Spooky

He Wenjun, an artist from China, was recognized by Guinness Book of Records for creating the world’s largest paintbrush.

The artist claims he used the tails of 300 horses to make the 12-foot brush, which weighs 115 lb and almost double that when it is soaked in ink. He Wenjun said it took him a year to make the brush and another year to learn how to control it.

The proud new Guinness record holder took part in a special exhibition in Nanchong, where he displayed his calligraphy talents, using the giant paintbrush.

Photos by CEN via Europics

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The Ideal Palace

October 2nd, 2009 Spooky

Le Palais Ideal is one of the most popular examples of naive art architecture, built by Ferdinand Cheval, a French Postman, over a period of 33 years.

Cheval began building his Ideal Palace in April 1879. While he was on the job, the postman tripped over a stone and was impressed by its unusual shape. Inspired by the stone, he returned the following day and started gathering more rocks and putting them in his pockets. Over time he began carrying them in baskets and then, in a wheelbarrow.

With no architectural skills whatsoever, Ferdinand Cheval managed to build his Ideal Palace, combining several styles and using the Bible and Hingu mythology as inspiration. He spent 20 years on the outer walls alone, binding the stones together with lime, mortar and cement and decorating them with all sorts of chapel and temple models.

Cheval wanted to be buried in his Palais Ideal, but French law didn’t allow it. So he spent the last years of his life building himself an intricate mausoleum, in the cemetery of Hauterives. His palace was recognized as a masterpiece and is now a cultural landmark and one of France’s popular tourist attractions.

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Hairdresser Makes Model of Tiananmen Square from Human Hair

September 28th, 2009 Spooky

Huang Xin, a hairdresser from Beijing has created replicas of monuments and famous buildings around Tiananmen Square, using discarded human hair.

I’ve seen some pretty impressive models throughout the years, including a plywood helicopter, a matchstick Minas Tirith or a toothpick city, but never anything made from human hair. But, they say there’s a first time for everything, so today I stumbled over some photos of famous Chinese buildings made entirely from human hair.

Huang Xin, a young Chinese hairdresser wanted to celebrate the 60th anniversary of People’s Republic of China in a unique manner and used his talent to do it. Using discarded human hair, mostly from women, he spent almost an entire year creating some very impressive models of Tiananmen Square.

photos via ImagineChina

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Disney’s Biggest Fan

September 28th, 2009 Spooky

George Reiger considers himself Disney’s number one fan and to prove it, he has covered most of his body with over 1,900 Disney tattoos.

When people ask George Reiger why he has almost 2,000 tattoos relating to Disney, his answers that Disney practically raised him when he was a child and he wanted to have Mickey and the entire Magical Kingdom with him everywhere he went. George had his first tattoo, Fantasia Mickey, when he was just 18 years old. By the time he turned 20, he already had 80 Disney tattoos.

That’s when he went to the company’s owners and asked them for permission to have even more characters permanently inked on his skin. Disney agreed to let him become a walking Disney canvas, as long as he used just one tattoo artist for every one of his tattoos and didn’t make any money from them. He agreed and went one to cover about 85% of his body with Disney characters and settings. He has 4-5 new tattoos done every week.

To George Reiger, nothing is more important than Disney. That’s probably why he’s currently at wife number 6, with all six honeymoons spent at Walt Disney World. He lives in a Disney-themed house, full of over 24,000 Disney collector’s items.

He admits that it’s pretty bizarre for a 50-year-old man to be covered in tattoos of children’s characters, but this is what makes him happy. He spends around $50,000 on Disney every year and when he dies, he wants his ashes spread over the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, so he can live in Wald Disney World forever.

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The Glittering World of Liza Lou

September 24th, 2009 Spooky

Also known as “The Queen of Beads”, Liza Lou is considered one of the most original artists of our time. She has created unique artworks by covering common surfaces with thousands, even millions of glass beads.

Liza Lou first shocked the world in 1996, when she presented her first major work, “Kitchen”. It took the artist five years to cover every inch of a normal kitchen with glass beads, including the water in the sink and the dirty dishes. In 1999 she went even further, creating “Backyard”, a masterpiece for which she used over thirty million beads. Most of  them have been used to create the 250,000 blades of grass making up the lawn.

She has often been criticized, called “obsessive”, “second-hand jeweler” and some went as far as to say her beading work isn’t real art. But the genius grant she received from The MacArthur Foundation, in 2002, silenced most of her critics.

Liza Lou’s art may look amazing, but it came with a high price for the artist. She was diagnosed with acute tendinitis while she was working on “Kitchen”, because she applied every glass bead individually, using tweezers. She uses only beads brought in from the Czech Republic and considers them the most beautiful beads in the world.

Photos via Pamrubert

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