No, Ms. Kleivan is not a fan of dictatorship, she just used this opportunity to show that evil is present in all of us, no matter how innocent we may look. The idea for this unusual art project came to Nina after she suffered some complications from her pregnancy,and was forced to spend some time at home.

Away from her art studio, the artist chose her young daughter, Faustina, as a canvas. Looking at her, Nina started contemplating on the idea that each human being starts with a clean slate and has the opportunity to do good or bad, in life. “Even my daughter could end up ruling Denmark with an iron fist. The possibility is still there,” she says.

Her Potency photo-series features Faustina dressed as some of the most ruthless dictators in history, including the likes of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin, Benito Mussolini, Saddam Hussein and Augusto Pinochet. Nina Maria Kleivan said “Hitler and Stalin were the most hard to do. It hurt.”

Like the Childzilla series, Potency may be comical, but it’s meant to have people ponder on where evil comes from.

via AOLnews

Adolf Hitler and Idi Amin

Josef Stalin and Augusto Pinochet

Benito Mussolini and Mao Zedong

The Death Star cantaloupe isn’t very new, It was showcased for the first time in 2008, on the Evil Scientist blog, together with hints on how to make your own. Apparently, all you need is the cantaloupe, a pen knife and five minutes. Placed against the right background, the Death Star cantaloupe looks just as deadly as the real thing, but it’s much tastier.

The Death Star watermelon needs a bit more carving, because it doesn’t have the texture advantages of the cantaloupe, but the end result is even more impressive, and just as tasty. Unfortunately, both organic Death Stars are very vulnerable, even without that damned exhaust port.

via Kuriositas

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]

Mallakhamb originated in Maharastra, India, during the 12th century, as a form of training for wrestlers. The word “Malla” means wrestler, while “khamb” translates as pole. This old art had almost been lost throughout the centuries, but it’s become increasingly popular, in recent years, mainly due to the efforts of coaches like Uday Deshpande.

The sport of Mallkhamb has athletes climb up a wooden pole, 55 cm in diameter,at the base, and 35, at the top, and perform various poses and feats. The pole is most often made of teak, because of its sturdiness, and before exercises begin, it’s rubbed with castor oil, to prevent friction.

Even though Mallakhamb is yet to be recognized as an official sport, in India, it has been embraced by visually-impaired boys. This art is about feeling and understanding the strength and balance of one’s body, and that’s why blind Mallakhamb athletes are just as good as those with perfect eyesight.

Above photos via Samarthavyayam

Above photos via Shrinivashavaldar

To immortalize their efforts, the Pilobolus recruited photographer John Kane, who used secrets of the trade to make the human letters look amazing. The magic happened in John’s studio, in Connecticut, over a period of four days. According to the six highly trained contortionists that took part in the project, the hardest letters were “C” and “R”. Although they wouldn’t reveal the secret behind how they pulled it off, John and the dancers swear no Photoshop was used. The same thing can’t be said abut the Yoga Dogs calendar.

The human alphabet photos, taken by John Kane, were used in a book aimed at children and adults alike. Called “Pilobolus – The Human Alphabet” this collection of human letters aims to show off the theater’s talent and inspire young dancers.

Photos by JOHN KANE/BARCROFT MEDIA via Daily Mail

With the help of talented body-painter, Kat Sinclair, the British artist immortalizes his designs, on the top of his bald head. “Unlike a wig where you are hiding what maybe seen as a deformity what I do is tell people feel special, original and embrace what could be looked at as a weakness and turn it into a strength.”

28-year-old Phillip Levine and Kat Sinclair often spend up to 4 hours working on a single head painting. One of the most memorable pieces had Phillip carry 1,000 Swarowski crystals glued to his head.

You can clearly understand why the local authorities want them brought to justice, right? Of course you can’t, but they do offer a useful explanation: “It’s bright, it’s pretty … but in a community and in law your rules have to be consistent.” In other words, they want the people behind the Mystery Knitter project to come clean. But without the mystery, would something like this even be worth mentioning?

Signs of the Midnight Knitter first appeared in Cape West May, a few months ago, and since then more and more knitted covers keep showing up, over the cover of darkness. No one know who’s responsible for all this, but pretty much everyone loves their work (except authorities, of course).

One of the Midnight Knitter members told the Daily News a trio of knitters is knitting donated yarn and placing their work around the city, at night. He described their work as a form of graffiti, without the destructive effect. And everyone agrees it’s a lot better than someone spray-painting their walls.

via PressOfAtlanticCity

Made using 85,741 metal keys, the sculpture symbolizes the 20 years that have passed since the Velvet Revolution. Keys were picked as the main theme because jangling keys were the symbol of pro-democratic rallies, organized by Vaclav Havel, in 1989.

The 6-meter-tall artistic construction spells the  word “Revoluce” (Revolution) with the lower letters considerably distorted. There has been some controversy regarding Jili David’s key sculpture, because the work was commissioned by international telecommunications company, Vodafone, who also collected the keys. Money from an international company, for a national symbol raised some questions in the Czech Republic.

Above photos via Waymarking

Photo by EPA

Photo by EPA

P H Coate & Son’s English Willow Coffins, from Somerset, England,  has started offering dead people an alternative to traditional wooden coffins. Some individuals are just bored by the same old wooden coffins, as if they died and have been buried in them too many times. Anyway, John Parfitt and company say willow is the more popular pick these days, because of it alluring aesthetics (cough!) and environmental reasons.

Willow coffins are hand-crafted by skilled willow basket masters (that explains why they look more like coffin-shaped baskets), using a traditional method, and clients have a selection to pick from. Environmentalist are going to go mad for these babies, but what about those artistic wooden coffins from Ghana, what happens to them?

Photos by Matt Cardy/Getty Images Europe via Zimbio

Huang Cheng-nan’s ceramic bowls range from 12 cm to 20 cm in diameter, weigh between 4 and 8 grams, and are between 0.15 and 0.18 mm thick. His works are so light they can easily be supported by a cobweb. These fragile works of art are on display in Taipei, and will soon be acknowledged as the thinnest ceramic bowls on Earth.

Photos by REUTERS via Daylife

If you’re unfamiliar with Joana Vasconcelos, she’s the artist behind the amazing stainless pot shoes installation that we featured a while back. “The Bride” is one of her most original artworks, made up of over 14,000 tampons, wire and cotton thread.

There’s nothing peculiar about Joana Vasconcelos’ chandelier, if seen from a distance, but as you approach you begin to make out the strange materials she used. Right now, the tampon chandelier is only soaking up the gazes of art lovers, and will continue to do so until the Belem Cultural Center exhibition ends, on May 18, 2010.

Above photos by REUTERS via MoucheAvecMoi

[Photo Credits]

[Photo Credits]