All Entries in the "Art" Category
Dalton Ghetti’s Pencil Tip Sculptures
Lots of artists use pencils for art. Dalton Ghetti, however, applies them in a whole different way, sculpting the graphite tips to build his miniature masterpieces.
A carpenter by trade, Ghetti has been doing the graphite sculptures as a hobby for over 25 years. He started out carving names on the wooden bodies of pencils, then moved on to building sculptures from large pieces of wood. Realizing he preferred to chisel less-imposing creations, he experimented on a variety of smaller materials, such as chalk, before eventually settling on his choice medium.
The pieces produced vary in design, although they’re primarily common objects, such as carpentry tools and furniture. Notable ones include an Elvis bust, the entire English alphabet (one letter on each pencil) and a highly-detailed hand saw.
Three basic tools are employed to forge the creations: a razor blade, a sewing needle and a sculpting knife. The blade and sculpting knife scratches [...]
A Life-Size Papercraft Honda NSX Race Car
Where’s the ideal place for a papercraft enthusiast to work? Screw the art supply store and get yourself over to a printer manufacturer. Why? Because you can use office resources to build giant papercraft projects like this: a full-sized cardboard Honda NSX Race Car.
Devised by papercraft wizards under Epson’s employ, the piece doesn’t only replicate the original in size, but brings impressive detail too. Sure, you can’t drive it like a real Acura/Honda NSX Super GT, but I’ll be damned if it doesn’t trick passing strangers into thinking you have one parked in your garage.
Construction for the cardboard Honda NSX Race Car works much like any regular papercraft project, with individual sheets printed, cut up and attached together. The only difference is that they used giant printers and oversized cardboards for the thing, instead of the desktop machines you use for your own creations.
Epson posted PDF instructions for a smaller, [...]
Blue CJ750, A Wireframe Motorcycle With Sidecar Sculpture
If you can make the Blue CJ750 move, you can literally roam the streets looking like a badass superhero. I mean, look at it – the motorcycle with sidecar mesh is even more awesome than how they used to draw Wonder Woman’s vehicles in the old cartoons.
Designed by China’s Shi Jindian, the wireframe sculpture is directly based off the Chiangjiang 750 motorcycle, a sidecar-hauling military vehicle that bears a striking resemblance (because, you know, the Chinese rip off everything regularly) to the 1937 BMW R71. It joins the artist’s roster of wireframe creations, which range from musical instruments to machines of various kinds.
More amazing than looking at the Blue CJ750 is hearing how it’s created. According to Shi, he started out by wrapping wire meshes around the bike to accurately capture its form. Once that was done, he extracted the object inside the mesh piece by piece, leaving only the [...]
Intimidator, A 3D Jigsaw Puzzle That Hides A Gun
Looking for a smart way to hide a gun inside your living room? Decorate it in the form of a 3D jigsaw puzzle sculpture like the Intimidator, which contains special parts that you can assemble into a fully-functional single-shot pistol.
Created by Michigan-based GarE Maxton, the gun-hiding sculpture presents itself as an elaborate puzzle block made up of interlocking metal pieces that form a rectangular box. Strip it down to its 120 individual pieces, though, and you can isolate 20 different parts that can be assembled into a one-shot weapon, bullet included.
When pieced together, the Intimidator becomes a colorful desktop sculpture, measuring 8 x 5 x 4 inches (h x w x d) and weighing 40 lbs. Each piece is made from one of six different metals, namely brass, bronze, copper, aluminum, magnesium and steel. As you can tell from the broken-down parts, slapping it together won’t be an easy task, [...]
Drew Storm Graham’s Tattoo-Inspired Sculptures
Do you appreciate tattoo as a visual art, but can’t bear the idea of desecrating your skin? Drew Storm Graham’s flat “3D-like” sculptures offer an alternative, embracing the aesthetic of skin art without subjecting anyone’s epidermis to hours upon hours of needles and blood.
The Virginia-based artist calls his work Aslant Art. We’re not sure of the reasons for the name, but his tattoo- and graffiti-inspired creations craftily recreate the look and feel of both mediums in flat yet three-dimensional sculptures meant for mounting up on walls.
Each labor-intensive figure features individual wood pieces sliced using a jigsaw power tool. The pieces are arranged in overlapping layers to create shadow effects, turning erstwhile two-dimensional graffiti and tattoo designs into flat sculptures that, somehow, appear rounded. Every part is individually airbrushed with automotive paint, using strokes that further create the illusion of an extra visual dimension.
The tattoo designs are largely 50s/Americana-inspired, as seen [...]
30-Foot Eyeball Rises In Chicago
It’s official. Your Aunt Sally no longer has the biggest eyes in Chicago. She’s been pushed off the side by this: a giant 30-foot eyeball sculpture called…wait for it…EYE. Tee-hee.
While masterminded by artist Tony Tasset, the actual sculpting and painting was taken over by Wisconsin-based Fiberglass Animals, Shapes & Trademarks (F.A.S.T). The team built everything by hand, using approximately 9,000 lbs of fiberglass, 9,000 lbs of steel and, presumably, several hundred cans of paint.
EYE was unveiled this Wednesday at Pritzker Park in Chicago’s Loop neighborhood. Sporting a gigantic 30 foot frame, it comes adorned with a blue iris and blood vessels aching to pop out off the whites. Instead of a fictional eyeball, Tony claims it was actually modeled from one of his own. We’re not sure how he was able to take his eyeball out to study it, but we’re guessing voodoo. Yes, it has to be voodoo.
The installation [...]
Unlimited Urban Woods: Forest In A Box
Need to take a break from the rigors of city life? Go enter the box. What box? That box with a veritable forest inside called the Unlimited Urban Woods.
Created by DUS Architects, the “forest in a box” is a temporary exhibit shown as part of the Liefde in de Stad (Love in the City) festival. The nondescript box sits right in the middle of the Oosterdokskade in Amsterdam, looking more like an instant photo booth than a veritable forest in the middle of concrete.
The Unlimited Urban Woods is a 13.1-foot high box with a single tree and a hall of mirrors inside. Laid out strategically, the mirrors reflect the lone tree back and forth, creating the image of a never-ending forest that stretches as far as the eyes can see. Since you’re standing in the same pavilion, the array of mirrors will also reflect your image all over the room, [...]
China Can Do Giant Robots Too: Robo Guan Yu
Who says only the Japanese can erect robot monuments? If the Chinese can do up a giant wall visible from space, a towering robot shouldn’t be too hard. And that’s exactly what we get with the Robo Guan Yu, a large robot sculpture built in honor of legendary Chinese general, Guan Yu.
Created by Bi Heng, a student from China’s Central Academy of Fine Arts, the Transformer-inspired robot was assembled using parts from a 25-year old Jiefang truck used by the People’s Liberation Army (along with a few other salvaged components, most likely). And while it cannot actually transform, the design sure makes it look like it can morph back into a badass military vehicle any minute.
Robo Guan Yu stands 32 feet tall and weighs four tons, making for a truly imposing presence. Unlike other Chinese Transformer knockoffs (check your favorite bargain toy store for Transmorphers and their ilk), it actually [...]
MinusA2 Air Purifier Doubles As Wall Art
Well-designed air purifiers aren’t that bad-looking. In fact, the slim-panel Rabbit Air MinusA2 looks more like home theater electronics than an allergen-slaying machine. And now, you can make it look like a piece of art hanging on your wall too with the MinusA2 Artist Design Series.
According to Rabbit Air, a client once approached them, asking for a customized solution that will allow him to fit an air purifier and an artwork on the same limited wall space of an RV. Once they did that, the solution made so much sense that they decided to outfit a special edition to perform the same dual function.
The MinusA2 Artist Design Series uses a regular MinusA2 model, which can operate at four different speeds, covers areas up to 700 sq. ft., includes a power-saving auto-detect mode and can either mount up a wall or rest on a stand. It measures 21.4 x 7 x [...]
Designer Gas Masks: Signature Fashion For The Armageddon
Who says you gotta slum it up when the end-of-times comes along? Not these Designer Gas Masks, which look to keep you in fashion even while living through Armageddon.
Conjured up by designer Diddo, the masks are intended as a cheeky art statement rather than for actual use. However, when that dirty bomb unleashed by aliens does get released into our airspace, this will likely be the same protective mask designs the higher-end fashion houses will be going for. I mean, I can literally see Carrie and company stringing this along for Sex and the City 3: Toxic Wasteland, can’t you?
Diddo’s Designer Gas Masks look like standard issue, full-face protective covers, complete with air filters and respirators. Except they’re studded with jewels, lined with precious metals, riddled with designer logos and will probably be priced into oblivion. Of course, during a nuclear fallout, luxury pricing might [...]
The Sneaker Colouring Book Lets You Try Out Custom Looks On Classic Kicks
Some sneakers are just timeless. And we see them show up over and over, getting new colorways and styling but retaining the same design. The Sneaker Colouring Book lets you doll up your favorite pair of kicks from years past and present, so you can try your hand at spitting out a perfect pair.
Featuring models from 1916 to present, the book covers 18 major brands with their most iconic models neatly drawn in clean, black lines. Pick up a box of crayons, color pencils or other preferred medium of choice, and waste an entire day cooped up in bed, remembering just how much you sucked in art class. Boo-hoo.
The Sneaker Colouring Book contains 100 line drawings of popular sneakers from brands such as Adidas, Nike, Vans, Puma, Onitsuka Tiger (Asics) and Converse. Spanning 152 10.6 x 7 inch pages, you’ll have plenty of shoe designs [...]
Flat Light Puts A Functioning Desk Lamp On Your Wall
A cool desk lamp might add a little style and class to your mess of a work area, but lets face it, it still takes up already scarce space on that prime piece of desk top property. Not the Flat Light, though, which attempts to impart all the same decorative and illuminating functions, without taking up room in your desk.
Created by Finn Maggee, it’s part visual gag and part functional equipment. Instead of an actual lamp, it’s actually just a poster with the picture of a lamp imposed on it. Unlike other posters, however, it integrates a bank of LEDs within the design. Plug it onto a wall outlet, flip the switch and it will turn on like a real lamp.
According to its creator, he initially fashioned the Flat Light as a way to find out whether a picture of a lamp can be as effective [...]
Art You Can Eat: Lennie Payne’s Toasted Bread Portraits
I once saw Jesus on a slice of toasted bread, I swear. We called it the Miracle of Monday Morning After, because it happened my first night home after a severe case of alcohol poisoning. Artist Lennie Payne’s toasted bread portraits are a little more deliberate than my accidental religious imprint and it’s also about 10,000 times more dazzling.
The British-based artist first started drawing on toast as a way to entertain his daughter at home. Eventually, though, the in-home activity evolved into a full-time medium, becoming the platform for his intricate portraits of celebrity figures and pop culture objects.
Unlike the single piece portrait I accidentally fashioned on the toaster, Payne’s pieces consist of large-sized renditions, consisting of grids of individual slices of toast. Since you can’t exactly command a kitchen appliance to burn eyes, mouth or jaws on a piece of bread, he creates the [...]
Popville Is Possibly The Most Awesome Pop-Up Book Ever
Here’s one reason to never get rid of physical books: pop-up inserts. Yep, you can’t exactly make an ebook do paper pop-ups (at least, not until they put 3D holograms on your Kindle). Even then, we doubt they’ll do ones with as much stylish flair as Popville, a gorgeous pop-up book that chronicles a city’s development from an isolated plot of land to a bustling metropolis.
Just like a physical version of SimCity, each spread of the book opens up a scene in the city’s creation. It starts with one single church among the trees and culminates with a heavily crowded city scene, complete with towering buildings, factories and multitudes of streets. Designed to flow like a storybook, the charm lies in the wordless conveyance of a city’s life. Rather than tell you a tale in words, it makes its case in visual 3D, with each new [...]
Graffomat Is A Vending Machine For Tagging Supplies
Ready to tag a train, but forgot your stash at home? Walk around the corner to the Graffomat, a unique vending machine stocked full of graffiti supplies.
We don’t even know if this is serious or not (my guess is it’s not). Where do you operate a vending machine for graffiti supplies, after all? Inside a subway station? Right next door to the car lot? Right outside the bathroom at the mall?
The Graffomat website looks serious, though…well, somewhat. According to it, the vending machine cabinets will measure 850 x 1830 x 890 mm, each of which will have between six to eight shelves with five to ten spirals on each row. Not only will they sell cans of spray paint in various colors, they’re throwing in all sorts of supplies every self-respecting vandal needs too, including caps, gloves and even ski masks.
Of course, a [...]
Theatre For One: World’s Most Intimate Theater
Billed as “the world’s smallest performing arts center,” Theatre for One is a booth designed to hold a one-man show for an audience of one. Yes, just like a private lap dance inside a cramped VIP room, except more artsy or something.
Conceived by set designer Christine Jones, the space intends to be the venue for really personal and private performances. The design was inspired by peepshow booths and confessionals, providing “a space private enough to feel extremely intimate, but safe enough to allow the audience member a full range of responses.” According to her, the idea came about after discovering a unique feeling of intimacy when a magician showed her a close-up trick during a wedding.
The current Theatre for One booth was created with the help of the architects at LOT-EK, who designed it with the idea of holding just the two participants (a standing performer and [...]
