Dominic Epistolo had the idea of recreating some of the states in the USA out of pieces of meat and I for one thinks his works look good enough to eat.

Dominic Epistolo, a very talented photographer from Philadelphia has shot many photos in his career, from fashion to still-life, but his most popular set, “The United Steaks of America” has been featured all over the internet. He had the original idea of carving the United States out of pieces of meat.

His photographs look amazing, but I wonder if he cooked his work after shooting it. I’d sure like to sink my teeth into juicy Pennsylvania.

via Toxel

Read More »

The last thing you would expect to find in the middle of the driest desert on Earth is a a work of art. But that’s exactly what you’re gong to see, if you happen to be traveling through the Atacama Desert, in Chile.

The Hand of the Desert (La Mano del Desierto) is an 11-meters-tall sculpture, in the shape of a hand, rising up from the desert. It was designed and created by Chilean sculptor Mario Irarrázabal, and is probably the weirdest thing you’re going to see in Atacama.

“The hand rising from the sand” theme is very common in Mr. Irarrázabal work and he has two other major similar sculptures in the US and Uruguay. We’ll add them both to our list of oddities, soon enough.

Read More »

Stan Munro has spent the last six years of his life recreating some of the world’s most important landmarks out of nothing else but toothpicks.

Most people use them to get rid of food scraps from between their teeth, but 38-year-old Stan Munro, a former television host, uses them to create wooden works of art. Stan takes between one day and six months to glue together 1:164 scale models of some of the most impressive structures on Earth.

In order to create his amazing Toothpick City, Stan Munro has so far used six million toothpicks and 172 liters of glue, but his work is far from over. Right now he is working on a toothpick replica of Angkor Wat, the most complex structure he has ever had to build. All his models are on display at the Museum of Science and Technology, in Syracuse, New York.

Photos by SOLENT NEWS & PHOTO AGENCY

via Telegraph.co.uk

Here are some of his most incredible-looking toothpick creations:

Read More »

Seven Israeli designers worked on creating a set of beautiful wedding dresses, made out of toilet paper, in celebration of the most requested wedding date in the world, September 9, 2009.

The talented designers presented their creations in Tel Aviv, as part of an advertising campaign for a toilet paper company. The idea behind the project is toilet paper wedding dresses are perfect for emotional brides as they can use it to wipe their tears of happiness or excess make-up.

These are not the first paper dresses I’ve seen, but they are definitely the most beautiful and they will be auctioned off and the winnings donated to a local charity.

Photos by David Silverman/Getty Images Europe

via Zimbio

Read More »

Featuring custom painted flames, taillights, headlights and side-view mirrors, the Harley-Davidson Armchair is probably the manliest chair ever made.

Designed and built by the guys at First Impressions, the Harley-Davidson can make anyone feel like a hardcore biker, right in the comfort of their own home. When you kick out the chair’s footrest, the chair’s speakers reward you with a motorcycle engine sound that lasts about 10 seconds. Armchairs just don’t get cooler than this.

First Impressions has created custom home theaters for celebrities the likes of Don Johnson, Vanilla Ice or Michael Winslow. The home-theaters at Neverland and Graceland are also masterpieces of the above mentioned company.

The Harley-Davidson Armchair is priced at $6,950, but you can have your custom built First Impressions home-theater, starting at $150,000.

via Gizmodo

Read More »

Created by artist Jean Shin, Chance City is made-up of $32,404 worth of discarded “Scratch & Win” lottery tickets, displayed at the Smithsonian American Art Museum.

What can you do with thousands of apparently worthless losing lottery tickets? Not much, either recycle them or use them as building material. Jean Shin opted for the second choice and created a number of urban buildings she chose to call Chance City.

The structures of Chance City are sustained only by gravity and friction, yet some of them have been around since 2002, when the project started. Back then, the design contained $17,119 worth of lottery tickets, but it grew to $24,496 worth in 2004 and plans to expand even more.

Chance City is the embodiment of failed hopes of ordinary people, while its fragile-looking, yet resilient buildings “are symbols of the American Dream representing how labor, money and resilience defy the odds of a fragile existence”.

Read More »

Judging by the amount of trash we generate every day, it’s no wonder people are beginning to build structures using it.

100 tons of PET bottles, pressed into bales, were used to create the Temple of Trash, presented at the 2007 Follydock Festival, in Rotterdam. The idea behind this project by Salzig Design is future generations might actually end up believing human kind worships the trash it produces and dumps into landfills.

The Temple of Trash was a temporary installation, but, although it’s not standing anymore, it can still be admired on the official site of Salzig Design

via Treehugger

Read More »

At the Sidney International Food Festival, the flags of participating countries were recreated using  popular foods of each nation. I tell you, I’d love to eat my way through Switzerland, but France doesn’t look half bad either, if you’re ok with stinky cheese. And, for desert, Vietnam is tasty and healthy at the same time.

Which ones are your favorites?

via Toxel

ITALY

Read More »

I knew Russian modders had some mad skills, but it seems the ones from the Czech Republic are just as good. This Cooker PC mod is proof of that.

I don’t speak Czech, so I don’t know much about the building process of the Cooker Computer, but apparently it was done last year, starting from scratch. No photos of it in action have been found yet, but I’m sure it works just fine. After all it’s all about the look, and a computer in a stove is just about as fresh and cool as modding gets.

Considering you speak Czech and want to know more about the Cooker Computer project, check Modding.cz. Maybe you could give us some more details too. I’m sure we’d all appreciate it.

Read More »

Dan Phillips has become a regular celebrity in his home town of Huntsville, Texas, for building 14 fully functional recycled houses out of construction waste and scraps.

The 64-year-old constructor has lived a varied life, working as an intelligence officer in the army, a college dance instructor, antique dealer and even as a puzzle maker. He has spent the last 12 years building affordable houses for the poor, using discarded materials.

Anything durable people throw away is a potentially useful building material for Dan Phillips. He runs down to construction sites and landfills and takes away almost everything they throw away. His houses are not all the same, he builds each one with the materials at hand, but he views that as a good thing. After “repetition creates pattern”.

Dan Phillips’ recycling philosophy has changed the way the entire community sees the recycling process and he has even been contacted by companies who wanted advice on how to build recycled warehouses.

Dan uses his very own construction company to build the houses, but always asks the beneficiary to take part in the building process. This way, if something ever breaks, they’ll know where everything is and how to fix it.

via New York Times

Read More »

Sarah Kaufmann earned herself the nickname of The Cheese Lady through her ability to carve stinky works of art from cheddar cheese.

Using a small carving tool, The Cheese Lady takes between six to twelve hours to create her “cheesy” artworks. Her tasty masterpieces are often featured at children’s parties, birthdays and even hotel openings.

Photos by Sarah Kaufmann/REX FEATURES

via Telegraph.co.uk

Read More »

Made out of what looks like a bunch of kitchen utensils, this stainless steel skull sculpture, by Subodh Gupta, is one of the weirdest artworks I’ve seen recently. I’m sure it has some kind of meaning, but so far I haven’t been able to figure it out. let me know if you know something I don’t.

via bookofjoe

Read More »

With the Suburban Tipi, anyone can experience the life of a nomad.

Combining three types of nomad housing, the yurt, the tipi and the igloo, designer John Paanen managed to create a modern tent-like house that can be fitted pretty much anywhere. The Suburban Tipi is 16 feet tall, 18 feet in diameter and provides 255 square feet of living space.

To prove its practicality, John Paanen lived in a Suburban Tipi from January to July 2007. It took around three months to build, but it can be taken a part and stacked for relocation in three hours, by a three person team.

John Paanen’s Suburban Tipi can be observed at AguaFina Gardens International in Sylvan Lake, Michigan.

Read More »

Raising awareness on the issue of global warming is not easy this days, but artists come up with all sorts of original ways to make the news.

Take Brazilian artists Nele Azevedo,  who created 2,000 ice-sculptures and placed them on the steps of the Berlin Opera Hall, to melt. That’s a lot of work to watch melt away in one hot afternoon, but at least her message made the newspapers. And if one more person knows about the melting Arctic ice, than her effort was not in vain.

Read More »

I can’t understand why someone would go through the trouble of creating the world’s biggest porcelain jar, but they did, so here it is.

Porcelain master Xu Sijin and a team of painters worked for more than a year to complete this giant black and white porcelain. The painting on the jar depicts the three gorges of the Yangtze River. The giant porcelain jar stands 1.36 meters tall, has a diameter of 6.8 meters and weighs over 1,500 kg.

The world’s biggest porcelain jar has been unveiled in Jingdezhen, east China and is waiting for recognition from the Guinness Book of Records.

Photos by Xinhua/Shi Weiming

Read More »