Japanese artist Hisako Matsumoto created a crocodile costume, complete with helmet and boots, as her graduation piece.
Before going into PETA mode, you should know the costume is completely ceramic, with not a single piece of crocodile leather on it. But it does look like a genuine crocodile costume, and that’sactually the reason I decided to post photos of it on OC.
You’ll also find a photo of the artist, at the bottom. You have to admit, she’s pretty cute.
The Vermontasaurus is the creation of Brian Boland, a man who decided to use scrap wood in the name of art. I’d say he nailed it.
A month ago, 61-year-old Brian Boland decided to turn a big pile of scrap wood, on the edge of his property in Vermont, into something beautiful that the local community could use as a free-admission gathering place. Using a dinosaur model as inspiration, he began building his Vermontasaurus, and within just nine days, the sculpture began taking shape. The basic rules he and a few volunteers set up ( no saws, no rulers and no using other materials other than what was available in the junk pile) let to the creation of an amazing piece of art, 22-foot-tall and 122-foot-long.
Some of Brian’s neighbors find the lack of rules in the Vermontasaurus sculpture quite interesting, while others just see a messy piece of art. But the opinions of his neighbors are the least of Brian’s problems. State officials don’t appreciate it when people start building stuff and don’t ask for permission first, so they’re now asking for all kinds of permits, priced at a few hundreds of dollars each, and even told the artist he may have to tear down the Vermontasaurus.
Right now people are forbidden to use the Vermontasaurus as a gathering spot, as it was intended, but hopefully, this amazing roadside attraction will have the chance to become one of Vermont’s most popular landmarks.
Wang Huaping, a Chinese artist and huge fan of football, has found a unique to celebrate the World Cup 2010. Using a fine chisel, he managed to carve the faces of famous football players on eggs.
Wang Huaping has so far carved hundreds of eggs, and is an established artist in his home city of Tianjin. Now he has extended his collection of artworks with the portraits of famous football players like Lionel Messi, David Beckham, or David Villa. He has also carved the logos and mascots of the 2010 Football World Cup.
No info about the actual carving, but this man must have a real gentle touch, if he can keep from cracking the eggs with that chisel.
Liz Hickok is a San Francisco based artist who best expresses her talent through unique Jell-o artworks.
Liz is well versed in photography, video and sculpture, but she discovered her favorite art medium is Jell-o. We all crave a few spoons of wobbly goodness, from time to time, but Liz Hickok would rather use Jell-O in her work, rather than eat it. Her “San Francisco in Jell-O” installation received media coverage from the likes of the New York Times, San Francisco Magazine and other reputed members of the media.
To create her lovely miniature landmarks, from Jell-O, Liz Hickok first makes scale models of the structure she wants to reproduce, which she uses to make molds. Each element is then cast in Jell-O, placed on the set, which is dramatically illuminated from the back or from underneath.
Sadly, Jell-O buildings decay pretty fast, and all that remains are the photos, which you can admire below.
San Francisco in Jell-O
Part of the Green Dream Park, in Beijing, the 10-meter-tall statue of Optimus Prime managed to attract the gazes of many passers-by.
With all the Transformers statues, made from recycled materials, showing up everywhere I’m thinking they’re a great way of raising awareness to the problems of the environment, especially as far as young people are concerned.
Assembled near Bird’s Nest Stadium, in Beijing, the 10-meter-tall leader of the Autobots is made only from waste materials, brought in all the way from Taiwan. But this awesome Optimus Prime statue goes to show you that just because something is made from junk, doesn’t mean it’s junk.
Perhaps the most interesting artwork in Vancouver, Digital Orca is a pixelated sculpture created by artist Douglas Coupleland.
How awesome is this, right? I mean, if I didn’t know any better I’d swear these photos were computer generated. But since Digital Orca is one of Vancouver’s most popular landmarks, featured on Pan Pacific Vancouver blog, you can believe it’s real. Located near the Vancouver Convention Center, Digital Orca looks completely different when viewed from various angles.
Local chronicler Douglas Coupland, is also the author author of Generation X, Microserfs, City of Glass and other impressive works of art in Vancouver.
Grayson Castro is an original artist with an affinity for zombies. I’ve never even imagined what Jesus or Barrack Obama would look like as zombies, but thanks to Grayson’s art we don’t have to. You can also check out Audrey Hepburn or Dolly Parton as mindless zombies, and even John McCain. I always knew politicians were monsters, but munching on a baby’s limbs seems a little too much.
You can see more of Grayson Castro’s artworks on his website and Flickr stream. Read More »
Taras Lesko is an incredibly talented designer who likes to create beautiful things both on his computer and with his own two hands. Though his graphic designs are nothing short of impressive, it’s his paper craft creations that really caught my eye.
Taras spends months working on his paper craft models, drawing up the parts, cutting them out and putting them together. Now that doesn’t sound like anything special, but wait until you see what this guy make out of paper.
The Freedom Gundam is, in my opinion, the coolest paper craft model in his personal portfolio. Inspired by the famous Gundam anime movie, Taras spent two months working on the 4-foot paper-craft Fredom Gundam. He ended up using 175 paper sheets and 500 individual parts.
Flickr user Pepa Quinn, an avid fan of Futurama, has finally completed his amazing LEGO replica of the World of Tomorrow.
Pepa Quinn has been working on this LEGO masterpiece for over six months, regularly posting photos of his progress, but now he has finally completed his project. LEGO World of Tomorrow is a worthy replica of the world presented in Futurama, boasting famous landmarks like Planet Express, Robot Arms Apts, Madison Cube Garden and the sewers of New New York.
Pepa Quinn’s geeky LEGO metropolis has already been featured on popular websites like Comedy Central Insider, earning him the recognition he deserves. Well done!
Li Xiaofeng is one of China’s most original artists, using broken porcelain shards to create unique wearable costumes.
Li Xiaofeng began his artistic career as a muralist, but quickly turned his attention to sculpture, in order to explore the concept of Chinese landscapes. Instead of the materials usually used in this art form (marble, wood or glass), Li decided to use something completely new, but ancient at the same time – porcelain shards from archeological sites. He cleans them shapes them, drills small holes into them and then binds them together with silver wire to create unique costumes he calls “rearranged landscapes”. Theoretically, his porcelain clothes are wearable, although they are just as heavy as a suit of armor (not so durable, though).
Recently, Lacoste asked Li Xiaofeng to create a porcelain polo shirt, for the company’s 2010 Holiday Collector’s Series. Because China forbids the export of ancient artifacts, including old porcelain shards. This posed a new challenge for the Chinese artist who decided to create his own porcelain bowls, drew custom motifs on them (including the Lacoste crocodile logo), broke them into pieces and tied them into the shape of a polo shirt.
Li Xiaofeng’s one-of-a-kind porcelain shirt will be the most expensive and most exclusive Lacoste polo ever created.
Inspired by the works of Stan Herd and the famous Nazca Lines of Peru, American artist Daniel Dancer creates unique paintings made of latex paint and a lot of people.
66-year-old Daniel Dancer has spent the last ten years of his life traveling the world over and creating unique artworks, choreographed and immortalized from way up in the sky. Upon discovering the mysterious Nazca Lines, in South America, he wanted to create his own artistry, so he bought some paint, gathered 800 school children and made a giant salmon, in Oregon.
So far, the Kansas-based artist has created hundreds of human paintings and has convinced thousands of people to participate in his Art of the Sky project. His artworks include a bald eagle made with the help of 1,400 people and a portrait of Barrack Obama.
To properly choreograph the participants in the Art of the Sky project, Daniel Dancer climbs in hot air balloons or large cranes. When everyone is in place, he asks the people to lie on their hands and knees, so the largest amount of color is exposed.
A few months ago, I received an email from a contributor, about an art project called “Presidential Ham“. I was to busy to read it, at the time, and then forgot all about it. Yesterday, while tidying up my inbox, I stumbled upon it again, and finally checked it out.
The Presidential Ham is an original art project that depicts American presidents holding a big piece of (you guessed it) ham. It doesn’t make much sense, I know, but that’s the main reason I thought it was perfect for OC. Bijijoo, the artist behind Presidential Ham, has always wanted to paint the presidents holding a ham, and 2010 is the year he finally realized his dream. The portraits are oil painted on prepared board, and you can check them all out on PresidentialHam.com.
British artist Bruce Murno made use of hundreds of thousands of CDs to fulfill a childhood fantasy and create a real CD sea.
Named CDSea (original, I know) the adventurous art project was set up on Long Knoll field, near Kilmington. To realizes his dream, the famous artist appealed to the general public, through the UK press and BBC radio, and asked everyone to send him any unwanted CDs they may have lying around. He received a massive response, and thousands of CDs began arriving from as far as California or Brazil.
Last weekend, the natural ‘canvas” at Long Knoll field was mowed and the time consuming task of arranging every CD by hand, got under way. With the help of 140 friends and colleagues from the art world, Murno created his inland sea out of 600,000 old CDs.
CDSea is just the first of a series of self-funded art installations made from discarded and recyclable materials, and will be available for public view over the next two months. Aftre that, all CDs will be sent at a recycling plant.
If yo happen to be in the area, don’t miss the chance to see the mirror-like CDSea reflect the sunshine and moonlight.
The printed press may be dying, but Tucson based artist Nick Georgiou has found a way of breathing new life into old newspapers.
Nick’s art is inspired by the death of the printed world, economic crisis, and political and environmental uncertainty. He states “Books and newspapers are becoming artifacts of the 21st century. Whatever we used to read off paper, we’re now reading off digital screens. Our way of interacting with text is changing. My work is not only about the decline of the printed word in today’s society but its rebirth as art.”
Nick Georgiou uses old newspapers, collected by him or donated by others, tears them into folds and stitches them into various creatures. His works have been exhibited in various shows and galleries, bot in the US and abroad.
A giant Nokia mobile phone has appeared in one of the biggest squares in Cluj, Romania, as part of the Planet Report Environmental and Film Festival.
Cluj is probably the most beautiful city in Romania, and I’m glad I finally get the chance to mention it in one of my posts. The first edition of the Planet Report Environmental and Film Festival aims to point out today’s environmental issues, and get the public and local authorities to take them more seriously.
As part of this eco-festival, local artists were asked to create various artworks out of waste. The most popular piece, so far, was a giant Nokia mobile phone, make of dozens of recycled mobiles, old keyboards and other computer parts.
