Now that we have Google Earth, world globes are almost obsolete. But there certainly is an undeniable old-world charm associated with them. Perhaps that’s what prompted sculptor Andy Yoder to spend the last two years building his own globe, entirely out of colored matchsticks. He painstakingly hand-painted thousands of matches individually and put them together to form a large model of our planet.
Yoder’s son, Reddit user ‘yoderaustin’, explained that underneath all the matchsticks is a frame of foam and cardboard inside a plywood skeleton. Once the frame was ready and the painting was done, his father used wood glue to attach the matches to the skeleton. And in case you’re wondering – the ‘matchstick globe’ isn’t a potential fire hazard. Yoder had the good sense to douse the entire structure in a flame retardant chemical.
Two years might seem like a long time to make a globe, but it took so long because he wanted to it to be accurate and it wasn’t easy to find the colors he wanted. What’s really special about Yoder’s globe is that it includes a bit of recent history – a re-enactment of what Hurricane Sandy looked like from outer space while it ravaged the Eastern American coast line.
If you would like to admire this unique work of art in person, the matchstick globe is going to be on display at Winkleman Gallery, during the Pulse New York Contemporary Art Fair, between the 8 and 11 of May.
