I wish there were more photos of this chihuahua skeleton sculpture made entirely from typewriter parts by artist Jeremy Mayer. I wonder how big it is? Is it life-size? It must be.
According to Mayer’s Tumblr, he’ll be posting more photos of this piece in the next few days. Hold tight.
Via Boing Boing
Not much to say about these but DAMN. Award-winning London illustrator Daniel Mackie has created a gorgeous series of animal images, all hand-rendered in pencil and watercolor on paper, an increasing rarity in this age of digital art. From a Tangled Fingers interview:
I abandoned Photoshop in 2010 having used it as my main illustration tool for over ten years. Photoshop was making me cut corners and it was driving me crazy with its flat colours. Once I started using watercolour it became instantly clear to me that one of the reasons I was becoming so frustrated with my work was that I never had to make a solid decision. I could always undo something. When you’re using watercolour, you can’t undo it. You have to be brave, and as a result your decision-making gets better.
His blog features copious work-in-progress photos that give evidence of his considerable skill, and prints are of course available.
Via I Am The Trend
I wish I had thought of this; these gorgeous curtains made from 1,152 35mm vintage film slides by Scott Sherwood. I’ve seen lamps made from film slides before, but never curtains. Clever idea.
The slides were meticulously sorted and put in order by color theme from pink at the top , followed by red, orange ,yellow, green, blue, and purple.
All the 35mm slides are original photographic images from the the past 50+ years from various amateur photographers around the world and the subject matters are as diverse as the planet itself.
By night the slides are visible from outside when the interior lights are illuminated acting as a privacy window for you.
According to Sherwood, the project took over 4 months to make.
Below, what it looks like when sunlight shines through.
Via Neatorama
My childhood Saturdays were spent at the cinema enchanted by the fluttering beauty of the images on the screen. It wasn’t just the story, or the acting, but the sets, the costumes, the props, the number of scales scored on the back of a Harryhausen dinosaur, the special effects that made Dracula vanish into dust, the superimposition, the incredible backdrops and painted mattes.
One Christmas, I received Denis Gifford’s classic book A Pictorial History of Horror Movies, which I read and studied more assiduously than my schoolbooks, and learnt almost by heart. Indeed, there was once a time when I could recount with ease all of the casts and crews of Universal and Hammer horror films—what strange portfolios we invest in our childhood knowledge. One of the names I noted was Bob Cuff, a matte painter, and model maker, whose name appeared on several of my then-favorite films: The Day of the Triffids, The First Men on the Moon, The Masque of Red Death, and One Million Years BC.
As you no doubt know, a matte painter creates painted representations of a landscape, set, or distant location, which allows the filmmaker to create wonderful illusions of real or fantasy environments that are usually far too expensive to build. It’s a technique that’s been used since Norman Dawn painted crumbling mansions on glass for Missions of California in 1907, and has been used extensively in cinema ever since.
Today, it’s all cold clunky digital, which for me lacks the beauty and craft of the matte paintings by artists like Bob Cuff. I was, therefore, delighted to discover a site dedicated to Cuff’s long career in film with examples of his work from Dr.Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Monty Python’s Life of Brian, The Princess Bride, right up to his last film before retirement,Terry Jones’ Erik the Viking.
Cuff’s work is beautiful, painterly and seamlessly adds an incredible richness to all of the films he worked on. Alas, Cuff died in 2010, but at least his wonderful artwork lives on.
Check here to view a gallery of Bob Cuff’s work.
‘Richard III’ (1955) Director: Laurence Olivier, Matte painting: Bob Cuff.
‘Alexander the Great’ (1956) Director: Robert Rossen, Matte painting: Bob Cuff.
‘I’m Alright Jack’ (1959) Director: Roy Boulting, Matte painting: Bob Cuff.
‘First Men on the Moon’ (1964) Director: Nathan Juran, Matte painting: Les Bowie Co. with Ray Caple and Bob Cuff.
‘Monty Python’s The Life of Brian’ (1979) Director: Terry Jones, Matte painting: Bob Cuff.
Here’s a stunning—and major décor statement piece, IMO—500 lb. bronze octopus coffee table by Los Angeles-based sculptor, artist and designer Isaac Krauss.
It’s pretty incredible, eh? I can’t find the price for this, but I’d wager that this sucker ain’t cheap…
You can contact Krauss via his website if you’re interested.
h/t Everlasting Blort
I regard bike helmets simultaneously with contempt and reverence. Reverence because I have flipped over my handlebars - unhelmeted - and gone skull-to-pavement in such a way that the temple arm of my eyeglasses ended up embedded in my forehead. I still have that scar. I could have majorly fucked myself up for life that day, and absolutely should have been wearing a helmet, there is no question about that at all - those things have saved some of my friends lives, and I have never been so reckless as to go without since. Contempt because, well, every complaint about the goddamn things has a point. They’re heavy, bulky and uncomfortable. They mat your hair down, which can legitimately be a problem if you’re commuting to a job where appearances count. And there will always be a tremendous temptation in how great the breeze feels when you ride bare-headed. Helmets rob you of a lot of the sense of freedom in the open-air experience that’s such an important part of cycling’s appeal.
But now, two Swedish design students have invented a helmetless helmet. It has its basis in a familiar automotive technology, but I will not describe it to you in any further detail. The video below has an amazing reveal that I don’t wish to spoil. I believe you will find yourself wondering - as I did - why nobody has thought of this before.
“Upcycling” refers to the fabrication of a new product from old materials. How this is different from “recycling,” I cannot exactly pinpoint, except that there appears to be an aesthetic milieu attached to “upcycling”- something of a millennial take on shabby chic. Call something “recycled,” it’s someone else’s old crap. Call something “upcycled,” you can sell it on Etsy.
Take, for example, this… shelf, available for the low, low price of $395, a price for which you could afford an actual antique shelf. The seller, however, appears confident that his creation is just as good as any old piece of legitimate furniture. From the Craigslist ad:
This rustic ladder shelving unit is made from a 12’ ladder with two upholstered burlap boards. The ladder comes apart and folds up and can easily be taken apart for transport. I also have another ladder shelving unit that was made from the same original ladder and is also available upon request.
As one of those working class young Brooklynites currently sitting on a dilapidated IKEA couch, in front of a 3,000 pound television set, which lives on planks of wood perched atop cinder blocks, I know how to be resourceful on a budget, and I know how to make due with cheap and free materials. I also know the difference between real furniture and an amalgam of building materials. And building materials, no matter how expertly stacked, do not cost $395.
Thinking, of course, that this must be a Craigslist prank, I was delighted to see that the seller also has an Etsy store, where he does appear to sell some actually cool stuff. Then I saw this:
“Retro Early 1980s Baby Bouncer”
“Retro Animals Print High Chair”
No, Brooklyn Upcycler! Old baby shit is not “retro!” Old baby shit has been recalled. Because baby furniture used to be comprised of nothing but sharp metal and a series of nooses! Baby technology advances because babies have lost their damn little baby limbs on unsafe high chairs and bouncy seats! Old baby shit is neither functional nor aesthetically pleasing! Damn, Brooklyn Upcycler, sometimes you just have to throw old shit away!
Via Brokelyn
Designer Francesca Lombardi has created a menagerie of haunting origami animal masks, which have been photographed in beautiful black and white portraits by fashion photographer Giacomo Favilla for a series called “One of Us.”
Via the excellent arts blog Yatzer:
Titled ‘‘One of Us’’, the project consists of black and white portraits of people sitting in a vintage armchair, while wearing beautiful origami masks. With the intention creating an impression of an imaginary world, where animal and human natures blend together as one, each mask has been laboriously folded over and over again to resemble a different animal. Be the animal a puma, a rabbit, a crocodile or a cat – they all take their turn in ‘‘being the face,’’ be that temporarily, of a person sitting to have their photo taken where their most striking feature is the fact that they have no eyes – they are in fact stylised blindfolds in the shape of animals.
DM readers in London might like to know that the series will be exhibited at The Book Club beginning on November 28th. Or 28 November, if you prefer.
A miniature record store made entirely of LEGO bricks by Ryan Howerter (AKA eldeeem). This is so damned adorable it’s adorable.
The blue milk crate at the bottom is a nice touch.
Via KFMW
Recycling shipping containers to make desirable homes. One container can make an appealing guest house or office, while several can be used as building blocks to create larger, more spacious housing.
More container homes, after the jump…