Archive Category: Arts & Crafts
Wonder® Bread Wonder® Woman
Emily Berezin made a woman from eleven loaves of Wonder® Bread and the bags they came in. The result is, of course, Wonder® Woman! See more pictures in her Flickr set.
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Al Farrow's Guns & Ammo Reliquaries
Trigger Finger of Santa Guerra
When I die and become Saint Neatorama, I’d like sculptor Al Farrow to make me a reliquary to treasure one of my body parts. Presumably my blogging pinkie. Al has made some 40 unusual reliquaries, mausoleums and monuments out of guns and ammo parts, dedicated to preserving the body parts of fictional saints.
Link – as suggested by Minnesotastan in this Neatorama post by John Farrier (yes, I do read the comments 
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A Collection of Neat Bookends
Photo: Gentle Giant Studios
The Star Wars cantina bookend set is currently out of stock, and at a cost of over $150.00 it’s definitely for those with money to burn. Neatorama sells cool bookends for far less. However, this and other examples including Lord of the Rings, Batman vs. Superman, Harry Potter and more can be ogled at Uphaa.
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Tim Burton Exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art
Filmmaker Tim Burton’s visual art will be on display starting on Sunday, Nov. 22, at the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. His media include watercolors, line drawings, pastels, and sculptures. The exhibit features not only film concept work, but his independent, stand-alone projects.
News Story and Gallery via io9 | Image: Tim Burton
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The Painted Books of Mike Stilkey
Photo: Dave Kinsey
California-based artist Mike Stilkey paints images on the bindings of books. From an interview with the webzine Fecal Face:
Why did you choose to paint on books? It seems like it would have been a challenge to go from working on paper to painting on something so dimensional. What was that transition like?
It was sort of an accident. I was painting on book pages for forever, and actually published a book in 2005 titled “100 Portraits” in which I drew one hundred portraits on old book pages. At the time, I was drawing on books, records or anything else I could find at a thrift store. Eventually, I started drawing on the books themselves. I was going to do a project where I just drew on the covers of the books, and as I finished them I would stack them against the wall. It dawned on me that it might be a good idea to paint down the spines of the books instead of just on the covers. The first one I did I didn’t really think much of, but I brought it down to BLK/MRKT, and I remember Jana going crazy over it. We showed it at the second Artists’ Annual group show where it got quite a bit of attention, including attention from Kim Davenport, the director of Rice Gallery in Houston
You can read the full interview and see large images of his work at the link.
Link via io9 | Artist’s Website
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High Noon
Mounted on a 9″ marble base is a small brass cannon, and above that a magnifying glass. The positioning and focal length of the lens would be designed to light the cannon’s fuse. The placement of the sundial suggests that the device was used to mark the arrival of the noon hour (on sunny days).
This intricate device was custom-made for someone living at a latitude of 59 degrees, 55 minutes, 20 seconds. My guess would be that the recipient lived somewhere in St. Petersburg, but other locations are possible.
Link.
Addendum: Some additional searching has revealed that devices such as these were known as “sundial cannons” or “noon cannons.” The best description/photos I’ve found is at this pdf by the British Sundial Society.
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Cassette Tape Skeletons
Photo: Brian Dettmer
We’ve previously featured Atlanta-based artist Brian Dettmer’s sculpted books here on Neatorama. He has also created a number of sculptures out of old cassette tapes. From the blog Design Boom (sic):
one day as dettmer was walking down the street he spotted a dead bird and an idea hit him. ‘here was this thing that used to live, its used to fly around and play a vital role, and now it is dead and all that remains is the solid material.’ dettmer was quick to extrapolate this idea linking the bird’s life to that of the cassette. he ransformed the skeleton of old cassettes into literal animal skeletons. this lead to a series of 12 human skulls made from tapes, each with a different theme like heavy metal or hard rock. the most complex piece in this body of work is a full skeleton made from over 180 cassettes. all the pieces are made using only cassettes tapes with no glue, tape or other outside materials. while dettmer couldn’t revel his process to designboom, he did tell us that he heats the plastic up so he can literally form and weld them with his wet hands and other tools.
You can view a gallery of his work at the link.
Link via Urlesque | Artist’s Website
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Bent Objects: Interview with Terry Border
Neatoramabot, the Bent Object version by Terry Border - ain't he awesome?
When I came across Terry Border's blog, Bent Objects, way back in 2007, I knew that my days of making funny, amateurish little sculptures out of paperclips were over. There was no point in it anymore - I've met the master. Heck, Terry is to wires as Michelangelo is to marble.
Today, Terry has an excellent new book, Bent Objects: The Secret Life of Everyday Things
Terry has kindly agreed to provide a copy of a signed and doodled Bent Objects book, as well as an 18-pack of the Bent Object holiday card as prizes to two lucky Neatorama readers (see below on how to win).
It's a pleasure to have him as a guest on today's Neatorama Interview series.
Neatorama: Hi Terry - the book is awesome. Congratulations!
Sorry it took so
long to get back to you, but I had to pry it from my toddlers who have
surprisingly strong grips. I was wondering if you could tell us how
Bent Object started?
Terry Border: First of all, I'm glad you like the book. The fact that people are liking it is a relief. After I was finished with my part, my publisher had to carry it through to the end and make it look good. I'm happy to say that they did.
I started a blog so that I could show off some of my wire creations, hoping that I could sell of them. (Plain and simple profit-driven beginnings! ha!) People were liking what I was doing, but much to my surprise they wanted photos of what I was making, and not so much the wire things themselves. I also started adding my screwy humor to the pieces, and again, much to my surprise, people really connected with it. In person, I'm not that entertaining (to put it mildly), but give me some wire and time to think and people like what I do.
Neatorama: These are absolutely hilarious. Where do
you get all those ideas?
Or are you just naturally twisted that way?
Terry: I watched too many cartoons as a kid. Also, I've always been the happiest living in my own head, thinking about things.
I'll tell you a secret - a lot of times I'm not trying to be funny at all. I'm just creating the saddest situation I can think of while using a certain object. Sometimes, while I'm photographing a scene, I'm like "Oh man. I've gone too far here. People are gonna see how sick I am, and make me get psychological help." Know what though? Those are always my most popular images. People see them as funny. There are a lot of sick people out there, just like me. Hello out there, all of you sickos!
Neatorama: Please walk us through the process of making
one, from idea to the
final photograph. What's the toughest part of making one of these?
Terry: I do this thing at the blog every once and a while when I'll ask people to mention an object for me to work with, then I'll let them vote on which object gets used. A couple of weeks ago, the winner of the polling was Autumn Leaves.
Leaving
Luckily, it was Autumn, so no problem finding leaves. Then, I tried to think of a situation using leaves that we as people can relate too. I'm scared of heights, so falling was a natural for me. If I was a leaf, I would think that life is pretty good until you fall off the tree. You've had a good year, and now you've developed a beautiful color; you've never looked better. But now your hold on the tree is becoming weaker and weaker. After you're on the ground, you're pretty much mulch, so you really don't want to fall do you?
I then doodle the situation to figure the best poses to show my idea. I picture people in the situation here, and how they would react. How many characters are needed? I want as few as possible, so I can boil the story down to it's most important elements.
What kind of background, what kind of lighting? If I want leaves to be characters, I need to pick ones that I can add arms and legs to and make it look somewhat believable. For example - oak leaves and maple leaves are too intricate. I need to find a simpler leaf.
Then I figure out how to connect wire to the leaf. I tried a couple, and you could see the wire behind the leaf, so I had to add a paper backing so the leaf wasn't as transparent.
Then I cut some small branches and connect them to light stands outside the frame. Try to make things look kinda natural in this one.
Then comes the hanging of the leaves. Autumn leaves easily fall off their branches, so I had to epoxy one of 'em onto the branch. It looks a little funky, but that's how it had to be unless I photoshop a bunch of it, and I don't do that.
I then have the epoxied leaf hanging on to his doomed friend (but in the end, they're both doomed, right?). I adjust their poses after each test shot, while also adjusting the lighting.
After I'm happy with the photo (usually late at night, after everyone else is asleep), I breathe a sigh of relief, have a glass of red, and post it on the blog.
Neatorama: What are some of your favorite Bent Objects?
The Party
Mr. Kiwi Gets Ready for the Beach
Neatorama: What's next for you and Bent Objects?
Terry: Hopefully a narrative book of some kind. I have the story already roughly written. Other than that, I just want to keep making images that get a reaction. I want to surprise people, so now that the book is out, I have to work a little harder at that.
Links: Bent Object | Bent Objects: The Secret Life of Everyday Things
_________
As I mentioned above, Terry has generously agreed to provide two Neatorama readers with excellent prizes (Thanks Terry!). To win, simply provide a caption to this Bent Object vignette below. The funniest one will win a signed and doodled copy of the Bent Object book, and the runner-up will win a 18-pack Bent Object Holiday Card.
I'd
Like to Have Coffee With My Breakfast
Contest rules are simple: place your caption in the comment section. One caption per comment, please. You can enter as many as you'd like. Good luck!
Update 11/20/09 – Great entries, guys! Congratulations to guyek who won the main prize:
Quietly, Coffee watched as they drank her offspring. Confident in the knowledge that neither of them would survive the morning.
and Andrew Rice who won the pack of greeting cards:
“This coffee has really got me wired.”
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The Amazing Bas Relief of Ron van der Ende
Although this wood sculpture looks basic enough, it’s actually quite remarkable. You see, artist Ron van der Ende creates works like this out of found wood – and makes bas relief sculptures. So while you’re correct in deducing the width and height, the depth is only a few centimeters.
Inspired by working in his father’s woodshop as a young man, Ron went to art school where he studied painting. Dissatisfied and longing for working with wood again, he opted for sculpting, and soon found a knack for off-beat bas relief.
I collect old doors and stuff. Old painted wood that I find in the street. I take it apart and skin it to obtain a 3mm thick veneer with the old paint layers still intact. I construct bas-reliefs that I cover with these veneers much like a constructed mosaic. I do not paint them!
This one took me a while just to figure out what I was looking at!
Link to Interview on diskursdisko. Ron’s website. via The Donut Project.
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Crochet Jägermeister Bottle
I love this crochet Jägermeister bottle made by crafter Yummy Pancake. You can find more crochet goodness at PlushYou! where Kristin Rask of Schmancy posted an interview with the crocheter (a pharmaceutical project manager by day and uber crafter by night, mind you): Link – via Rue the Day and Craftzine
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Dr Grymm's Eye Pod Victrola
It may be surprising, but that is a modified iPod, with a working dock and speaker. ”Dr. Grymm” designed the steampunk modification, and has more photos on his Flickr set.
Inspired by Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, he has used a motley mix of materials (old typewriters, formed brass and steel, leather and quartz crystals) to put together a contraption that you wouldn’t have envisaged even in your wildest dreams – a gigantic eye popping out from the iPod controller section, and a crystal ball (?) replacing the comparably delectable screen; all resting on a steampunk victrola base with a blaring horn (we certainly hope there are no eerie tunes played for the additional effect). Good news, though. It plays like your regular iPod so you can handpick your own tunes.
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Throne Made from Nintendo Cartridges
Photo: Erick Kwiecein
This throne, according to Internet rumor, is seven feet tall, can be found in Tokyo, and is made entirely of Nintendo game cartridges.
To be really useful for gamers, it needs to have a built-in toilet and a soda dispenser.
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Science Fiction Velvet Paintings
Image: Rainbow HandicraftCharlie Jane Anders of io9 has assembled a gallery of sixteen velvet paintings with science fiction themes, such as Yoda/Elvis, Kim Jong-Il as a Sleestak, and the great Wesley Crusher.
Would you like for Admiral Ackbar to decorate your home?
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Brush Furniture
Photo: Jason Taylor
A few years ago, British designer Jason Taylor created a furniture set made to look like bristle brushes. So far, he’s made two tables and a trio of stools using this theme.
Link via Make | Official Website
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2009's Best in Children's Book Illustrations
Illustration by Shaun Tan
The Book Review has an annual roundup of the best in children’s books from an illustrative point. Books for kids are crucial for learning the language, and if you can lure them in with outstanding visuals, all the better. NYT has the ten best, including this one from Shaun Tan’s “Tales From Outer Suburbia.” Tan also won a slot in 2007 for the phenomenal, wordless “The Arrival.”
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Papercraft High Heels
Photo: Le Creative Sweatshop
Le Creative Sweatshop is a French art studio that produces (among other things) enormous papercraft art installations. The high-heeled shoes pictured above are a part of their effort to “make a paper world.” You can view more pictures of the studio’s work at the link.
Link via Gizmodo | Video about their work
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Paralyzed Artist Draws With His Eyes
(Video Link)
Graffiti artist Tony Quan suffers from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease) and is unable to move any part of his body other than his eyes. But thanks to an open source computer project called EyeWriter, he can still draw. The technology tracks the movements of his eyes, allows him to select different shapes and colors, and then projects his images onto the sides of buildings. The above video is a selection from a documentary about the project.
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Furry Logic: Don't Worry by Jane Seabrook and Ashleigh Brilliant
I’m a big fan of Ashleigh Brilliant’s witty Pot-Shot series of epigrams, so I’m pleasantly surprised to learn that New Zealand artist Jane Seabrook of Furry Logic Books (published by Ten Speed Press) has created the perfect art for his words in book form.
The book Furry Logic: Don’t Worry is Jane’s sixth and Ashleigh’s first as a co-author in the series. Like all of the Furry Logic books, this one combines beautiful animal pictures with Ashleigh’s razor-sharp wit.
The colorful animal pictures aren’t just exquisitely drawn – they’re educational, too! Jane accurately depicted the red-eyed tree frog, the meerkat, the blue-footed booby and the flame angel (what’s that? You’ve got to read the book). There are 30 animals in all, each accompanied with Ashleigh’s epigrams. This book will make a perfect gift, inspirational book, or reading material to enjoy with your kids.
Links: Furry Logic: Don’t Worry at Amazon | Order from Ashleigh himself (you can even get it autographed)
Note: My review copy is graciously provided by Ashleigh Brilliant. I am not financially or otherwise compensated for this review.
Previously on Neatorama: Ashleigh Brilliant’s Pot-Shots | I May Not Be Totally Perfect But Parts of Me Are Excellent | Ashleigh Brilliant-inspired T-Shirts at the Neatorama Shop
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Fist Hammer
Photo: Martus & Silvio
Link via Make |Monkey wrench that looks like a human hand
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A Beautiful Camel Bladder Vase
Probably the nicest one you will see all day. This one, from Multan, Pakistan, was crafted in the mid-19th century and currently resides in the collections of the Museum of Leathercraft in Northampton, U.K.
Of note, the “camel bladder” term refers not to the shape, but to the material from which it was made. Animal bladders have traditionally been used for fashioning drinking flasks, enema bags, and other liquid-containing vessels. A dried, tanned, but unmoulded and unpainted one is depicted here.
Link, via Scribal Terror
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BuckyBalls Magnetic Toys are 216 rare earth magnet balls that can be shaped and molded into virtually any shape. Tear 'em apart and snap 'em back together in unlimited ways for hours of fun! Watch the video for a quick demo of what BuckyBalls can do. Remember to get two for twice the fun! Link |
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Macros With Milk Droplets
Photo: Corrie White
No, that’s not the AOL Guy casting a cherry spell, it’s actually a drop of milk. Corrie White discovered a talent for macro-photography and prefers the dairy product due to its slower rate of descent. Using dyes and little else, she creates some stunning, gorgeous images… she even shows her modest, kitchen-based studio!
Link Previously on Neatorama- Macrophotography of Dews
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Motherboard Mona Lisa
Photo: flickr user Sifter
This Mona Lisa made out of motherboards decorates the headquarters of the computer maker Asus in Taipei. It serves as an expression of that company’s desire to retake its position as the world’s largest motherboard manufacturer. More pictures at the link.
Link via Make | PBS news report
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Carbon Fiber Lamp
Photo: Marcus Tremonto
Designer Marcus Tremonto created a lamp made out of carbon fiber. He selected this material for the Carbon 451 Lamp because it is strong enough to support its own weight but thin enough to present the aesthetic qualities Tremonto wanted:
When asked by art gallery owner Patrick Brillet to design a piece out of Carbon Fiber, we decided to celebrate and utilize the best of the materials true physical properties, its strength and lightness. The complexity of curves and required thinness could not be duplicated in any other material while still maintaining its ability to support itself completely[...]
More pictures at the link.
Link via Gizmodo | Artist’s Website
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Book Cover Purses
Olympia Le-Tan makes handbags that look like books, with covers embroidered to resemble classics. What a neat way to show off your literary taste! Link to pictures. Link to artist’s site. -via Boing Boing
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Cantena Wall Clock
Photo: Unica
Andreas Dober’s wall clock for the German luxury shop Anthologie Quartett cycles a bicycle chain to display the hour with copper digits at the top. A custom job, it prices out at $2,338.
Link via Make | Anthologie Quartett
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Custom Barcodes
Image: d-barcode
The Japanese graphic arts firm d-barcode creates customized barcodes for clients who want to use them to grab customers’ attention. In Fast Company, Cliff Kuang writes:
They’ve even begun selling their wares to anyone who wants to license them, starting at $1,500 for the design, and $200 a year for licensing. A custom or exclusive use code will run upwards of $4,000–but given that companies spend millions on designing a single package, why don’t we see more detailed thinking like this? Middle managers spend weeks arguing about kerning–it’d be better if they spent more time rethinking every inch of such highly prized real estate.
Link via Fast Company
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Chair Made From 374 Wooden Dowels
Photo: Kibardin Design
Prague-based Russian designer Vadim Kibardin created the Deep Forest Lounge Chair out of 374 wooden dowels, carefully molded to seat a person comfortably. Each is custom-made and priced at $6,584. More pictures at the link.
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Iconic Album Art on Stamps
The British Royal Mail service commissioned Studio Dempsey to create first class stamps with classic albums covers. The covers include albums from Blur, New Order, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones, Primal Scream, David Bowie, The Clash, Mike Oldfield, Pink Floyd, and Coldplay -but no Beatles.
The final selection of ten sleeves (which perhaps oddly doesn’t feature one of The Beatles’ album covers) will appear on a set of 10 stamps that will launch on January 7, 2010 – and the stamps will be uniquely shaped, as shown in these images, to accommodate a glimpse of a vinyl disc poking out of each record sleeve.
Link – via babycreativeblog
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D&D Character Sheet As Resume
Image: Sean McNally
Sean McNally, a 15th-level artist and 7th-level animator, created a resume that looks like a character sheet from Dungeons & Dragons. He claims to have a Base Art Bonus of +11, of which I am skeptical. But maybe a little exaggeration is expected on a resume. Click on the link for a larger image.
Link via Geekologie
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8-Bit Wedding Invitation
Image: GeekStir
Luis Diaz Santis and Magaly Guerrero Ramierz sent out invitations to their wedding depicting themselves as 8-bit characters in a two-player combat video game. Chris Jacob of Gizmodo suggests that this is a subtle social commentary on modern marriage. Either way, it’s cool, and you can view a picture of the groom proposing in binary at the link.
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