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What started as an art form practiced by prisoners and tramps has become a really cool way for crafty folks to show off their modeling skills by building awesome structures, and sculptural works of art, out of a million or so little pieces of wood and lots of glue.
Hit the link to peruse a gallery featuring eight matchstick art masterpieces, full of fine detail and fantastic constructs, just don’t light up anywhere near these highly flammable works of art or you can kiss them goodbye!
Confucius has never looked so creepy! Sculpted by Zhang Huan in waaaay more than life sized scale (32 feet tall!), this is one version of the Chinese philosopher that you’ll want to steer clear of when it’s feeding time.
It’s so startlingly realistic that I have to wonder if Zhang hired a giant figure model for reference while sculpting. I kinda want to climb on top of giant Confucius’ head and pretend I’m Remy from the Pixar movie Ratatouille.
Link –via Geekosystem
This incredibly cool sculpture is brought to you by the twisted mind of Ron English, an artist known for warping iconic figures into ironic statements (see Fat Tony and Dead Mickey), and who previously brought us an Obama-Lincoln mashup that was all the rage a few years back.
This time, Ron has brought us Obama hulking out, as he prepares for the upcoming election by saying “You vote for me or OBAMA SMASH!”
Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston and the Boston Art Commission plan to erect a statue honoring Edgar Allan Poe, and they’ve narrowed down the design submissions to three finalists.
The finalists were selected from a pool of 265 artists from 42 states and 13 countries who submitted their qualifications for consideration. Working with the Edgar Allan Poe Foundation of Boston, the Boston Art Commission will oversee the installation of the public artwork in Edgar Allan Poe Square, the city-owned plaza located at the southeast corner of Boylston Street and Charles Street South between Park Square and Boston Common.
The artists are Jennifer Bonner and her teammate architect Christian Stayner, both of Los Angeles; Ann Hirsch of Cambridge and her teammate Boston architect Robert Olson; and Stefanie Rocknak of Oneonta, New York. Their design proposals were first presented by the artists on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012, at the Campus Center of Emerson College (150 Boylston St., four doors east of Poe Square). The proposed concepts will be presented once again at the Boston Public Library in Copley Square by project manager Jean Mineo on Thursday, January 19, 2012, the 203rd birthday of the Boston-born Poe.
The design shown is by sculptor Stefanie Rocknak. See them all and read the artist’s statements at the project site. Or, if you’re in Boston, see them at the library today! Link -Thanks, J.W. Ocker!
Believe it or not, this is a completely edible cake. A 6′ 4″ tall Storm Trooper cake was constructed by Amanda Oakleaf Cakes for the Arisia Sci-Fi Convention in Boston. The project took ten people two weeks of work, but how they did it is no secret. By popular demand, the bakery posted a photo gallery that depicts the process of building the cake, which was later consumed by around 600 fans. Link -via Boing Boing
This time-lapse GIF shows a portrait piece being created by artist Tom Deininger, who specializes in making amazing sculptural works of art out of found junk and garbage.
The use of found objects gives each piece a unique color scheme, and the elements that make up each piece are recognizable, as if the pieces may be lurking around in your trash bin somewhere, waiting to be released. His use of objects as texture also brings the subjects to life with their own power and personality, and they’re all eco-friendly to boot!
Tom has been featured on Neatorama before (link), and in the time since he has created a ton of new artworks, which are now featured on his website. Take a look, and see if you find Tom’s trashy artworks a-peeling. *wink*
Link –via Beautiful Decay
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These awesome sculptures are obviously inspired by toys, yet their style and subject matter would be lost on children. From a Kim Jong-Il potato head to a Virgin Mary shaped jet, Stephen Ives celebrates childhood in a decidedly adult manner.
Some look like toy mods, others are sculptures which are styled after plastic toys, and all have a unique style that is playful with serious undertones.
The only thing I don’t like about these sculptures is the fact that they haven’t been made into vinyl toy versions, because I want them all for my collection!
Link –via Super Punch
This amazing LEGO sculpture of a Hyperion Battlecruiser from the video game Starcraft 2 was made by Sven Jungo, who used over 15000 LEGO bricks to build the highly detailed starship and must throw his back out every time he tries to move this thing!
And where does he display this behemoth in his house? I hope Sven doesn’t let any bratty little kids around this thing, because they might try to take it apart when no one’s looking.
You can see more pics of this incredible LEGO masterpiece at the link below, including artwork from the game as a point of reference. LEGO builders-Sven has already set the bar high for 2012!
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These incredibly detailed sculptures were made by UK artist David Mach, who uses thousands of matchsticks pressed into a clay mold to form the likeness of Chaplin, Marilyn and Ben Kingsley, among others.
Mach uses Japanese matchsticks because their heads come in all sorts of different colors, and color is definitely an important part of his works (note the crazy color combos of the Marilyn busts at the link).
Mach feels that a fun way to finish a show is to set one of these beauties ablaze and let it burn away, so he sets aside a few from every show to torch. Now that’s what I call hot headed!
Link –via DesignTAXI
These vibrant, rainbow colored artworks are by Jen Stark, and they’re made entirely of paper! Some of them look like a portal to another dimension, while others are like a rainbow colored coating for an otherwise drab world.
You can see works from her latest show here, and here’s a link to a previous Neatorama post on Jen’s awesome paper artworks. I feel a flashback coming on!
Link –via Super Punch
If you’re looking for something to do with that ridiculously expensive Louis Vuitton handbag you have lying around well look no further, because artist Billie Achilleos has some grand ideas about how to give those old bags new life.
This self-described “versatile artist and maker of things” has repurposed Vuitton items by cutting them up and making them into sculptures of animals. We first featured Billie here on Neatorama back in April, and she’s been hard at work since, so be sure to check out the link for her updated portfolio, which is full of repurposed creatures of fashion.
Link –via Super Punch
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Sascha Mehlhase built a model of the ATLAS experiment at the CERN Large Hadron Collider out of LEGO bricks! It contains around 9,500 bricks and took 33 hours to assemble, in addition to 48 total hours of work just designing it. Read more about and see more pictures at his site. Link -via reddit
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Boy, The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man sure is cute when he’s not stomping around terrorizing a city with his sugary goodness! For those of you with snow, you’re lucky because you can make your own geeky snowman, unlike we Southern Californians whose only knowledge of snow comes from the movies and tv shows. We’ll just have to settle for sculpting our mashed potatoes into something cool…
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Banksy has literally defaced a statue in his latest work, replacing the face of a replica statue with pixels as a political statement:
Banksy titled the statue “Cardinal Sin”, and designed it as a comment on recent crimes perpetrated by the Catholic church—a response to the child abuse scandal that was covered-up.
In a statement, Banksy said: “I’m never sure who deserves to be put on a pedestal or crushed under one.”
It’s a statement, no doubt, but is it worthy of sitting alongside the works of Van Dyck and Rubens?
These sculptures are so beautifully crafted, and so finely detailed, that rendering them on aluminum roasting pans and trays is almost a shame, since these flimsy, throwaway objects can so easily be destroyed.
Created by Idan Friedman, these are classical styled portraits with a modern twist, recyclable works of art that hopefully won’t end up in a recycling bin.
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These classically-styled statues of classy ladies with a grisly twist are the products of Jessica Harrison’s twisted imagination. She performs minor surgery on ceramic statues, removing an arm or skullcap or sometimes the entire head, then she modifies the statues to tell a dark, murderous tale.
If Hummel ever started making statues like these, I’m sure a Brony-esque trend would follow.
Link –via SuperPunch
What could possibly make the Predator alien more badass than he’s already proven himself to be? Make a full-sized likeness of him out of metal!
Standing 8 feet 2 inches tall and weighing over 11 hundred pounds, Steampunk Predator is custom made from various parts, automotive and otherwise, and recycled metal. Check out more from Kreatworks at their Etsy store link below, including a really cool Robocop and an awesome Alien.
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German designer Elena Belmann turned the QR code rage into art with this clever three-dimensional sculpture made of blocks of wood. Link - via Get Addicted To
These fabulously detailed paper artworks by Peter Callesen create form with negative space, style from their almost generic non-style, and the frame is often used as a sort of mini stage for the scene. It’s amazing what people are doing with paper these days!
Link –via DesignTAXI
This 33 foot tall LEGO Christmas tree was unveiled last week in London’s St. Pancras International Station. It’s made out of 600,000 bricks, features ornaments made out of LEGOs and took over two months to build. Hopefully the children who visit the station won’t be tempted to take the towering plastic tree apart!
These custom action figures are sculpted from scratch by Dayton Allen, and include characters from, among other sources, The Old Republic and The Force Unleashed video games. They’re way too awesome to be considered mere toys. Check out more of Dayton’s masterfully sculpted Star Wars character figures at the links below.
Link –via Super Punch –Dayton Allen
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Villa Palagonia in Bagheria, Italy is famous for a flock of “monsters” on top of its garden walls.
The house was built in 1715, and immediately hailed as an architectural achievement, and one of the finest works of Sicilian Baroque on the island. But the Villa didn’t acquire the strange touch which made it world-famous until 1749, when the deranged Prince of Palagonia ordered a set of gargoyles to line its garden walls. Legions of dragons, soldiers, hunchbacks and freaks of nature look down on visitors from atop stony perches. According to legend, the most freakish faces are meant to caricature the many lovers of the prince’s promiscuous wife.
Get a closer look at these eccentric works and get a tour of the villa at For 91 Days. Link -Thanks, Juergen!
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Steampunk as a fashion trend might be fading away, but steampunk inspired inventions and designs will never die. Matt Armstrong brings his version of steampunk inspired design to these LEGO brick sculptures, and the resulting inventions/artworks are quite handsome looking indeed. With classic designs, simplistic retro flair, and the look of full functionality, this is how you put the bricks to good use!
Link –via DesignTAXI
These cool metal sculptures, of celebrities like John Lennon and Andy Warhol, have such soft edges and fine detail that I was surprised to find out they’re made out of chicken wire. Kenyan artist Ivan Lovatt uses skills he learned from working in construction to create these metal masterpieces, and like a good builder he’s built sculptures which are durable enough to weather any storm!
Hit the link to see more of Ivan’s creations, including his amazing renditions of wildlife in wire.
I’m sure you’ve seen variations on this theme before, the internal anatomy of various cartoon characters and toys, many of which were done by the artist behind this cool LEGO man anatomy sculpt, Jason Freeny.
But what makes this article really cool is that it shows Jason’s entire process, so all you artists and DIYers get ready to take note!
Link –via Geekologie
These amazing metal sculptures, constructed out of old car and truck parts, are impressive in scale and design. Created by Tom Samui, these creations belong in a steampunk animal menagerie, or used as the coolest junkyard advertising ever.
These sculptures seem like a logistical nightmare, I mean how does he move this massive piece, with a crane? A gallery would have to be built around this piece, cause it ain’t coming in through the front door!
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T Zero made this arm sculpture from the movie Terminator 2: Judgement Day out of spare parts. Then he gives you the process so you can make your own. However, you should be aware that it’s only two inches tall! Still, having on of these on your desk would be pretty cool. Link -via Everlasting Blort
Hakan Martensson knows his away around the sweet stuff, and his chocolate sculptures of fantastic beasts and pop culture icons are so detailed it would be a shame to eat such a beautiful work of art! Be sure to check out Hakan’s website for more fabulous sculpts by the master chocolatier.
This spider sculpture by Louise Bourgeois looks big enough to swallow Spider Man whole, and probably should gobble up the webslinger for being such an attention monger!
Christie’s auction house decided to unveil their newest acquisition by hiring Craig Henningsen, star of Spider Man the Musical, to commemorate the occasion with some web-headed antics. The piece is the second largest spider sculpture in the world, and is expected to sell for over 4 million dollars.
This funky Frankenstein sculpture looks good enough to eat! Created as part of the It’s Alive Project, this is one of 80 busts created by different artists striving to show the monster in a different light. Look out for the FrankenBieber, and the hilarious FrankenSpock!
