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Tag Archives: Art

It’s Come To This: Baby Doll Is Pregnant

By David Ponce on 10/18/12 • 1 Comment

So you’re looking at the above doll and hopefully have some kind of frown on. What on earth is this? Well, it’s a doll alright, but fortunately it’s not going to be in any store. It’s the art of one Darren Cullen, and will be on display at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland, UK, from the 26 October – 12 January 2013 as part of a group show called “Moral Holiday.” So the next question is “WHY??!” Well, some media have speculated that the doll represents a comment Darren is making on TV shows exploiting teen pregnancies, or even about those shows glamorizing infant sexuality, like Toddlers & Tiaras. And to be honest, it very well could symbolize any of those things. However Darren himself has gone on record with his own explanation: “It’s about the way these toys intrinsically train girls to have and care for children while they are still only children themselves.” Oh, ok, Darren is making a comment on gender characterization and heteronormative socialization. Or, in other words, that dolls are BS in the first place. We get it. It’s just that, well, it’s still pretty creepy. But hey, that’s good art we suppose…

[ "Product" Page ] VIA [ Huffington Post ]

Why?: Artist Makes Shoes With Backwards Heel

By David Ponce on 10/15/12 • 2 Comments

The thing about art these days is that anyone with actual talent tends to get scooped up by the marketplace, and whoever is left is, well… mediocre. Yeah, that’s an intentionally inflammatory statement, as we’re sure there are still some decent artists who believe in their craft and haven’t sold out. But we still stand behind the observation, if only in a rule-of-thumb sort of way rather than a set-in-stone principle. That’s why we’re not surprised to come across things like the above “Scary Beautiful”, a pair of shoes for women which reverses the expected location of the heels and insole. It’s the brainchild of Cape Town-based designer Leanie van der Vyver, and Dutch designer and shoe fabricator René van den Berg. It’s a work of “art”, which we’re sure will be appreciated by those with a more open mind than ours. Like most art, it represents something the artist wanted to express:

“humans are playing God by physically and metaphorically perfecting themselves. beauty is currently at an all time climax,
allowing this project to explore what lies beyond perfection. scary beautiful challenges current beauty ideals by inflicting
an unexpected new beauty standard.”

Artsy non-capitalization of words is of course not our doing. Listen folks, we just come across things and we let you know they exist. We’re not going to go on with our unrequested opinions. Let us just say that if you hit the jump, you’ll get a few more pictures, a weird-ass video of this girl wearing “Scary Beautiful”, and links.

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Apex Predator Shoes Made Of 1,050 Teeth

By David Ponce on 10/12/12 • 2 Comments

There’s not a whole bunch of information on the above shoes. They were made in 2010 by artists Mariana Fantich and Dominic Young of fantich&young and each shoe features a sole made from 1,050 denture teeth. No, they’re not actual teeth, thank goodness. We particularly like the gold teeth towards the front. So why, exactly, do they exist? Well, they’re art, right? And the explanation goes something like this:

Apex predators are predators with no predators of their own, residing at the top of their food chain.

We imagine it’s a statement about mankind’s position atop the food chain and how we can metaphorically eat anything below us. Or something like that. Art interpretation was never our strong suit. We can tell you that they are UK size 15 suits, and that there’s a matching suit somewhere called the Apex Predator Suit. And like most art, it’s a one of a kind piece that’s not exactly for sale.

Hit the jump for a few more shots, and links.

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Eyeball Chair Would Look Great In Our Offices

By David Ponce on 10/04/12 • Leave a comment!

We like it when artists create things that we could conceivably use. For example, a painting, nice as it is to look at, can’t be used for anything other than that. On the other hand, the above chair is not only awesome to look at, but could well double as an actual, you know, chair. It’s called Scopohilia (love of looking) and is the creation of Fiona Roberts. It’s made of red velvet and hundreds of plastic eyeballs and, like many works of art, comes with some kind of statement the artist intended it to convey:

“The excessive ‘gaze’ haunts the flesh, generating the uncomfortable feeling of being exposed.”

That’s all we got… We’re thinking it’s some kind of critique about how we’re living in a narcissistic and exhibitionist era and… there are eyeballs everywhere? We don’t know, or really care for that matter. We can only say one more thing about the chair, and that’s that it was “part of Roberts’ graduate show at the Helpmann Academy Graduate Exhibition 2012 in Adelaide.” Purchasing info? We don’t think there is any. However, after the break, there’s a couple more pictures and links.

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Meet the Junk King and Check Out His Massive Cathedral of Junk

By Hazel Chua on 09/21/12 • Leave a comment!

Kingdom of Junk

One man’s trash can be another one’s treasure, but I’m not really sure what to make of this Austin man’s self-proclaimed Cathedral of Junk. Sure, I’d love to build my own cathedral one day and maybe a throne for myself, if I reach that level of vanity. But if they’re going to be made out of junk, I’d rather not.

However, this is what Vince Hannemann, aka the Junk King, has managed to build and more. Hannemann’s work is all about the junk and the cathedral represents much of his life’s work. It’s not my cup of tea but I guess you could say it’s artistic and creative in its own right. His cathedral suffered a blow in 2010 though, when the city of Austin asked him for a building permit and he was forced to tear half of the structure down in half.

Check out a video of the Junk King and his cathedral in all its glory after the break! You’ll be amazed at the amount of junk he managed to cram into the space he had to work with.

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Five-Foot Tall Deep Sea Angler Fish Lamp Looks Freakishly Awesome

By Hazel Chua on 09/20/12 • Leave a comment!

Giant Junkyard Fish Lamp

You’ve seen this fish before. Probably not live, but when it was featured pretty prominently in Finding Nemo. It looked scary in the movie and probably looks even scarier in actual. But the deep sea angler fish doesn’t get any scarier than how it appears in its lamp form.

The fact that it stands at five feet tall doesn’t help matters either. This lamp was created using an assortment of recycled materials, from forks and knives to old bike parts and shovels. And when you flick the switch, you’ll be treated to the scariest sight of your life. I think it’s probably demeaning to just call it a lamp, because it looks more like a piece of art, if you ask me. Its creator Justin La Doux seems to think so, too, because he actually entered the lamp (which was part of a grander installation) into the 2010 ArtPrize contest, where it was judged as one of the top 100 among the 1,700 or so entries.

Owning a piece of art isn’t cheap, so you shouldn’t expect this lamp to be, either, because it’s priced at $8,000.

[ Product Page ] VIA [ Gizmodo ]

Brazilian Artist Uses Pot to Create Smokin’ Art

By Hazel Chua on 08/23/12 • 1 Comment

Pot Artist

It’s strange, but true. This has got to be the first time that I’ve heard ‘art’ as the reason for why someone would smoke pot, but as they say, there’s always a first for everything.

Brazilian artist Fernando de la Rocque creates surreal-looking pieces of art by taking deep drags out of a joint and then blowing the smoke onto his stencil-covered canvas. It takes a while, but after a couple of puffs, a light brown outline starts to appear. Rocque keeps at it until the image is complete and adequately ‘colored.’ I’m not sure how he’s managing to pull this off, since smoking marijuana is illegal in Brazil.

Regardless, a lot of people happen to like Rocque’s doped-out art as each of the pot-smoke prints sell at about $2,500 each. A couple of Rocque’s work is currently on display at an alternative gallery down in Rio’s Ipanema neighborhood, so drop by and take a whiff take a look at his work if you happen to be in the area.

Hit the jump to check out a couple more of Rocque’s art.

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Artist Makes Hermit Crab A New Glass Shell

By David Ponce on 08/08/12 • Leave a comment!

Because crustaceans gave up their dignity when they started tasting so good, artist Robert DuGrenier decided he’d make his pet hermit crab a new shell. Out of blown glass. So you can see the little guy’s keister. We’re fascinated, he’s not even embarrassed. It’s a win-win! Now we say Robert’s “pet crab”, but we’re just making that up. We don’t really know how he got started since he’s not only been at this for a few years, he also actually sells the shells he makes. They range in price from $15 to $120 for some fancy gold painted ones. Most are in the $20 range. If you’ve got a crab you think you can coax into some fancy new digs, hit the jump to find the links. AND a bunch more pictures and even two videos.

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Man Makes Fascinating Machines Inside Wine Glasses

By David Ponce on 07/26/12 • Leave a comment!

For no other reason than the fact that it’s awesome, a Polish man by the name of Szymon Klimek hand-makes some wonderfully intricate machines… inside wine glasses. It’s a little like those boats that people build right inside bottles, except Klimek’s machines are fully functional. Well, functional in the sense that they move, but they don’t actually do anything useful. The above is his latest, called Sponge.

Made from 0.1 millimeter sheets of brass and bronze, Klimek’s miniature machines dance effortlessly in wine-glass enclosures that measure little more than 4 inches across. Klimek’s latest creation, Sponge, is a steam engine-like machine named for the latticework of tiny, interconnected brass pieces that expands and contracts as the engine runs. Sitting in a wine glass about a foot tall, a small silicon solar cell powers a concealed electric motor, which drives the 3-inch flywheel. He doesn’t work to a specific scale, but customizes his designs for each glass: the opening of Sponge’s wine glass and the diameter of its flywheel differed by less than a millimetre

He started this hobby back in 2004 and since 2008 has created 9 “active devices”, which you can find on his website. Links to that plus a cool video of the Sponge in action after the break.

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