Gizmodo: Sculpture

SUV Sculpture Unintentionally Sends the Wrong Message

Mark Wilson — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 08:24:00 EDT

Constructed of 3500 parts, connected by 4,900 bolts and standing 112 feet in the air, this sculpture commissioned by Land Rover is certainly an idolatrous addition to the Festival of Speed. But, uhh, does anyone else see the piece as less a triumph and more an indicator of our inevitable future—one where SUVs are good for little else than standing proudly/uselessly on a scrapheap? [Gerry Judah via Core77]

Anima Machines Robotic Art is Freakishly Organic

Kit Eaton — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 05:11:30 EDT

At Impress they've posted a review of a recent show titled Anima Machines by artist Choe U Ram that contains some of the most bizarre robotic exhibits you can imagine. Choe's work includes things like sophisticated glowing robotic flowers that respond to each other's behavior, and whirling bladed sculptures that look organic in their complexity and spin up when people pass nearby. It's pretty hard to describe actually... the metal, electronic and LED structures that were shown at the Japan's SCAI The Bathhouse Gallery are best ogled at in the photos below, and in the video that follows them.

There're more videos of the scultptures in action at Impress if you're as fascinated as I was. [Robot Watch]

Passive Aggressive Anger Release Machine, or Goodbye Kitty

AddyDugdale — Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:35:00 EDT

Laydeez an' gennulmen, I bring you the passive-agressive anger-release machine, an interactive sculpture by Yarisal and Kublitz. It's pretty self-explanatory—a vending machine that smashes smashables for you, although I'm not sure it gives you the same satisfaction that you get from chucking china at the floor. I dedicate this one to those people who were hoping for a 32GB iPhone at yesterday's WWDC, anyone who believes that Hello Kitty is the Jim Jones of the 21st century, my director, Ang Lee, producer Harvey Weinstein, and my voice coach, Bart Simpson. Oh, hang on, haven't I forgotten someone?

Ah yes, Blam, for employing me, Wilson, for editing me, Benny, for making me laugh. And finally, my husband, for loving me.

And now, I think, a little drinky is in order. [today and tomorrow]

Rotopault Kinetic Sculpture Is Mezmerizing

matt buchanan — Fri, 16 May 2008 14:30:00 EDT

About 30 seconds after I clicked play on this video of Brad Litwin's latest kinetic sculpture, Rotopault, I said "cool" and flicked my mouse to close the window. And then I just kept watching. It does the same thing over and over again: Launches a ball as it rotates, then catches the ball as it swings back around, without ever missing. Incredibly simple, but for some reason incredibly hypnotic, I think because the sounds it makes as it goes through the motions are precisely rhythmic. [Brad Litwin via BBG]

Customized Mii Sculptures Now Available For $79

Jason Chen — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:00:00 EDT

Those Mii Sculptures we told you about last year are finally available for purchase. All you have to do is hand over $79 and a copy of your Mii and the guy will hand-craft it just for you. Some of his other creations, Michael Jackson, Woody Allen and Bill Gates—actually do look a lot like the actual person. We're not sure why the creator decided to make these three the sample images for his site, but we're sure one of them certain won't appreciate being mixed in there with two pedophiles. [Mii Sculpture via Geekologie]

Little Big Man, Robot Within a Robot

Mark Wilson — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 08:36:00 EDT

Fact: every robot is controlled by a tiny robot pulling all sorts of levers in its chest, just as every human is powered by a gnome yanking on your lungs, heart and various coils of intestine. The Little Big Man kinetic sculpture by Nemo Gould outlines this principle, and was commissioned by the San Jose Museum of Art for a show going on now through October. Constructed from, among other things, vacuum cleaners, an old food processor and a vintage radio. For video of the sculpture in motion, hit the jump.

[artist via the automata via technabob]

Daisy, Robo Daisy, Spin Your Sculptural Propeller, Do

Kit Eaton — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 12:23:56 EDT

Yesterday we had one scary(ish) robot design, and here's another. Ok— not so scary, really, as all Daisy's slice'n'dice menace is just a sham. That huge propeller is simply a fiberglass copy of a cargo ship one. And all it does is flex and rotate its robot muscles, slowly. But it's massive, and it does have a built-in camera which allows it to track passers-by, and spin its blades at them as you can see in the video below.

Designed by Christian Moeller, the modded industrial robot arm is an installation artwork in Terminal 3 at Changi Airport, Singapore. Daisy's designed to "bring a smile to your face and a moment of comic relief to your trip." Or, of course, gentle sci-fi movie chills to your spine as you imagine it really gunning its motors and carving its bloody way into the news.

Considering the stressed-out rather than blissed-out state of mind of most people wandering through an airport terminal, I suspect more of the latter sensation goes on. [Bot Junkie and Dvice]

Artist Turns Bead Curtains Into Star Trek Works of Art

Kit Eaton — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:18:53 EDT

Bead curtains are like, so 1950's huh? Artist Devorah Sperber doesn't think so. Her amazing Star Trek bead curtains are much more likely to be adorning gallery walls than the front door of your local grocery store. Kind of like pixel-art in 3D, she slides tens of thousands of beads onto threads to create these detailed portraits. Check out the holodeck door, Enterprise-D's bridge, and my favorite: the "beaming down" series, which looks spookily like the "real" special effect.

Deborah must have the kind of patience and concentration skills that I can only dream of to thread so many beads to make these works of art. She also uses stacked colored cotton reels in her creations, and her portfolio includes re-creations of classical paintings, including the Mona Lisa. But if you want to see her Star Trek works, they're on display in various New York locations including the PULSE NY Art Fair (Booth E13) from March 27th to 30th. [Caren Golden fine art via Gearfuse]

Cuckinetic Clock Tells Time Rube Goldberg-Style

Kit Eaton — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 10:45:02 EDT

I'm always fascinated by kinetic sculptures, which is why I like this clock by painter and sculptor George Rhodes. You tell the hours from the numbered cylinders that're picked up on that wheel, and the minutes from the pointer arm. It strikes the hours when the cylinder rolls down the track and hits a bell. I'd love to see it in action, but since it's a limited edition of 50, costing $4,000, there's not much chance of that. If you do bag one of these 17-pound creations, it's signed by the artist himself. [George Rhodes via BBGadgets]

Guy Robots Are Beautiful Junk (and Expensive Too)

AddyDugdale — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 07:53:48 EDT

Ranging between $500 and $1,500, the little fellas of the Guy Robots project are part art, and all junk and heart. According to their creator, they do not walk or talk or give legal advice, won't harass your pets, emit ozone or pinch. Electro, the ready-for-anything direct current commando bot pictured here, likes folk dancing, and is proud of his infrared vision amongst other things. I reckon this is the nerd's version of going to pick a dog from the hound pound. More descriptions below the gallery.

There's Euclid, who uses his antennae to converse with whale pods, spot welder Shock is a believer in pet neutering and Slim who, like me, is a reptile taxidermist who spends his spare time playing backgammon, doing macramé and Russian literature. Buff-yet-dumb Gyro is a hard worker who once removed the lug nuts from every car in the Yankee Stadium's car park. And then there's Mitch, who suffers from lower back pain, and Konrad, who's currently in therapy.

All of the figures, which range between six and 20 inches, are made from reclaimed items from places as diverse as aerospace and avionics surplus suppliers, scrapyards and long-haul microwave equipment recyclers. And then there's the stuff just found on the street. [Guy Robot via swissmiss]

Tunnel Vision's Light-Sound Architecture Invokes Spirit of Tesla

AddyDugdale — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 11:43:30 EST

Paul Klotz is a Dutch applied art engineer and lighting designer who makes crazy light installations under the name of LED-Art. Tunnel Vision is a tribute to Tesla and is a 15-foot-long sound-and light sculpture that changes when you put your hands in the opening—sort of like an audio-visual theremin. Tunnel Vision's shape is, apparently, based on an abstraction of the 100Hz tone made by electrical generators and is known as Magnetostriction. [LED-Art]

Crazy Gadget Art For Geeky Snobs

Sean Fallon — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 16:30:21 EST

You don't have to be the kind of guy who wears sweaters around his neck, owns tiny dogs and has friends named Chazz to enjoy great art. With the world of electronics expanding at such a rapid pace, it is no wonder that more and more artists are using gadgets as a medium for their work. That means that even the biggest gadget geeks can enjoy a little culture now and then. There are tons of works out there already, so consider the following 10 pieces as an introduction into the world of crazy gadget art.

Pierre Matter's Steampunk Sculptures Belong in Batman's Art Gallery

Charlie White — Tue, 06 Nov 2007 09:58:04 EST

French artist Pierre Matter has a steampunk sensibility when he pounds out these copper sculptures, exploring Gothic themes while mixing up man and machine in a postmodern maelstrom. He's been creating these crazy sculptures for the past couple of decades out of copper, aluminum, resin and other metals, and the suckers are big—some weighing more than 1.5 tons. These sculptures are not something you'd want to have sitting in your living room, but the prize-winning work has been deemed good enough to occupy prestigious galleries around the world. Speaking of galleries, click through our gallery below for more examples of Matter's work, some of which might be NSFW if you're working in a church or nursery school.

[Opera Gallery, and Influks]

Wire Lamborghini Relies on Pedal Power to get Around

AddyDugdale — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 06:00:12 EDT

This Lamborghini made of wire was shown off at the Art Car Parade in Manchester last month. The two guys behind it, sculptor Benedict Radcliffe and pedal car designer Ben Wilson, even managed to get the attention of a British cop &mdash probably the first time a Lambo has been ticketed for going too slowly. See the pic below.

[Designboom via Gearfuse]

Edo Grill Brings Blazing Heat While Posing On Your Patio

Charlie White — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 11:04:53 EDT

This fancy Outdoor Gourmet Edo Grill from Kalamazoo borrows its unusual design from Japanese yakitori cooking, a type of shish kebab that's the Asian equivalent of a good old Southern pig pickin'. The grill's made of stainless steel, and when you open its cover, you have instant counterspace on each side.

This baby packs the heat, too, roaring out 50,000 BTUs of caloric goodness with its dual zone heating, searing that steak ~~tempura~~ teriyaki to a finely finished charcoal-broiled crust while it's still pink inside. And if you don't like keeping that bomb hidden underneath that some people call an LP tank, you can convert it to natural gas, too. Too bad it'll set you back $6,995.

Product Page [Kalamazoo, via Born Rich]

Low Tech but Highly Delicious: Gummy Bear Chandelier

Matt Buchanan — Fri, 09 Mar 2007 13:30:07 EST

Part of an entire series of gummy bear sculptures by YaYa Chou, this chandelier looks both tasty and retro-chic. But we can't help but wonder how long it will hold up. It seems like only a matter of time before it's either devoured in a nostalgic munchie fit or melted by the light bulbs into a swirling, sticky rainbow of goop. Here's the real question, though: "Is she using Haribo, the one and only true brand of gummy bears?" Scope the close-up after the jump to check.

– Matt Buchanan

YaYa Chou Sculpture [YaYa Chou via Boing Boing]

Get Your Own Mii Sculpture (Soon)

Jason Chen — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 16:00:16 EST

Artist Mr. Thiel is trying to gauge public interest in him making custom-designed Mii Sculptures. Are you interested in having a little Mii-representation of yourself sitting on your office desk? Who the hell isn't?

If you are interested, hit him up at miisculpture@allisonqmccarthy.com with the subject line "I want a Mii soon!!!" All emails with two or four exclamation marks will be discarded—he wants three.

Hopefully your Mii sculpture doesn't turn out a blonde penis. – Jason Chen

Project Page [AllisonQMcCarthy via Kotaku]

The Ice Sculpture Is Melting

Mark Wilson — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 06:30:16 EST

I see my first ice sculpture of the day, and it's not at a buffet.

"You make CD cases, correct?"
"Yes."
"Then why do you have a cash register ice sculpture?"
"Got you to stop, didn't it?"

You can't argue with logic. – Mark Wilson

Digital Light Sculpture Studio: 3D Designs With LEDs

Charlie White — Fri, 22 Dec 2006 09:17:15 EST

We're still mesmerized by that magic orb we showed you yesterday with its spinning LEDs that created all kinds of designs using persistence of vision. That's just an experiment, while the Digital Light Sculpture Studio is fo' reals. Its 32 LEDs let you create 3D sculptures and animations, and the thing only costs $19.95. – Charlie White

Light Sculpture [Vimeo]

Elvis on a Pinhead

Charlie White — Thu, 01 Jun 2006 10:51:26 EDT

How many Elvises can dance on the head of a pin? Just one, and only if you're micro-miniaturist Willard Wegan, a British artist who's been credited with creating the smallest works of art on earth.

To create these micro-sculptures, there's not a whole lot of shakin' going on, either—the guy goes to great lengths to get his body to be still enough to paint and sculpt these babies, meditating until his heartbeat and breathing are as slow as possible. Then between heartbeats, he does his magic. Be still my heart. – Charlie White

Gallery Page [Willard Wigan, via boingboing]

A Real Head-Turner: Your Profile in Wood

Charlie White — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 08:11:28 EST

Immortalize yourself in wood with a Pirolette, a hand-carved art object from Turn Your Head that's custom-made from your own profile by Tom Beshara. Notice the wood fills the space between two opposing profiles of your own face. It's carved out of your choice of American black walnut, cherry or maple. Place it near a wall and you'll notice that it casts a shadow that looks just like you. And, push your face into it and it fits your profile perfectly. Order by tomorrow (March 15) and it's $149.95 plus shipping and handling. Heady stuff.

Turn Your Head [via boingboing]

Skycar, Levitating Sculpture, Treehouse - From Neiman Marcus This Christmas

Noah R — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:06:26 EDT

Every year, the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book includes a handful of outrageously expensive items, including a couple that sound like mis-placed April Fool's Day gags.

This xmas, for instance, you could stuff your loved one's stocking with the $3.5 million Moller Skycar pictured above. It's a prototype that runs on ethanol and takes of vertically. The first test flight is scheduled for early 2006.

The Dreamboat Limited-Edition Levitating Sculpture uses a 6-foot long mahogany base filled with magnets that suspend a slab of polished aluminum in space. The magnets are supposedly made to never lose their strength—which is important to consider when you are investing $90,000.

There is also a custom-made treehouse starting at $50,000, a 1.5-hour private concert with Sir Elton John, and an old-fashioned strip-style photobooth for $20,000 (these are no longer in production, but you can find them on eBay for about the same price). There is a complete rundown over at The Purse Blog.

Christmas Gift Idea Extravaganza [Purse Blog]

[Thanks Vlad!]