Gizmodo: sculptures

Waste Of Beer: Christmas Tree Made From 1,000 Full Heineken Bottles

Kat Hannaford — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 08:00:24 EST

It's not as dangerous as a Tesla Coil tree, but imagine 1,000 full Heineken beer bottles raining down on your head. I hope the creators of this giant sculpture in Shanghai, China, used superglue. [Recyclart via Inhabitat]

This Is Not a Photoshop

Jesus Diaz — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:10:00 EST

This morning, Ron van der Ende left me speechless with this. They are not pasted in Photoshop. They are not giant tapes. They are not even painted. They are bas-relief mosaics made with old wood cuts. There are more:

According to Ron van der Ende:

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!

I want some of these so badly. [Ron van der Ende via Motherboard via Obsolete]

Quantum Physics Visualized

Rosa Golijan — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:00 EST

I wish that Julian Voss-Andreae had made some of these sculptures when I was in school. While we can't really claim that they represent quantum physics concepts accurately, they still would've made reading about Bosons and Fermions more pleasant.

Julian left his quantum physics research path, but he certainly carried knowledge and inspiration from it over into his art career. These sculptures are intended to portray some incredible quantum physics ideas for which there are "no consistent mental images." That craziness aside, the sculptures are lovely eye-candy based on artistic merit alone. [Julian Voss-Andreae via Boing Boing]

Papercraft Castle Is More Gorgeous and Intricate Than Most Real Castles

Dan Nosowitz — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 20:20:00 EDT

This unbelievable papercraft project, by Japanese art student Wataru Itou, took over 4 years to create and features lights and a moving train. It's probably the most stunning papercraft sculpture we've ever seen.

The sculpture is called, in English, "A Castle on the Sea," and is currently exhibited at Uminohotaru, which we assume is some kind of gallery right on the ocean. The entire project, excluding the lights and possibly a few mechanical elements of the train, is made of painstakingly cut and folded paper. Check out a few of these shots, if you don't mind your socks being rocked clear off your feet and across the room. [Tokyo Bling]

Japan Building Another Gigantic Robot: Tetsujin

Mark Wilson — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:00:00 EDT

We knew this day would come. Japan builds one giant robot and, like a first taste of heroin, the country follows a destructive path of building opulent robo statues until there's a 60-foot robot for every man, woman and child.

Now that the Gundam is complete, Kobe's Wakamatsu Park is next on the list to build their very own life-sized Tetsujin (also known as Gigantor, I believe). 60 feet tall and weighing in at 50 tons, Tetsujin will be on permanent display starting in October (an installation that may turn to semi-permanent should Tetsujin grow tired of photo ops).

And as you can see in the clip and gallery below, building a fake giant robot can't look much different from building a real giant robot. Sparks. Hardhats. Subtitles. Imminent human death. Yeah, this is about as real as fiction gets. [Kobe Tetsujin Project via toysrevil via The Awesomer via botropolis] The image associated with this post is best viewed using a browser.

Reflections on a Baby Crocodile Driving a Pink Motorcycle

Mark Wilson — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 09:30:00 EDT

Some may frown on this crocodile dying for his art, but mounted on that pink motorbike with the stagnant air in his face, I'd argue he's living more than most of us.

Priced at a reasonable $122, this (one of a kind? two of a kind? 300 of a kind?) baby croc on a pink bike sculpture will make an inspiring addition to any home. Sure, plop him down as the centerpiece of that Swedish Modern living room. He loves to put on a show for your douchebag friends who couldn't survive for 10 minutes in the Australian outback. [Univenter via NerdApproved]

Apocalyptic Machine Scultpures are Wonderful in a Morbid, Sinister Sort of Way

Adrian Covert — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 22:18:26 EST

Judging from his uber-dark, mech'd-out artwork, Kris Kuksi probably had a disturbing childhood (or dropped acid in graveyards). But it doesn't make his pieces any less awesome.

Kuksi's sculptures and dioramas (bas-reliefs if you wanna get technical about it) tend to look at the tensions between the old world and the modern one, with heavy emphasis on themes of religion, conquest and death. And he managed to accomplish all this while still maintaining a tech sensibility to his work that threw me into an all out nerdgasm. Like Art Machines points out, these images don't do the works justice, but you can zoom around over on Kuksi's site and check out all the intricacies.

Some pieces, particularly the ones involving tanks, are overtly political, while others focus heavily on the religious. But my personal favorites are the one shown above, the piece with the Zeppelin, and the work of the skeleton cradling a village—which looks vaguely like Zion (the underground city in the Matrix) crossed with ancient Japanese mythology. And there are tons more sculptures over on Kuksi's site you should definitely check out. [Kris Kuksi via Art Machines]

15 Rolling Ball Sculptures In Action

Sean Fallon — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:30:00 EST

As you know, the allure of Rube Goldberg-style contraptions is well documented. There is just something captivating about watching a ball make its way down a complicated track. If you agree, than you will certainly find something to enjoy in OObjects list of 15 rolling ball sculpture videos. It features everything from commercial kits to a 70 foot tall Energy Machine in the Hong Kong Science Museum. [OObject]

Typewriter Monster Mask, Grrrr! (Arg)

Mark Wilson — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 10:30:00 EDT

After artist Jeremy Mayer created this series of typewriter masks, he said, "I'm not going for whimsy. So I will probably never do a set again." That's a shame. Wired has a full profile of the artist along with a complete gallery of his intricate human-sized typewriter cyborg sculptures. There are worse ways to spend your workday. [Wired via bbGadgets]

'Sculpture' Fires Beer Bottles at a Wall at 373MPH

Adam Frucci — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 11:02:40 EDT

Now this is what I call art. It's a sculpture/robot that flings empty beer bottles at a solid wall at 373 MPH, smashing them to smithereens. As the exhibit goes on during the day, a pile of green shards of glass piles up under the wall. It's a comment on rock and roll or something, but I'm a simple man. I just like seeing things smash. If you're like me, you can go check out the cannon at the SUPERDOME exhibition at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris. Hit the jump for another shot of the cannon in action.

[We Make Money Not Art via MAKE]

Interview With Mike Rea Featuring Wooden Mechs, Guns and Tanks

Sean Fallon — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 20:35:38 EST

If you have ever had the privilege of viewing a work by artist Mike Rea, chances are you were instantly captivated by his amazing geek-inspired wood sculptures. The folks at Fecal Face managed to catch up with him and ask a few questions—and the brief peek inside his mind that resulted is interesting to say the least. For those who want to check out his stuff in person, Rea has a solo exhibition coming up at the Contemporary Art Center of Virginia from April 3-June 15, 2008. [Mike Rea and Fecal Face via Make]

Solar Dragonfly Flaps Wings Feebly, Makes Us Sad

Haroon Malik — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 23:59:00 EST

James Watts spends his time putting together fantastic insect-bot sculptures, and the Solar Dragonfly is one of the best. The solar panels running down the body actually power the wings, which are then kicked into motion using a pager motor. Sure, it looks swell, but we can't help but think the Solar Dragonfly would lose its balance whilst flapping its wings feebly, all the while wishing it was a real dragonfly. How would Disney have tackled that one? A solar powered dragonfly that wants to be a real insect—now there's a cartoon we want to see. Pixar, hop to it. Hit the link for some more great shots. [Clockwork Robot via Make]

Digital Sculpture at Heathrow Airport Demonstrates that Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining

AddyDugdale — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 07:18:53 EST

Commissioned for the atrium of the brand spanking new Terminal 5 at Heathrow, Cloud is a digital sculpture conceived by art and design studio Troika. The five-meter structure is suspended above the escalators and consists of three layers. Find out what lies beneath the black and silver flick-dots, and see the sculpture in action below the gallery.

On top of an aluminum body sit 4,638 dots that can turn from silver to black in one quick flick. Beneath that lies two electronic drivers, 134 distribution boards and over 16,500 feet of cable. Controlling the flip-dots was harder than normal, however, and Pharos Architectural Controls, a company which develops electronic controllers for lighting applications, had to fiddle around with the control parameters and rewrite firmware on the drivers.

I like the flicka-flicka noise as the Cloud changes color—It reminds me of the old-skool arrivals and departures boards in airports before everything went TV monitor-tastic. Terminal 5 opens on March 27 of this year, and if you're flying into London via BA, don't forget to look up as you hit the down escalator. [YouTube and Troika]

Johnny Depp In Your Next Movie...Room

Mark Wilson — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 12:00:54 EDT

For the rich and unfamous, the best way to hang with celebrities is to buy them. That's why Hampton Black (original name we're sure) makes life-sized sculptures, by request, of your favorite movie characters. Running from $6,500 to $8,500 and taking up to a month to complete, most of the work goes into the elaborate costuming, not the composite polyester resin, fiberglass and foam bodies. Another pic after the jump.

I mean, I enjoy Johnny Depp as much as the next guy. But what about a Scarlett Johansson version...maybe wearing this costume. Or a pirate outfit. I'll basically take her in anything that can be removed at this point. [cepro]

Unintentional Lego Goatse

Jason Chen — Thu, 31 May 2007 18:45:54 EDT

What would Goatse look like if it were in reverse and had a man's head coming out of it? Now you know. – Jason Chen

'Gray' [CNN - Thanks Aaron!]