Junkculture

The Week-End

2012-05-25T08:28:00.000-07:00

Our most popular posts this week featured a series of photographs documenting the fluorescent-lit grocery stores of Paris, human faces modeled on the grid of several colanders, a backgammon board made from cheap kitchen sponges and paperback books transformed into beautiful and mysterious masses of mineral matter.

And from around the Web...

An epic video of a Slinky on a treadmill.

Handmade meat balloons.

A stop-motion love story in 873 stock images.

Yarn Bombing Rocky and the Philadelphia Museum of Art.

A clock made from biodegradable cardboard.

A series of “fabulous” depictions of tyrants, dictators and popes.

Diana Scherer: Nurture Studies

2012-05-25T03:56:00.001-07:00

Diana Scherer's "Nurture Studies" is a photographic archive of flowers grown in vases over a six-month period. At the end of the process the plant’s corset is removed, exposing roots that retain their shape as an evocation of the now absent container. Via her website: "Scherer’s photos are carefully rationed, showing a single moment as the culmination of a long process of growth. She documents the flowers at their peak, just before they begin to shrivel as the plants start to die."

Find out more about Diana's work here.

Film: Division by Johan Rijpma

2012-05-24T07:47:00.000-07:00

"Division” by Dutch artist Johan Rijpma is a hypnotic experimental film in which a piece of paper is divided by hand into an even number of pieces and then reassembled. A photograph of this finished composition is then printed and divided again and again.This makes the impossible possible, tearing the now included empty spaces that make up the tears in the paper. This feedback division process is repeated while the number of imprecise manual divisions gradually increase. Everything is created by division.

Find out more about Johan's work here.

via [Laughing Squid]

Alexis Arnold: Crystallized Books

2012-05-24T04:03:00.000-07:00

Sculptor and installation artist Alexis Arnold explores the visual manifestations of time and memory upon objects. Using Borax crystals and paperback books, Arnold transforms ordinary reading material into beautiful and mysterious masses of mineral matter. She says, "The crystal growth highlights or creates the aesthetics of these once-utilitarian objects that are entering the world of obsolescence, as well as acts to suggest past narratives and post-human futures laden with nostalgia, wonder, and the interminable progression of time."

Find out more about Alexis' work here.

via [Beautiful/Decay]

Frank Bayh & Steff Rosenberger-Ochs: Tent City

2012-05-23T08:02:00.001-07:00

German photographers Frank Bayh & Steff Rosenberger-Ochs have been documenting some of make-shift homes that have been set up in Stuttgart, Germany by protesters demonstrating against the controversial "Stuttgart 21" rail project. The photographs showcase a number of eclectic structures built with everyday materials such as tarps, umbrellas, sticks and blankets.

Find out more about the project here.

via [designboom]

Manuel Felisi: Giardinetta

2012-05-23T03:15:00.000-07:00

For his installation titled "Giardinetta", artist Manuel Felisi transformed an old Bianchina automobile into a germinator of blossoming new life. The rooftop of the abandoned car functions as a hanging plant rack complete with glass test tubes, while inside the car, and underneath the flowers, rain falls within the compartment and creates a damp, moist world for bacteria and organisms to grow. Via his website, “Giardinetta is the story of the invincible force of life, which gets the upper hand even in a hulk of the industrial age, that in Felisi's hands becomes a little terraforming experiment.”

Find out more about Manuel's work here.

via [My Modern Met]

Isaac Cordal: Cement Bleak

2012-05-22T08:35:00.000-07:00

For his latest street art intervention in Dalston, London, artist Isaac Cordal created a series of faces modeled on the grid of several colanders projecting their shadows on the pavement. The installation is a test implementation of what the artist hopes will be a larger shadow projection project using the resource of city lighting in darkened streets.

Find out more about the project here.

via [designboom]

Richard Vantielcke: Urban Oasis

2012-05-22T04:14:00.000-07:00

Richard Vantielcke's "Urban Oasis" is a series of photographs documenting the fluorescent-lit grocery stores immersed in the darkness of the Parisian night. Speaking about the series, Richard says, "I always enjoyed these grocery stores open late at night, first of all because they often saved the life of a starving photographer, then because they all look more surreal as each other, becoming oasis of light."

Find out more about the project here.

via [Faith is Torment]

Video: Peter Brings the Shadow to Life

2012-05-21T06:41:00.001-07:00

Skateboarder and filmmaker Joe Pease brings shadows to life in this fantastic video based on an essay about Peter Pan, which contains paragraphs such as, "It is not uncommon for children to play with their shadows or to imagine that they are tangible. However, in order to grow up, children must leave behind this fantasy...no one ever fully grows up. Instead, growing up is a process that continues throughout life." Of course, it might just be a bunch of shadows. Music by Nick Cave and Warren Ellis.

via [booooooom]

Things: Sponge Backgammon

2012-05-21T04:35:00.000-07:00

This backgammon board by Greek studio Dede Dextrousdesign was created using cheap kitchen sponges. The project’s aim was to take advantage of the sponge sound absorption qualities to make a backgammon board which is identical to the real thing, with one big difference: It doesn't make any noise! The backgammon board was created as part of the 'Once Upon a Sponge' exhibition at taf (The Art Foundation).

Find out more about the project here.

via [designboom]

The Week-End

2012-05-18T07:35:00.000-07:00

Our most popular posts this week featured a series of macro photographs documenting the daily activities of a fly, amazing portraits of famous people created using carefully arranged wooden pins, 17th century Dutch paintings recreated with the help of foam packing materials and a gigantic helium balloon in the shape of Magritte’s floating rock.

And from around the Web...

The world's tallest LEGO tower.

Filmmaker John Waters picked up by a band while hitchhiking in Ohio.

Laser-cut cardboard kinetic creatures.

How to tattoo a banana.

An animated GIF project by Ryan Enn Hughes.

Marc Jacobs vs. graffiti artist Kidult.

Sharon Moody: Comic Book Paintings

2012-05-18T05:24:00.000-07:00

Artist Sharon Moody recreates comic books as hyper realistic paintings painstakingly rendered to capture not only the graphic illustration of the original comic, but also the excitement that comes from flipping through the pages. "My goal as a painter is to create space, whether the table top space in a still life work or the more shallow space of a trompe l'oeil composition" she says, "Illusionism, especially the heightened mimesis found in trompe l'oeil, invites the viewer to enter the space of the piece and then persuades them to linger and explore the meaning of the work."

Find out more about Sharon's work here.

via [Beautiful/Decay]

Tadao Cern: Blow Job

2012-05-17T08:16:00.001-07:00

For his latest project titled "Blow Jobs", Lithuanian photographer Tadao Cern created a series of hilarious portraits of people enduring gale-force winds blown directly into their faces. Speaking about the project, Tadao said, "I wanted to do something fun for myself and the visitors, just laugh and have a good time. I was surprised that there were so many laid-back people who were not afraid to look funny! The spacious studio was bursting at the seams and everyone was crying with laughter, laughing at themselves and at each other."

Find out more about Tadao's work here.

Via [Bored Panda] via [Colossal]

Film: A Brief History of John Baldessari

2012-05-17T04:37:00.000-07:00

A towering figure in the art world, standing at 6'7", John Baldessari's epic career is crammed into six minutes of visual and mentally stimulating entertainment narrated by none other than Tom Waits. The short was directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman as a commission from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Find out more about Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman's work here.

via [Short of the Week]

Onishi Yasuaki: Reverse of Volume

2012-05-16T08:43:00.001-07:00

In his installation titled "Reverse of Volume RG", artist Yasuki Onishi uses the simplest materials — plastic sheeting and black hot glue — to create a monumental, mountainous form that appears to float inside the Rice University Art Gallery space. Rice University art gallery's assistant curator Josh Fischer explains, "The process that he calls casting the invisible involves draping the plastic sheeting over stacked cardboard boxes, which are then removed to leave only their impressions. This process of reversing sculpture is Onishi’s meditation on the nature of the negative space, or void, left behind."

Find out more about Onishi's work here.

via [designboom]

Nicholas Hendrickx: The Adventures of Mr. Fly

2012-05-16T04:19:00.001-07:00

“The Adventures of Mr. Fly” is a series of macro photographs documenting the leisure activities and pursuits of a fly who enjoys skateboarding, bike riding, playing piano and an occasional dip in the pool. The photos were created by Belgian artist and photographer Nicholas Hendrickx, who clearly has great appreciation for small things.

Find out more about the project here.

via [design you trust]

Ahmet Öğüt: Castle on a Giant Balloon

2012-05-15T08:56:00.000-07:00

Turkish artist Ahmet Öğüt created a gigantic helium balloon in the shape of Magritte’s floating rock, as part of an outdoor installation for Belgian art festival, TRACK: a contemporary city conversation in Ghent. Ahmet replaced the mysterious castle on top of the rock with a replica of the Vooruit building, a cooperative where the working-class people of Ghent assembled from the end of the nineteenth century until the early 1970s and which ran both a centre for festive occasions and a newspaper .

Find out more about Ahmet's work here.

via [designboom]

Suzanne Jongmans: Portraits with Foam Sculptures

2012-05-15T04:27:00.000-07:00

Photographer Suzanne Jongmans uses discarded packing and insulation materials to create caps, collars and dresses inspired by 16th and 17th century paintings. By using these materials Jongmans makes a reference to consumerism and the rapid circulation of things. "I use the elements in the present as in the past, the objects in my work are used as symbols of values" she says, "I mutate old costumes into new plastics and old masters in new photographic works. By using time foreign materials, plastics and techno's, I am creating a time crux, a tension of time."

Find out more about Suzanne's work here.

via [Beautiful/Decay]

Alison Ruttan: Man-Made Disasters

2012-05-14T07:40:00.000-07:00

Alison Ruttan's "Natural Disaster", is a series of ceramic sculptures based on an ever-expanding archive of images of destroyed buildings found on the web. While much of this work may look similar to the effects of natural disasters it is important to remember that these are not accidents of nature but entirely man made acts of destruction.

Find out more about Alison's work here.

Philip Karlberg: Pin Art

2012-05-14T03:34:00.000-07:00

Swedish photographer Philip Karlberg used clever lighting and carefully arranged wooden pins to create a series of unique celebrity portraits for Plaza Magazine. "A couple of months ago I came up with an idea I have had in mind for years" he says, "I just didn't know what I could use it for. But then I did a test with sunglasses, and it really turned out great. So I sent an image with the test to Plaza Magazine, and a week later I started shooting. It was a real challenge to recreate the famous faces with their iconic sunglasses. It took me 6 days to shoot the 6 faces, and around 1200 sticks were used.

Find out more about the project here.

via [HUH. magazine]

The Week-End

2012-05-11T05:47:00.000-07:00

Our most popular posts this week featured a series of small sailing boats navigating a sea of beds, artificial indoor tornadoes, Edvard Munch’s “The Scream” recreated with colored pencils and a series of black and white photographs depicting the transformation of darkened rooms into uncanny light sculptures.

And from around the Web...

Gorgeous LEGO representations of British birds.

Troll high-fiving at the leaning tower of Pisa.

A real-life Instagram Camera.

London cityscape drawn on a human canvas.

The hipster hunt.

A wonderful stop-motion animation using thousands of handmade foam models.

Nic Joly: Under Foot

2012-05-11T03:49:00.001-07:00

British artist Nic Joly creates brilliant shadow box installations using various found objects and miniature figurines. His creations include a man balancing on the edge of a razor blade, a girl flying a butterfly like a kite and a workman dumping a cigarette butt in dumpster. Nic can spend up to a week painstakingly moulding and painting his miniature models, which sell for up to 1,200 pounds.

Find out more about Nic's work here.

via [Beautiful/Decay]

Jennifer Rubell: Nutcrackers

2012-05-10T06:38:00.000-07:00

Jennifer Rubell's latest interactive installation titled "Nutcrackers" consists of 18 life-size mannequins that have been retooled to function as a nutcracker. Visitors interact with each sculpture by placing a pecan in the mannequin’s inner thigh, then pushing down the upper leg to crack it open. The installation was inspired by nutcrackers depicting female figures - and in particular one found on the internet of Hillary Clinton. Jennifer says, "These interactive sculptures embody the two polar stereotypes of female power: the idealized, sexualized nude female form; and the too-powerful, nut-busting überwoman. "

Find out more about Jennifer's work here.

via [Juxtapoz]

Hong Seon Jang: Type City

2012-05-10T03:42:00.001-07:00

New York-based artist Hong Seon Jang re-imagines lead type letters as a sprawling metropolis reminiscent of his New York City home. His show, titled “Labyrinth” at David B Gallery in Denver, on view through through June 16th, will feature Jang’s mixed-media sculptures and this miniature cityscape formed from letterpress pieces.

Find out more about Jang's work here.

via [Quipsologies]

Ryan Hopkinson: Tornadoes

2012-05-09T05:41:00.000-07:00

For his experimental project called "Tornadoes" photographer Ryan Hopkinson in collaboration with Lightning+Kinglyface created a series of artificial tornadoes using coloured smoke spun into a vortex by an industrial extractor fan. Ryan explains, "We managed to create twenty tornadoes, each around 4ft in height all with their own personalities and weight. The delicate nature of our creations was a big juxtaposition in many ways between natures own, but being able to create one and see it up close, regardless of its size and power was mesmerising."

Find out more about Ryan's work here.

via [It's Nice That]