Radioactive Control

For their latest intervention titled “Radioactive Control” Spanish performance collective Luzinterruptus created a mysterious army of 100 illuminated radioactive figures advancing threateningly upon their natural surroundings. The installation was created for the Dockville Festival in de Hamburg which tried to demonstrate, in a humorous tone, the paranoia that we are suffering from since the escape of radioactive material in Japan, has brought into question the safety systems at the nuclear power plants.

The Glamour of Rubbish

Photographer Meredith Allen documents the clear recycling garbage bags she finds on the streets and sidewalks. Her photographs bring together different textures, feelings, colors and transforms them into complex abstractions containing and holding the different parts.

Anti Stress Chair

"Anti Stress Chair" by Polish designer Bashko Trybek, is a customizable wireframe furniture piece that utilizes hundreds of stress balls to create different patterns, giving the users an oppor­tun­ity to par­ti­cip­ate and create their own chair. Free­dom of choice is the main idea of the project.

Future Trash

Ian Addison Hall's " Future Trash" is a series of photographs of trash, duplicated, mirrored and programmatically assembled into three dimensional cubes. The project shows how New York City's garbage can be revived and restored in a way that creates something new. Ian explains, "This series uses photos taken of piles of trash to create spiritual, cubic shrines. The end result commemorates the discarded consumer goods and attempts to restore some of the emotional energy and purpose that they had before they were thrown away."

The World's Smallest Sushi

What if we could find purpose in small things like humility and simplicity? This, and many other reflections, arise from an art project titled “The world’s Smallest Sushi” by Singapore-based creatives Dave Seah, Hwee Chong Chan and Jody Yeoh. In Western culture, the words “big” and “great” are associated with success, wealth and money. In Asian traditional culture, it is rice that is the standard of wealth rather than gold or money. A grain so humble and infinitesimal, yet, a mean of support for many.

The Rhino Chair

Created by Spanish designer Maximo Riera, the 'Rhino Chair' is more like a throne than a regular chair. Like its predecessor the 'octopus chair', the 'Rhino Chair' is composed of an inner frame along its main body in order to support its weight and reinforce its stability and balance. There is not a better animal than the rhino to reflect nature's capacity and mightiness.

Sinister Visions

Maria Rubinke's small-scale sculptures are reminiscent of the illogical compositions of surrealism, transforming traditional charming porcelain figurines into expressions of taboo feelings that oscillate between desire and sadism. Powerful, disturbing and thought provoking work!

The Art of Clean Up

For his upcoming book titled "The Art of Clean Up" Swiss artist and comedian Ursus Wehrli deconstructs everyday situations and reconstructs them to fit his own obsessive-compulsive view of the world. Life is messy, and it's about time someone did something about it!

Three Radio Theremin

KK Outlet challenged a group of leading artists, designers and stylists to take an everyday object, remould, rebuild and repurpose it to create an entirely new item using as little additional materials as possible. Sound artist and designer Yuri Suzuki created a Theremin using three normal am radios. Yuri explains, " “I am really interested in the link between sound and objects and how sound affects human behaviour. Sound objects can provoke people in different ways.”

Accumulations

Jessalyn Aaland is an artist, writer, musician and teacher based in Oakland, California. As an artist, she works primarily in collage, using stickers and found paper materials to create landscapes that have been radically transformed by the discards of our consumer culture.

Welcome to Planet Earth

Welcome to Planet Earth is the story of the extremely unique Jody Pendarvis and his 30 foot UFO he built in his front yard in the small town of Bowman, SC. After a sighting of alien life forms, Jody built the giant UFO as a place to welcome aliens when they return. All though visitors are welcomed to check out this unique and slightly odd landmark, Jody hopes that he will one day see the return of his friends from the sky. This is his story.

Predictions

For her project titled "Predictions" paper engineer and illustrator Helen Friel created a series of images exploring the art of hepatomancy - predicting the future by studying animal entrails - first practiced by the Babylonians over 4000 years ago. This project was created in collaboration with photographer Chris Turner.

Conspiracy Theories

Todd McCracken and Jay Furby of Cirkus came up with these brilliant “Put it together” concepts for Tamiya, a company specializing in plastic and resin kits and accessories for modellers. They created a set of print advertisements featuring conspiracies around Roswell, the Moon Landing, JFK’s assassination, and Marilyn Monroe’s death.

Outbox

Heidi Leverty's “Outbox" series explores one particular moment in the life-cycle of everyday objects, the passage from refuse or trash to recycled material. These materials of paper, metal, plastic and fabric, shaped by the treatment they have undergone become unique works through her perspective, sculptural forms with an intense beauty. What appears to be without value is in fact a source of inspiration, the unique and extraordinary in the seemingly ordinary.

Doodle Flix

The Doodle Flix Tumblr is a collection of drawn Netflix envelopes that will live and grow until streaming inevitably takes over and the red envelope ceases to be delivered to our doors. Doodle Flix is not here to solve world hunger, it is just a nice distraction from life’s many frustrations… like Netflix’s increased prices.

Exploded Flowers

For his new series titled "Exploded Flowers" photographer Qi Wei created striking images that show the radial symmetry of flowers, and also the individual floral components. Inspired by Todd McLellan’s Disassembly series, Qi Wei lays bare the various shapes and textures, to show how much more expanded some flowers can get when they are disassembled . He says, ""Of course, the incredibly ordered world of flowers lend itself to this technique wonderfully. My layout is slightly different in that I try to show (as far as possible) the relative positions of the petals, stamens and pistils with each other so that the radial symmetry is preserved and the flower is recognizable, but only just so."

Say Something Nice

For their latest project, art collective Improv Everywhere constructed a custom wooden lectern with a megaphone holster and an attached sign that read, “Say Something Nice.” The lectern was placed in public spaces around New York and then left alone. "We wanted to see what would happen if New Yorkers were given the opportunity to amplify their voices to “say something nice.”

Solitaire Win

 

The folks over at Skrekkogle have created "Solitaire Win", a 5 foot wide 3D sculpture made of black foam, paper and tape that immortalizes the old Windows game of "Solitaire". The project was made purely for fun, "Because we love beating the game, watching all the cards hop around. Hop hop hop. It took over a thousand cards, some of which had to be cut down and customized to create the hopping effect, to create the final sculpture."

Adventures in Treasure Hunting

For her project titled "Scavenger: Adventures in Treasure Hunting", photographer Jenny Riffle has been following a modern day treasure hunter called Riley out on his hunts and photographing the objects he collects. The series explores the line between documentary and fantasy as Jenny looks at the objects Riley finds, what drives him to continue and the mythology and history of the treasure hunting persona. Jenny explains, "As a photographer my search for the perfect image is not that different from Riley’s search for treasure. We are both driven by the thrill of the hunt and possibilities of what we will discover."

The Art of Appropriation

Artist David Le Fleming uses found objects such as old advertising tin cans and metal scraps as his canvas. David explains, "I choose to work on pre-existing materials because it allows me to stage a reaction to the object as well as project an idea. Objects that have exisited for specific purposes have their own story to tell and make available contexts that are hard to attain otherwise. Also I like the aesthetic of aged metal, theres something there that appeals to me greatly."

Cinema Posters Wallpaper

 Following the success of her wallpaper made of recycled newspapers, designer Lori Weitzner created a new line of wall coverings using vintage movie posters. Lori explains, "“Recycled cinema posters are collected, cut and woven into a riot of color hinting at the drama, romance and action of the movies they once advertised.”

Made with 70% post-consumer recycled materials, the Lori Weitzner Cinema Posters wallpaper is an environmentally conscious alternative to regular wall coverings.

Bon Iver - Holocene

Shot in Iceland and directed by Nabil Elderkin, the video for Bon Iver’s “Holocene” is nothing short of amazing. Check out the breath-taking visuals of "Holocene" below.

Things & People

Things  &People simply aims to show what objects mean to people and offer an insight into their owners. There are no criteria for the choice of object, it can be anything, from the most poignant talisman of someone loved, to the funny, to the wilfully ugly. Many of the objects are handmade, passed down or found; as unique as their owners. 

Take a Seat

Vienna based artist and designer Helmut Palla creates "modified furniture" by reconfiguring salvaged old chairs that he has been collecting for years. His clever three-dimensional pieces are designed to blur the line between furnishing and art. Is a chair still a chair even if you can't sit on it?

Intimacy Under the Wires

Sivan Askayo's project titled "Intimacy Under the Wires", began in the vibrant alleyways of Tel Aviv’s Jaffa neighborhood and has become an ongoing project, taking her to Madrid, Barcelona, London and Buenos Aires to snap anonymously displayed drying clothing. Sivan explains, "'Looking at laundry seems so mundane, yet when you delve in it, you realise laundry tells of people’s intimate lives. They hang their sheets, their night clothes, even their underwear for all to see."

Scandybars

First Scanwiches, then the Cat Scan and now... Scandybars! These extremely detailed scans of candy force us to look at common confections in a whole new way. Eye candy...literally!

Glass Cathedrals

Lisa Swerling's Glass Cathedrals are a series of artboxes containing brilliant tiny worlds, each making its own small statement on our complicated lives. Lisa explains, "My inspiration for this series was the collision between the seriousness with which we take our lives, and the limitations of our understanding. In Glass Cathedrals the heros are the tiny figures, my boxes the space where they struggle, aspire, dance, dream."

Maps on Toast

 

Toronto-based artist Tibi Tibi Neuspiel created a series of small beeswax-moulded sculptures consisting of a slice of processed cheese in the shape of a map, mounted on an incredibly realistic slice of faux-toast. Although political statement is not this artist’s primary concern, it would be misleading to overlook both the political and socio-cultural undertones of these open faced sandwiches.

Geodesic Spheres

For his ongoing "Spheres" project artist and graphic designer Nick Sayers created a series of spherical sculptures, shelters and lighting from a wide variety of recycled, reused and re-purposed materials. Working with everything from measuring tapes and playing cards to car tyres and bicycle wheels, he has developed new construction methods and revisited traditional craft techniques.

Nano Origami

German artist Anja Markiewic uses colored sheets of paper that are less than an inch wide to create delicate miniature origami. Anja work is truly amazing and her creations are some of the most beautifully detailed and complex models I've seen.

Soap Films

 

Photographer Jane Thomas captures the macroscopic properties of soap bubbles, transforming familiar films of soapy water into abstractions that almost resemble outer galaxies. Jane explains, "These are the colours and patterns arising naturally from the interference of reflected light rays from the front and rear surface of a thin film of water and soap held in a tiny frame (a 'bubble wand'). The inner circle which I use for these photos measures 18mm. Some of the shots are of tiny areas within that ring."

The Hammer Series

VandM.co just launched a limited-edition series of thirty irreverent reinterpretations of the hammer, cleverly manipulated and hand-forged by Canadian artist Roy Mackey. Roy created the pieces by heating hammers and cutting them up, then playing with the parts, he explains, “I liked the challenge of taking this fairly restrictive shape and trying to pull something out of it.”

Storefront Tile

 The Storefront Tile group on Flickr is a collection of images of tile entryways. Tile was a popular material used in storefront design from the late 19th to mid 20th century. There is a large variety of styles, from simple patterns to intricate mosaic designs. Businesses commonly included their name and logo into their tile entryways. Today, tiles' use in storefronts has come back in some commercial construction.

WorldWide Carpets

Designer David Hanauer brings the tradition and craft of oriental rugs into the 21st century, creating carpet patterns from screenshots of google earth images.The project shows different patterns for carpets and carpeted floors. It is about identity, google, architecture. It reflects a new identity of products as well as humans and the interaction between them.

The Bernie Madoff Collection

Designer John Vaccaro ( founder of Frederick James), created a collection of iPad covers made from a limited number of personal clothing items belonging to the notorious felon, Bernie Madoff, obtained at an auction held by the US Marshals Service. 

Quasi-Cinema

São Paulo based artist Lucas Simões uses personal photos to create sequential images that give the sensation of movement much like that of cinema. Lucas explains, "These photos represent frames from a film. Each photo is often revealed by merely moving the image within the photo a few millimeters. They are woven in the form a wave and then fixed onto a support made of wood and cloth. The aligned and woven photos give the sensation of movement. They are my own reference to the cinema, without being cinema, hence the name “quasi-cinema.”

SMSlingshot

Christian Zöllner's SMSlingshot is battery-powered slingshot with a display screen, keypad, and laser. Users can store and type text messages and then release the slingshot to blast them onto surfaces, where they appear within a splash of color and linger as long as the performers decide, and the text is tweeted at the same time. The SMSlingshot is an intervention against increasingly commercialized urban space, which is thus reclaimed and occupied through virtual tags. The device fuses a prehistoric tool, vibrant urban art, and innovative technology into a product that encourages interaction, information, and empowerment in the city

Typeshelf

Ufuk Keskin's Typeshelf brings typography into product design by using the word as the object. 2D cut out letters on stainless steel are bent along the perforations at the bottom to form the "shelf". The material characteristics of steel provides a sturdy platform for books etc. without requiring additional hardware.

Collections: Eat Fast Die Young

London-based design duo Jiggery Pokery has just unleashed a selection of fast food related ephemera titled "Eat Fast Die Young". The collection features rather bizzarre items including a giant burger cushion, a burger bike bell and a hamburger shaped vanity case. Jiggery Pokery explains, ""We've hunted far and wide, some bits are from America, some from local sources".

Coffee Cup to Canvas

Sharpie’s back-to-school marketing campaign features Cheeming Boey, the coffee cup artist who draws intricate, finely-detailed drawings on 4-cent Styrofoam cups. Here is a video look at his work.

Vanitas

Artist Paul Beliveau creates meticulously painted hyper-realistic collections of organized stacks of vintage and contemporary books from his personal collection. Paul formats photographs of his assembled collections in a computer as the starting point for his painting process. By visually constructing an image that seems nostalgic for a lost antiquity or literature, he appears to mount a defense against their loss through time and technology.

Pop Culture Paper Dolls

Illustrator Kyle Hilton has been working on a series of paper dolls based on his favorite TV characters. Starting with the cast of Arrested Development, Kyle has been updating his website with a new doll every week.

The Cat Scan Project

The Cat Scan is a new Tumblr blog featuring photos of cats that have been scanned. Got a cat? Got a scanner? The choice is clear! Simply contact Johnny at the Cat Scan Project and submit your feline masterpieces.

The Happy Film

The Happy Film is a documentary (currently in production) in which graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister undergoes a series of self-experiments outlined by popular psychology to test once and for all if it’s possible for a person to have a meaningful impact on their own happiness. The film will be visually driven and will be released it in theaters in fall 2011.

Rainbow Ants

Photographer and scientist Mohamed Babu captured these amazing images of translucent ants eating sugar drops mixed with edible food coloring after his wife showed him some ants had turned white after drinking spilt milk. Mohamed explains, "I gave the insects the brightly coloured sugar drops and watched as their transparent stomachs matched the food they were eating. Some of the ants even wandered from one colour to another, creating new combinations in their bodies."

LEGO Greenhouse

For London Design Week 2011, designer Sebastian Bergne created a functioning greenhouse built entirely from LEGO bricks. The walls, the floors, even the earth is made of LEGO, however the plants and vegetables growing inside are real. Sebastian explains, "what instinctively appealed to me, was that I would finally have the chance to live out a childhood dream and build something huge and usable out of LEGO. as with the majority of my work, I enjoy taking a material or process and pushing the boundary of what can be done with it. this time we have created an interesting juxtaposition of a natural environment growing in an almost digital, mass-produced LEGO structure, and it makes you look at LEGO in a new way,"

Sweet Meat

For her series titled "Sweet Meat", photographer Jasmin Schuller put consumer perception to the test by transforming meat scraps into mouth-watering sweet treats. In her photos nothing is as it seems. The sundae is actually made from ground meat covered in cream made from grease, and topped with a cherry carved from a pig’s heart. The cherry syrup is real blood. Mhhh, tasty!

Things: Chalkboard Skulls

Write something and be sure it will be seen! Chicago-based artists and designers Sarah Belknap and Joseph Belknap (aka iamhome), create these one-of-a-kind skulls that are layered with coats of porcelain enamel chalkboard paint so you can write or make doodles on them.

Graphite Sculptures

San Francisco artist Agelio Batle creates miniature graphite sculptures which can be used as functional drawing tools. Committed to making art from materials that are part of daily experience, the artist originated this work by casting his own hand in pencil lead, graphite. Agelio explains,"It's not the pencil that draws, it is your hand. Whether drawing lines or inscribing words, the act of making marks lures ideas into the physical world. Hands perceive and reveal things that our eyes and conscious minds may never know."

Find out more about Agelio's work here.