Riots in a Jam Jar :: James Cauty

Though simple, its the contrasts that get our attention with these scenes. See all of the riots in jam jars at the artist's site. LINK

Streets Against the War :: Sokak Savasakarsi

Made in Turkey, this stop-action animation is completely unexpected, both in form and message. Watch until the end to get the full idea. The really good stuff starts around 1 minute in. LINK

Devil's Rope :: Andrew Effendy

I don't want to imagine how many accidental injuries were incurred in creating this barbed-wire alphabet. See other views and the entire alphabet at the artist's site. LINK

Deweaponizing the Gun :: Walton Creel

Walton Creel's goal when creating these gun-shot artworks was to take the destructive power away from the gun. After experimenting with canvas, he eventually moved to sheets of painted aluminum. See and read more at his site. LINK

Swedish Armed Forces

Do you have what it takes to join the Swedish Armed Forces? You can test your skills with their cool online recruitment tests.

You can test your skills as part of a team here. LINK

Or individually here. LINK

(Unfortunately, it appears that I was too slow in posting this to include the coolest one from 2009 which is no longer active, but you can get a taste of it here. LINK)

Giant Swiss Army Knife :: Wenger

Swiss army knife producer Wenger created this unique knife. 87 implements, 141 functions, and no chance of making it through airport security. Check it out in depth at the Wenger site. LINK

Fire in the Hole :: Oliver Munday

By melting, twisting and distorting plastic army figures, Oliver Munday created this injured alphabet. See all of the letters at his site. LINK

War Bowls :: Dominic Wilcox

Artist Dominic Wilcox creates "war bowls" by melting model soldiers. There are two versions: the blue Battle of Waterloo British artillery and French infantry, and the white English Civil War bowls.

See more photos or purchase one at the artist's site. LINK

Words :: Everynone

This project visualizes words and their varying meanings. As you watch, you can guess what the words are from the series of images used to represent them. LINK

Four-Letter Words

This kinetic sculpture was created by Rob Seward. Flourescent tubes twist and turn to create four-letter words. Though some of the words tend toward the scatological, the word choices are actually an algorithmically generated word sequence. LINK

Scrabble : The Block Project

This ad for Scrabble was created by Ogilvy & Mather, Paris. It is pretty far out and full of unexpected surprises. I think my favorite part may be when the teenage passerby takes off of his head phones in order to pay more attention to the antics taking place. LINK

Wordle

Wordle is a toy for creating "word clouds" from the text that you provide. You can choose fonts, layouts, and color schemes, or just view those created by others. LINK

Stephen Fry Language :: Matthew Rogers

This discourse on our use of language has been animated by Matthew Rogers into a typographic treatment. Both the visual and the smooth talking of writer Stephen Fry make this piece and it's message interesting. LINK

Rewrite

Read this gallery window display to understand the project created by artists Micah Lexier and Christian Bok. I find the rewrite particularly impressive.

Save the Words

A promotion for Oxford Dictionaries, the Save the Words website calls attention to words that are rarely used and gives you the opportunity to "adopt", promising to use the word in correspondence and conversation. LINK

Tiger Oil Memos

The viewpoints of Tiger Oil CEO Edward "Tiger Mike" Davis, and his inability to refrain from sharing them, may explain why the company went backrupt in 1980. If you've ever thought you've had a bad boss, reading these memos could help you see him/her in a different light. LINK

Mirrored Cities

The mirror effect added to these videos creates a beautiful effect, giving you a sense of floating. LINK

In addition to the Tokyo night above, you can also see the view out the side of a train through Japan. LINK

Or see this view of Chicago from a camera mounted to a car. LINK

100 Meters of Existence :: Simon Hoegsberg

This 2007 project by Simon Hoegsberg is titled "We're All Gonna Die - 100 meters of existence". Using photos all shot from the same spot of a Berlin railroad bridge over the course of 20 days, he created a 100-meter long image. And the execution is well done, allowing us to create our own vignettes in our browser windows. See the entire piece for yourself. LINK

Glide :: StraylightUK

This video taken from a train pulling into the Bath Spa station, is shot with a high-speed camera. When played back at normal speeds, a surreal scene in which everyone appears to be trapped in slow motion is created. If you like Glide II, Glide I is also available on StraylightUK's YouTube channel. LINK

Train Set Typography :: Ludvig Bruneau Rossow

Norwegian graphic designer Ludvig Bruneau Rossow created this fun alphabet. See all of the letters and some close ups at his site. LINK

Human Mirror :: Improv Everywhere

This Improv Everywhere project had twins mirroring each other while riding New York's 6 train. See pictures and video of rider's reactions at the site. LINK

Underground Miniature :: John Polley

Former tube train driver John Polley recreated the London Underground's Abbey Road station in his basement. Check out the detail in a short clip over at The Telegraph. LINK

Sugar Water :: Eric Baudelaire

This "short" film is not short. In fact, I would only advise watching the entire thing in real time if you needed some quality meditative time. That said, the skillful yet repetitive movements of this sign hanger are captivating to watch.

But there is also a subtle story line and a surprise ending. And one of the most fascinating parts of this movie are the reactions (or lack thereof) of the people all around waiting for their trains. LINK

Underground Animals

Animals on the Underground is a project that highlights the animals created within the Underground train maps. The original animal spotting, the elephant, is accredited to Paul Middlewick in 1988. And more animals are still being found. See them all at the official site. LINK

Sewing the Times :: Lauren DiCioccio

Artist Lauren DiCioccio has done a series of works in which she embroiders photos from newspapers. See more at her website. And while you're there, check out her series of embroidered slides as well. LINK

Embroidered Book :: Elizabeth Reed

Though artist Elizabeth Reed works in other mediums as well, some of my favorite works are the more complex embroidered books which can be found in the archive section of her website. LINK

Chrochetdermy :: Shauna Richardson

Shauna Richardson has created crocheted animals in the traditional forms of taxidermy. When you visit her site to see all of the animals, make sure to see all of the animals in the Studio section and some well-done night photography in the Gallery section. LINK

Embroidered Portraits :: Daniel Kornrumpf

Though utilizing the traditional medium of embroidery, these portraits by Daniel Kornrumpf are quite contemporary in their content. See them all at the artist's site. LINK

Close-Knit Village :: Mersham Afternoon Club

Inspired by another English village, the ladies of the Kent village of Mersham recreated their home town in knitting. See all of the photos, both of the originals and their knitted counterparts, and read more about the project over at Daily Mail. LINK

365 Knitting Clock :: Siren Elise Wilhelmsen

In order to incorporate the element of time into her artwork, artist Siren Elise Wilhelmsen created the knitting clock. One year will result in a two meter scarf. Visit the artist's site to read more about her thinking. LINK

Runaway :: Aubry Longley-Cook

Aubry Longley-Cook is responsible for this creation, an animated embroidery. Click over to his blog to see it in motion. LINK

Ceramics :: Michihiro Matsuoka

Japanese artist Michihiro Matsuoka creates these fantastic creatures, many based on sea creatures but has flying and land animals as well. He uses primarily stone clay but adds other components and finishes them with paint to have a distressed and aged look. Check out his web site for more. LINK

Machinarium :: Amanita Design

Similar in game play to their original game, Samarost, the lastest from Amanita Design is called Machinarium. Play the demo levels for free or download the full game at their site. LINK

Steampunked Gadgets :: Ivan Mavrovic

Croatian jeweler Ivan Mavrovic makes some stunning steampunk gadgets. From cell phone mods, to pen pistols, check out his blog to see more of his works. LINK

Steampunk Watches :: Haruo Suekichi

If you like steampunk watches, Haruo Suekichi has a creation for you! See a whole slew of creations over at the Steampunk Lab. LINK

Steampunk Optimus Prime :: Encline Design

This custom creation is a steampunk transformer, converting from robot to a steam engine. Created by Encline Design, this is a one-of-a-kind action figure. See more photos here. LINK

Victorian Star Trek :: Rabbit Foot

It is interesting that these characters have become so embedded in our culture, that even when you take them out of context, we still know exactly who they are. See all of the victorianized Star Trek images. LINK

Steampunk Jewelry :: Daniel Proulx

Though much of his jewelry just looks Victorian to me, others manage to incorporate the "punk" needed to be classified as Steampunk. Check out the artist's site. LINK
Or go directly to his Etsy shop.  LINK