Sculpture :: Gregor Gaida

Though Gregor Gaida works in a variety of mediums and sometimes appears to create work purely for shock value, he has created some truly dynamic figural sculptures in the past few years. You can check out all of his work, but below are links to my favorites! Amazing.

Drummer
Drummer II
Fahnenträger III
Rest von F4
Rest von Schwarz

Sculpture :: Gehard Demetz

The work of Gehard Demetz is striking in many ways. Working primarily in wood, the sculpting is a mix of smooth, highly refined carving, and rough tool marks. Add the additional gaps and holes where blocks of wood don't meet and these pieces are refreshingly unique. See all of his work at his site. LINK

Sculpture :: Kevin Francis Gray

Keven Francis Gray is creating figural forms that catch your attention for what they don't show. Faces are often obscured with drapery or long strings of beads. It is refreshing to see a fine artist find a way to reinterpret traditional art forms as he works in marble, resin, bronze and wood and creates fantastically shiny surfaces. See more of his work at his site. LINK

Sculpture :: Lewis Tardy

Lewis Tardy creates some amazing sculptures. Though he also creates animal forms, his unique take on the human form and dynamic movement is worth checking out. See more of his work at his site. And always one of my favorites, don't miss the pictures of his studio! LINK

Sculpture :: Mauro Corda

I'm not sure why I am drawn to Mauro Corda's figure sculptures. They are often just unsettling enough to make it difficult to look away, like going to the side-show at the circus – but in fine art. If you do check out more of his work at his site, I think 2008 and 2009 were particularly good years. LINK

Animatronic Sculpture :: Mark Ho

There is an interesting story behind the animatronic sculpture of Mark Ho. He began construction while studying film, to create a figure that could replicate the movement of human form for use in animation. The result was a finely-crafted metal sculpture that inspired Mark to leave film behind and focus instead on metal work. Though only 17" tall, his pieces have over 500 parts! And a magnetic base allows the sculptures to retain their position for display. See more photos at his site. LINK

Sculptures :: Antony Gormley

A look at figures would not be complete without including Antony Gormley. He received a good deal of media coverage for his installation of figures on New York City rooftops back in 2010 which had the police dealing with calls about possible "jumpers". But he is included here because of his varied explorations of the human form. Exploring abstract shapes and surreal settings, he does capture attention. See more of his work at his site. LINK

Play :: Dustball

There is something about simple forms and concepts that is intriguing. Sharp contrast, clear concept, and movement synced to sharp rhythm makes this short animation worth a view. LINK

World Water Day

This artistic vignette was created to call attention to World Water Day, which is today! Though we've seen this ink-on-water technique before, the quality of the drawing and message make this one worth a watch. LINK

Little Drifters

An interesting project to create mini boats out of natural materials and to then set them adrift. (I tried this project with some friends and it is tougher than it looks.) Read about it and see more pictures at the BOOM site. LINK

High Speed :: Edward Horsford

British photographer Edward Horsford has had some fun with timing to create these high-speed images of the instant a water balloon bursts. See the set at his flickr site. LINK

Free Fall :: Guillaume Nery and Julie Gautier

Champion freedivers Guillaume Nery and Julie Gautier created this amazing film showing "breath hold" diving. Though claims have been made that the entire film was made on one breath hold by both diver and videographer, that is a fiction and the film is an artistic creation. That said, they really do dive this deep without equipment. It's just that this film was not made with just one take.

Location? Dean's Blue Hole is one of those places that just drops off into darkness. It is the deepest known seawater blue hole and plunges 202 meters (663 ft) down on Long Island, Bahamas. Though they can be created in a few different ways, think sink hole in water.

Not long (one breath), this short film is worth the watch. LINK

Das Tub :: Media Design School

A combination of live action and computer animation, this is a cute little film. A German U-Boat crew finds themselves encountering strange objects underwater. Watch to see the twist ending. LINK

Denmark :: Portland Cello Project

This short film is quirky from start to finish, though in a good way. I don't think I've ever seen a shrimp used as a main character before, let alone a shrimp puppet! Watch to see his efforts escape the ocean and to explore outer space. LINK

Painting on Water

This artform goes back for centuries. In Japan, it was known as suminagashi. In Turkey it is known as ebru. Most of us will probably have heard of paper marbling. Though we've all seen the traditional textures used in old-fashioned book binding, this video shows how abstract forms can be created. It is a little slow moving but it does show the entire process, including the transfer to paper! LINK

Bottlecap Jewelry :: Yoav Kotik

Yoav Kotik, the sculptor behind Kotik Precious Metal, molds bottle caps to create high-end jewelry. The combination of such mundane objects as bottlecaps and the care and creativity of the jewelry is a juxtaposition worth checking out. Earrings, rings, brooches, and necklaces of different styles are all explored in depth. Visit the website to see some of the more creative pieces or to shop. LINK

Sapporo Commercial

This amazing beer commercial creates a fantastic world of a historic Japanese brewery. Full of detail and imagination, watch for yourself on YouTube. LINK

Bottlecap Portraits :: Molly B. Right

Molly B. Right's portraits make me appreciate what a difficult medium bottlecaps must be. Works range from mythological to real life, animal to historic. Scroll through all of her work at her site. LINK

Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew Temple

The Wat Pa Maha Chedi Kaew temple in Thailand was built with more than a million glass bottles! Buddhist monks used them to build everything from a crematorium to shelters and toilets!

See a set of photos at China Daily. LINK
And another at Mail Online. LINK

The Very Many Varieties of Beer

This poster is available for purchase from Pop Chart Lab. Numbered and signed by the artist, this poster can be considered art, or a handy reference tool. Visit the site to zoom in on the details. LINK

Efes Can Art

I have been unable to track down the original source of these photos -- too many unreferenced reposts in the past few years. But some of the entries using beer cans from the fifth-largest European brewer, Turkish Efes, are amazing. LINK

Root Beer Mozart :: Mystery Guitar Man

Brazilian Mystery Guitar Man caught my attention for his root beer bottle rendition of Die Zauberflöte by Mozart. LINK

Tuned Pale Ale :: Matt Braun and Chris Mufalli

A clever idea for packaging, this beer-bottle label includes fill levels for musical notes. LINK

Hiroyuki Doi

Japanese artist Hiroyuki Doi creates ink drawings, circles upon circles, upon circles that become texture and pattern, or clouds and explosions. See more at artnet. LINK

Heike Weber

Heike Weber caught my eye for the works done from 2007 to 2009, swirled permanent maker drawings on floors and walls. Scroll down through the installations shown on the artist's site to see more examples. LINK

Sagaki Keita

Whoa is all I can say about Japanese artist Sagaki Keita's works. From afar, they appear to be shaded drawings, sometimes modern, sometimes historic. But when you look closely, you see that each drawing is made up of thousands of smaller drawings that are not of this world. See more at the artist's site. LINK

Ramón Espantaleón

Spanish artist Ramón Espantaleón lived in NYC during the World Trade Center attacks and it has influenced his work. He has created a series of pieces that focus on the buildings of NYC. Beginning with clay, he created over 30,000 units representing actual building heights, which were cast to create molds that could be used to reproduce sections in epoxy resin and polyurethane. See more photos at the artist's site. LINK

Nicholas Di Genova

Illustrator Nicholas Di Genova obviously likes to draw and he has an amazing imagination to go along with his talent. Most of his work combines real and imaginary animals to make new creatures that include an amazing level of detail. I'd love to know what he was thinking when he created some of his pieces. His site features over 100 works that are worth checking out and includes a store section where you can purchase t-shirts, posters, prints, or copies of his three books. LINK

Loop :: Elissa Brown Barbieri

The patterns available from Loop are pretty amazing, lines, circles, and shapes creating fantastic textures. Philadelphia-based owner/designer Elissa Brown Barbieri is responsible for these patterns and sells notebooks, note cards, wrapping paper, prints, and even has a line of fabrics. Even better, their products are eco-conscious. See them all at their site. LINK

Alex Dipple

British artist Alex Dipple deconstructs printed materials to create new works. Stars, circles, and even the outlines of advertisements, are cut out over months or years, and put together again en masse. See more at the artist's Behance page. LINK

Madder Mortem - Where Dream & Day Collide :: Toxic

This music video features some sci-fi animation by Toxic. Even if you don't care for the music, the fantasy landscapes and quality of animation still make this short worth seeing. LINK

Sculptures :: Kirsten Hassenfeld

Artist Kirsten Hassenfeld has created this amazing sculptures from items you may find around your house. They incorporate china, lampshades, electrical hardware, and all sorts of every-day items to create this collection of hanging ornaments. See more photos at her facebook page. LINK

Drawings :: Dan Slavinsky

Dan Slavinsky's drawings are fascinating in the way he combines geometric and organic shapes and lines. They feel old and yet modern at the same time. See more at his blog site, and don't forget to click on the thumbnails to see them in more detail. LINK

Core :: Selfburning

This experimental short film is well done when it comes to 3-D animation, incorporating solids and liquids, hot and cold. LINK

Rolling in the Deep : Adele

I like how this music video incorporates the style of art I normally feature. I particularly like the effect of dancing with the white powder and the vibrating water glasses. The song is okay too. LINK

Glez. - Todo el Tiempo :: NYSU Films

Words escape me when trying to describe this short. It is creepy and disturbing and yet alluring for it's amazing filming technique. You're just going to have to watch for yourself. LINK