Movie Bar Code

This is one of the more interesting visual concepts I've seen lately. Take a visual medium, primarily movies, and condense its visual frames to create a color field. Some are exactly what you would expect, The Matrix tones of green or Donnie Darko being dark. Others are completely unexpected. (Shown here is Pan's Labyrinth.) See what your favorite movie's color is. LINK

Mainstream

Any time you feel pressure to do "what everyone else is doing" remember this animation and revel in your unique color! Nice simple concept with quality animation. LINK

The Color Of ...

Type in a word and "the color of" website shows you what color an online image search creates. Type in your own word and watch the average of images build or view the gallery of words already colored. Though many of them average out to be similar tones of brown, those that break from the norm are not always what you would expect. Not a bad way to imagine new color palettes! LINK

Crayola Monologues

The Crayola Monologues uses crayons to discuss what "color" means in our society. A little preachy, but still interesting. LINK

Paint Chips

I wish I had been watching when this advertisement aired because the concept is pretty cool. Animated paint chips create a fabulous, colorful world. LINK

Megalomancy :: Eyal Degabli

This animation is the final graduation project of Eyal Degabli. Gold flying machines, purple worms, and green aliens vie for territory in this fast-moving animation with a built-in morality tale. Watch to see what color wins it all! LINK

Todor & Petru

This is easily one of the most interesting animations I've seen in the past couple years. A combination of stop-action and 2D animation, this piece pits red vs. yellow in an urban battle. The unique quality of the visuals alone makes it worth the watch. LINK

Natural Resasters

After today's 5.8 earthquake (the first I've actually felt) I figured I'd see if I had any appropriate creativity to share. And so we have Natural Resasters. The illustration on these is rather cool and I love the color palettes. It is definitely worth the watch and good for anyone here on the East Coast looking for a different take on today's trembling. More information about the creators can also be found at Aaron Becker's site. Choose Natural Resasters from the left-hand navigation. LINK

Screw Art :: Andrew Myers

The portraits created by Andrew Myers are a fresh take on using hardware to create imagery. He uses screws at various heights to add a three-dimensional aspect to his pieces in addition to adding color to the screw heads which makes for some interesting effects. See more at his site ...  but if you're at work, note that his site does have a soundtrack so check your speaker volume. LINK

Hammered :: M Levine

Though not entirely unique, M Levine's hammered-nail pieces are a bit different than those I've seen before. Working primarily on a white base, nail density is used to create the image. Though the image shown here is not necessarily representational of his body of work, most of the pieces are nudes so not safe for work viewing. LINK

Nail Inlay Tables :: Sandback

Sandback is a family-owned business creating home furnishings here in the U.S., in New Hampshire to be exact. I'm particularly fond of the nail inlay tables, some of them using more than 5,000 nails to create pretty patterns in the table tops. See what they have to offer at their site. LINK

Screwed Up :: Kris Hofmann

This stop-action animation is a love story, including the initial elation, a breakup, a sense of loss, and search for new love. It's kind of cute. LINK

Gear Ring :: Kinekt Design

This little ring is pretty groovy (pun intended). The outer bands twist, turning the gears in between. See more about it including a video of it moving at the Kinekt site. LINK

Greenwich Locksmiths

This Locksmith shop in NYC got a super-cool makeover using keys. The owner, Phil Mortillaro used thousands of keys in decorative twists and swirls to give the facade of his shop a makeover. See more photos. LINK

Craftsmen Series :: Stacy Lee Webber

Artist Stacey Lee Webber does an amazing job of turning U.S. coins into sculptural objects with a focus on everyday tools. Though I think my favorites are the tape measure and plumb, she has also created hammers, saws, screwdrivers, and ladders. See more at her website. LINK

Wire Frames :: Thomas Raschke

Artist Thomas Raschke created a series of sculptures of household objects. I'm not sure how I feel about this sort of work, in some ways so literal, in others so abstract. I suppose it is a good thing that it made me think about it. LINK

The Japan Series :: Andreas Gefeller

Photographer Andreas Gefeller put together a pretty great series of pieces that do something most of us don't - look up. Check out the wires and poles and the great geometric patterns they make. LINK

Wire Sculptures :: Fritz Panzer

Fritz Panzer creates some interesting sculptures of every-day interior objects using wire. The thing I like about his work is a sketchy feel you see in some of his peices that reminds me of drawings. LINK

Wire Sculpture :: Karen Searle

Karen Searle is a fine artist who works in fiber and wire. Though some of her work is rudimentary, I particularly like the grouping of children's dresses shown here. You can see more of her work at her site. LINK

Wire Sculptures :: Helen Godfrey

Helen Godfrey began by making papiere mache pieces, until interest in the wire frames beneath encouraged her to focus on just the bare bones. Though the selection of work on her website is small, some of the pieces have a quaint charm. LINK

Wire Sculptures :: Rupert Till

Robert Till creates sculptures in other mediums as well, but is featured here for his wire sculptures. Like many others, he has done work with chicken wire, but I'm particularly fond of his works that swirl heavier-gauge wire. See more at his website. LINK

Threads

This commercial for WWF uses string to illustrate living creatures, visually demonstrating how we are all connected. Credits go to Olgilvy & Mather Mexico and troublemakers.tv. It's short, but worth the watch. LINK

String Installations :: Sébastien Preschoux

Artist Sébastien Preschoux puts together string sculptures indoors or out, in daylight or dark. Some make you imagine natural parallels such as spiderwebs, while other feel more architectural. See them for yourself at the artists site, under Installations. LINK

American Dream :: Jeremy Dean

New York artist Jeremy Dean has done a whole series of works that use threads strung between sewing needles. Not only are they interesting compositions, they also comment on American society. See them all at his site. LINK

Silk Dimensions :: Akiko Ikeuchi

Japanese artist Akiko Ikeuchi has created multiple fine art installations using fine silk thread in three dimensions. I like some of the close up photos that show the intricacies of knots. See more at her site. LINK

Kenton Slash Demon :: Dark Matters

Imagine the computer generated graphics of lines moving across your computer monitor, then create similar effects using light and string in real life. Read more about their take on this visual abstraction and watch the video. LINK

Waves :: Daniel Palacios

Two motors, long pieces of elastic string, and some good lighting creates some pretty cool visuals. Artist Daniel Palacios also set it up to react to the presence and movements of people around the kinetic sculpture, and the sound it makes is fascinating as well. Watch for yourself. LINK

Partitura 001

This animated piece was created using custom software that generates graphics to visualize sound. It is the result of an ongoing collaboration between Abstract Birds (Pedro Mari and Natan Sinigaglia), who refer to themselves as visual music artists, and Quayola, a visual artist. Though at first the music is pretty calm, as it procedes, variety of tones produces a myriad of results. LINK

Paintings :: Amy Casey

One can't help but look at some of Amy Casey's intricate paintings and imagine rolling along the impossible roadways in her impossible cities. See more of her work including close ups at her site. LINK

Johnny Cupcakes London - The Machines

Johnny Cupcakes in London has incorporated kinetic sculptures into its interior design. See a video of this very cool sculpture in action. LINK

The Way Things Go :: Icarus Films NY

This kinetic piece is worth checking out for its unique incorporation of fire in almost every element. I particularly like the visual of a flaming ball circling a pole as it unravels. LINK

Marbelous :: Ontwerpduo

Nathan Wierink and Tineke Beunders, aka Onterpduo, design interior pieces from lighting to furniture to textiles. However, they are being featured here for the marbelous table, a wooden table with marble runs carved into its surface, legs and feet. See more photos and read about it at their site. LINK

Perimeter Marble Run RBS

Check out this wooden marble run, obviously built by a loving father to encircle the bedroom of his son. I'm unable to find any information about the creator other than it being uploaded by a user going by the name Thunderknight. See it in action. LINK

Kinetic Sculptures :: Andrew Smith

Andrew Smith creates all sorts of found-object kinetic sculptures. From rolling balls, to turning gears, bubbling water, and even a tornado. His website features over 40 kinetic sculptures in a wide array of styles that are all worth checking out. LINK