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The Art of the Brick

Posted on July 16, 2012 by Cate

Nathan Sawaya is a Brick Artist. That’s his trademarked title, according to his website. And no, it’s not a fancy name for a builder or labourer, it reflects that Nathan makes his art not with charcoal, or paint, or even sprinkles, but with LEGO bricks. Nathan currenly has over 1.5 million bricks in his New York studio – you can see some of them in this pic from his website, colour coded and boxed in a way that would put even the neatest parent of a toddler to shame.

Nathan’s work is incredible. Like this amazing man-inside-a-man (clearly not its official title, but my own) featured on Nathan’s Facebook page. I think this is why Nathan’s so clever – he can use the brightly coloured bricks of our childhood to make a giant dinosaur (currently on exhibit in Taipei) or rainbow hearts or giant bodies. And then, he can use Lego bricks to make a sculpture like this more serious and muted man shuffling along living a sort of half-life in his corporate suit, while inside of him is that lively, passionate red man just trying to get out. At least, that’s how I see it – there’s always the chance that it’s just an alien themed sculpture of the red people overtaking the humans. Either way, I like it!

If you’re an Elvis fan – or even if you’re not – you’ll appreciate the detail of this life-size (height, anyway) Elvis creation of Nathan’s from 2011, to commemorate 34 years since the King’s passing. (Alleged passing, I should say.)

There are so many amazing brick sculptures in Nathan’s collection, it’s tough to choose what to include here. So I’ll finish with this, which is surely the dream bedroom of many children (lack of comfort aside, it would totes impress other little people who visited). Nathan was “commissioned to create a display of how a bedroom would look entirely out of bricks” – not one to do anything by halves, the drawers open and the brick pillow is removable. Oh yes, and that’s a Lego cello there, against the wall. And a Lego model of The Thinker. Just because.

If you want to check out more of Nathan’s work – and it is well worth a look – his website is here and his Facebook fan page is here.

Dress to impress

Posted on July 10, 2012 by Cate

There are times when a normal dress just won’t cut it. When you want to stand out from the crowd and need an outfit that tells a story. Or, in the case of these frocks, an outfit that yells LOOK AT ME, LOOK AT ME.

Take this dress, recently featured on Design Taxi. It’s made out of 50,000 gummy bears and apparently takes the strength of three adults to move it. By the looks of her, that model wouldn’t be much help with moving the gown – in fact, she should probably sneak a few rows of bears from around the hem line.

Or perhaps this bread suit from Lux Fashion Style would be just the ticket to make a strong impression in your workplace. As long as your workplace isn’t somewhere with a lot of hungry birds flying around. And please exercise caution if you sit very close to someone who is gluten intolerant. Or on the Atkins diet.

Speaking of carbs, here’s a pretty delicious frock featured on the Delish site – it’s made of spaghetti, set off with a dazzling necklace of meatballs. Perfect for a dinner party or night out on the town.

And not to forget the boys – here’s another outfit featured on Lux Fashion Style. The top looks as though someone threw a compost bin on the poor model, but the waffle pants are fashion gold. Practicality doesn’t matter a jot when you look this good.

You can check out the gummy bear dress on Design Taxi here. And the Lux Fashion Style post is here. And the edible outfits from Delish are here. EverydaySparks takes no responsibility for any accidents or incidents or broken relationships caused by you getting inspired and creating your own culinary couture. I’m planning a three-course outfit: a layered lasagne dress with a little bruschetta jacket, accessorised with some tiramisu shoes. What about you?

Arty sparks

The Bubbles of Fabian Oefner

Posted on July 9, 2012 by Cate

Designboom recently featured the work of Swiss photographer Fabian Oefner, who has explored the art of the bursting bubble in his project ‘iridient’. It’s easy to appreciate that these amazing images are extremely difficult to capture as the soapy air pockets are immortalized in two states: the moment immediately before and after rupturing; and the famous spectrum of colors. The result is an amazing collection of art – lively photos that are full of rainbows. And, as with clouds in the sky, I can definitely see other worlds – outer space and under the sea…and maybe the musical Hair…

These photos are from the designboom post here. And you can check out Fabian Oefner’s website here – including his incredible ‘Dancing Colors’ project, where Fabian has focussed on ‘making sound waves visible’, capturing stunning pics of coloured pigments as they leap from the surface of a vibrating speaker when music is played. Amazing.

Arty sparks

Kids Draw The News

Posted on July 5, 2012 by Cate

There is a section of the New York Times called ‘Kids Draw The News’, which pretty much does what it says on the tin – kids from around the USA (and sometimes even other countries) are invited to submit a drawing to tell the story of a particular news topic. As is often the case with pictures drawn by kids, there are some very funny and very clever and very wacky results. Here are some examples of what I’m talking about…

An excerpt from an article last month: Swarms of honeybees seem to be everywhere in New York City these days — on cars, on trees, outside restaurants — as fast-growing colonies take off in search of new homes. As illustrated by the kids who made a big effort:

As illustrated by the kid who was maybe being forced to enter by an eager Mom and Dad:

Also from last month, an article about NYC Mayor Bloomberg’s plan to limit the availability of giant serves of soda: Because way too many New Yorkers of all ages are overweight, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg wants to make it illegal to sell large sugary drinks in restaurants, movie theaters, delis and some other places. From the pens and pencils of babes:

And from a kid whose parents maybe need to cut him off from tv shows like NCIS and Law & Order:

As an HR person, I can’t help but think that ad agencies should consider signing up some of these kids sooner rather than later. And I am now imagining a newspaper with kids’ drawings to accompany the stories, rather than shocking photos. Or maybe even using kids’ drawings instead of some of the news stories. Somehow, they get to the point and make you smile at the same time – would love to get their take on issues in politics and the environment. Oh, and the real story behind the breakup of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, of course.

You can check out the ‘Kids Draw The News’ section of the New York Times online here.

Arty sparks

Pull the pin

Posted on June 26, 2012 by Cate

Tara Donovan makes art from pins (well, not always, but the pieces that I’m sharing here are all made with common drawing pins). I can hardly even imagine the patience required to stick so many little pins into boards to create art. But, that’s what Tara did for her series Drawings (Pins), which has been shown in her native New York and in other galleries around the world. I first saw Tara’s work on the designboom site – whether the images are from close up or far away, her work is pretty incredible!

According to designboom, the pieces are made up of tens of thousands of nickel-headed thumbtacks embedded in Gatorboard® in varying degrees, generating detailed texture and movement. the collection is an archetypal example of donovan’s signature style, where she is known for using a multitude of a single item to create often large-scale installations.

As you can see from this picture, hundreds and thousands of pins were used to create shading and texture. And I know a photo isn’t as good as seeing the real thing, but I am in awe of Tara Donovan’s work – using a common thing like a pin (granted, many many boxes of pins) to create beautiful works of art. As with the art made from 100s and 1000s that I included in an earlier post here, I am truly blown away by their patience and talent!

If you’d like to read more about Tara Donovan and her pins, the designboom post is here. But remember, pins are not toys. And EverydaySparks takes no responsibility for holes in fingers or missing office supplies as a result of this post.