sculpture

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Artist encourages Apple to "Think Different" with Steve Jobs action figure sculpture.

- Man mistakenly sexts entire contact list, lands in jail.

- Jay-Z helms star-studded Barclays Center opening.

- Today is the 30th anniversary of the first CD sale in Japan...Steve Guttenberg reflects.

- Key set available for $150 on eBay provides an all-access pass to NYC.… Read more

The Aperture Science Handheld Portal Device, better known as the Portal gun, has been lovingly re-created in the real world by many fans.

Sculptor Duncan Shirah has taken a slightly different approach to his Portal gun. The sleek, modern trappings are stripped away and we're left with an incredible steampunky gun full of polished wood, glass, and brass accoutrements.

This is what would happen if Portal collided with "Wild Wild West." The only question is what would happen if the device actually worked. Would you leave your test chamber and end up in Sherlock Holmes' sitting room?… Read more

There's an image floating around the Web that is both disturbing and humorous. It looks pretty much like a petrified zombie head with a gumball machine where the brains should be and a lone gumball clinging to the tongue.

This is not the sort of image you can forget once you've seen it. It's actually a sculpture created by artist Thomas Kuebler. "I grew up with an interest in monster movies, circus sideshows, and all things bizarre," Kuebler tells Crave. "My artwork often reflects that." … Read more

How do you create a 21st century version of an ancient Greek temple? How about building it from a giant pile of old electronics and making it talk?

For his electro-acoustic sculpture "Temple," artist Benoit Maubrey compiled 3,000 recycled loudspeakers, 10 recycled amplifiers, 10 recycled radios/tuners, and a mixing board and soldered the gear into a replica of part of the Greek temple at Delphi. The modern-day temple stands outside the ZKM center for art and media in Karlsruhe, Germany, where it will remain through March of next year as part of an exhibit on sound as art. … Read more

With researchers in Italy claiming to have found evidence of a lost masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci, why not celebrate by admiring these poetic and amusing da Vinci-esque creations?

Metal smith and jewelry maker Dukno Yoon conjures up the more scientific work of the master with his Wings series of works.

Yoon is clearly a machinery-minded gadgeteer. "Mechanical structure becomes the most enjoyable form to me, as it becomes complex yet remains simple and coherent," he says on his site.

Still, he considers these pieces "a series of poems" in which he shares "metaphor, imagination, … Read more

With the prevalence of iPods and MP3 players, CDs are starting to go the way of vinyl as people shun physical media in favor of digital downloads. Some people are simply throwing their CD collection in the trash, while others are using the discs as coasters. One artist, however, has found a way to let the CDs play on in a completely different form.

Sean Avery, a children's book writer and illustrator from Perth, Australia, takes old CDs, as well as used circuit boards, and turns them into beautiful animal sculptures. Avery, who now lives in Ottawa, Canada, has been sculpting for nine years and finds old tech to be a great medium.

"I just think that old tech looks cool," Avery told Crave. "There's also a ton of it around, and I think it's great that I can turn unrecyclable crap into something interesting." … Read more

Just days after Hyundai gave us our first official teaser for the redesigned Genesis Coupe, the automaker goes and gives us the full monty on its worldwide Facebook page.

The wider shots give us a full view of the new, Veloster-fied front end. This is also the clearest looks yet at the hood sculpting and vents. It's difficult to tell whether those vents are functional, but I wouldn't be surprised if there were more form than function to be found there. We can also get an idea of how the new front end will work with the rest … Read more

Metropolis II is a four-year project by performance artist and sculptor Chris Burden that uses more than 1,100 Matchbox-style toy cars curved around 19 roadways to show the last days of what he calls the "free car"--in other words, the independent ability to simply jump in an automobile and travel.

In advance of a Metropolis II exhibit at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this fall, directors Henry Joost and Ariel Shulman of "Catfish" fame just released this short documentary that shows the 20-foot by 30-foot art installation in action.

More pictures of Metropolis II after the jump.… Read more

Imagine being able to spend 10 hours working on something and having zero distractions--no phone calls, no e-mail, and no music.

That's the kind of concentration Steven J. Backman exhibits when he creates art out of the humblest of materials--the toothpick.

The San Francisco native has been building replicas, sculptures, and portraits out of toothpicks for decades.

At Maker Faire 2011 last month in San Mateo, Calif., he showed off some dazzling creations including a 28-inch-tall replica of the Empire State Building, fashioned from 7,470 toothpicks.

"Using my fingers to glue each toothpick individually is inspirational to me," Backman says. "It gives me a chance to convey my passion in a tangible way and stirs up my imagination process to its utmost test."

For his creations, Backman uses Elmer's Glue and his stock of old white birch toothpicks, which are no longer being manufactured. There's no supporting wire, wood, or cardboard.

That's one reason some of his pieces take so long to complete. He describes his art as "the essence of patience." … Read more