Raining Cats and Dogs

Geometric Animal Sculptures by Ben Foster As an amalgamation of the natural and the industrial artist Ben Foster creates life-size recreations of animals in geometric form. Photographed against the backdrop of his native New Zealand the aluminum pieces stand in stark contrast to their new surroundings.   A Hand-Cranked Automaton That Mimics the Effect of a Raindrop Hitting Water Created by UK-based designer Dean O'Callaghan, this little wooden automaton is meant to mimic the effect of a water drop hitting a body of water, all using concentric rings cut from wood that are manipulated by a hand crank.     The Wild Adventures of Joe Iurato's Tiny Wooden Figures Inspired by various stages of his life, from skateboarding to breakdancing and rock climbing to the experiences of fatherhood, New Jersey-based artist Joe Iurato creates tiny wooden figures and sets them loose in public places. The daring little people dangle from bridges, swing from street signs, and often create their own "art" in the form of painted slogans left of sidewalks and curbs.   Take a Psychedelic Trip through a World of Morphing Fractals by Alexandre Lehmann No, you're not on drugs, or maybe you are, in which case you might want to wait a while before watching this. Overstepping Artifacts is the latest fractalized music video from French animator and musician Alexandre Lehmann (aka Ricardo Montalban or Zzzzra) as part of his ongoing Musicians with Guns series.   Autonomous Machines: Windup Toys and Other Analog Devices Express Themselves through Art As part of her MA work at the Design Academy Eindhoven, artist and graphic designer Echo Yang created a series titled Autonomous Machines where common analog devices like tin windup toys, a Walkman, an alarm clock and other machines were connected to writing and painting instruments. As each machine was set loose on a canvas its specialized motions were translated into brush strokes, paint blobs, and pencil marks resulting in self-generated artworks somewhat reminiscent of spirographs.   Metropolis II: A Kinetic Sculpture That Circulates 100,000 Miniature Cars Every Hour Created by conceptual artist Chris Burden, Metropolis II is an impressive kinetic installation that circulates 100,000 toy cars through a vast network of 18 tracks every hour. Metropolis II is on display at the Los Angeles Museum of Art.   High Speed Photos of Combusting Alcohol Look like X-Rays of the Human Brain The plume from an exploding bomb. Black and white flowers. X-Rays of a human brain cortex. These all seem like valid guesses when looking at this new series of photos by Fabian Oefner, but the truth is more amazing: it's fire. To create the photos Oefner added a few drops of alcohol into a large glass vessel and waited for the fumes to fill the void. He then ignited the gas and managed to capture these fleeting images as the fire consumed the interior of the vessel.   From the Colossal Shop: Cardboard Puzzles from D-Torso Designed by D-Torso, these amazing cardboard puzzles make the perfect design object for your desk. From dragons and raptors to dogs and cats, these are perfect for any ages 7 and up who likes to assemble small models. Each puzzle ships flat and can be assembled without the need for scissors, glue, or any other assembly tools.