A Towering Memorial

888,246 Ceramic Poppies Surround the Tower of London to Commemorate WWI To commemorate the centennial of Britain's involvement in the First World War, ceramic artist Paul Cummins and stage designer Tom Piper conceived of a staggering installation of ceramic poppies planted in the famous dry moat around the Tower of London. Titled Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red the final work will consist of 888,246 red ceramic flowers—each representing a British or Colonial military fatality—that flow through grounds around the tower.   Designer Hilla Shamia Fuses Cast Aluminum and Tree Trunks to Create One-of-a-Kind Furniture Pieces Product designer Hilla Shamia has developed a novel way to meld poured aluminum with irregularly shaped wood pieces to create sleek tables and benches. The process preserves that natural form of the tree trunk while still allowing the molten aluminum to flow into the crevices of the wood, slightly burning the area where the two materials meet.      A Towering Turtle of Discarded Industrial Junk Welded by Ono Gaf Indonesian artist Ono Gaf works primarily with metallic junk reclaimed from a trash heap to create his animalistic sculptures. His most recent piece is this giant turtle containing hundreds of individual metal components like car parts, tools, bike parts, instruments, springs, and tractor rotors.   A 130-Year-Old Japanese Pottery Shop Puts a Modern Spin on Traditional Kutani Tableware Founded in 1879 in Ishikawa, Japan, Kutani Choemon have been creating handmade and hand-painted pottery for the better part of 130 years, and while the history shows in the quality of their work, the subject matter is a bit more contemporary. Skateboarders, surfers, and drummers rendered in blue Kutani color glazes adorn a wide variety of their tableware and tea ceremony utensils, bringing a quirky and modern vibe to a traditionally conservative craft.   Fun New Murals by ROA Utilize Tunisia's Domed Architecture Belgian street artist ROA is currently in Tunisia along with 150 other participating artists for Galerie Itinerrance's Djerbahood open air museum project in Djerba, Tunisia. The artist cleverly took advantage of the many domed buildings in the city for several of his monochromatic spray paint murals that spread across multiple surfaces.   Timelapse of Dormant 'Rose of Jericho' Plants Exploding to Life After Exposure to Water The Rose of Jericho (Selaginella lepidophylla) is a species of desert moss that has the amazing ability to 'resurrect' itself after bouts of extreme dehydration lasting months or even years. After just a few hours of exposure to moisture the plants burst to life, uncurling from a tight ball of dry leaves to a green flower-like shape. Videographer Sean Steininger shot this timelapse of several plants as he exposed them to water.   New in the Colossal Shop: CMYK Mona Lisa Coasters from Waku Based on the CMYK color model, these acrylic coasters from Molla Space's Waku brand use the four colors found in modern printers to reveal a secret masterpiece. When stacked, cyan, magenta, yellow, and key (black) come together to recreate the gentle shading and form of the world's most famous painting, Leonardo Da Vinci's Mona Lisa.