A Stitch in Time

Fantastic Embroidered Zoetrope Animations on Turntables by Elliot Schultz If there's one thing we can't get enough of on Colossal it's zoetropes, a filmless animation technique that relies on a rotating sequence of images or objects that's photographed or displayed with a strobe light to create the illusion of motion. We've seen a few different takes on the medium from chocolate to 3D printing to ceramics to my all-time favorite the turntable phonotrope. For his degree project at the ANU School of Art in Australia, digital artist Elliot Schultz devised his own method: the Embroidered Zoetrope.   Calamityware: Mugs That Remind You It Could Always Be Much Worse Rendered in a style mimicking traditional blue willow pattern design, artist Don Moyer illustrated these fun It-Could-Be-Worse Mugs that remind you that no matter how bad your day is, things could be catastrophically worse. How bad? Think zombie poodles, pirates, attacking UFOs, and aggressive pterodactyls swooping from the sky. The set of 4 mugs are currently funding on Kickstarter. ADVERTISEMENT   Decaying Animal Skeletons Crocheted From String by Artist Caitlin McCormack Caitlin McCormack creates crocheted animals that appear to decay in front of your eyes, delicate corpses crafted from cotton string and glue. To produce each of her sculptures she must stiffen the string which produces a consistency similar to the bone tissue of the animals she is recreating. These fragile remains appear extremely macabre, a typically cute hobby made somewhat morbid.   Kenyan Artist Digs Through Electronic Refuse and Found Metal to Create Dazzling Sculptural Eyewear Digging through electronic refuse and found metal in Kenya's capital of Nairobi, Cyrus Kabiru refashions found materials into different wearable forms. Often these take the form of flamboyantly composed glasses, large eyewear that can often mask the entire face.   The Fourth Wall: A Rare View of Famous European Theater Auditoriums Photographed from the Stage For his ongoing series The Fourth Wall, Hamburg-based photographer Klaus Frahm shatters the illusion of stagecraft by taking us behind-the-scenes of several European theaters. Shot from the vantage point of the stage looking toward the audience, the photos reveal the stark contrast of ornate auditoriums and the technological scaffolding that facilitates a major theatrical production.   The "Skeleton Flower" Turns From White to Translucent When Exposed to Water The Diphelleia grayi or "Skeleton Flower" is finally a reason to look forward to rainy days. This rare flower transforms into a translucent beauty [its skeletal form] when exposed to water, its white petals becoming completely clear while wet, then transforming back to their original color once dry.   Archaeologists Unearth Trove of 2,000 Mysterious Gold Spirals in Denmark A team of archaeologists working in Boeslunde, Denmark recently stumbled onto an intriguing mystery: nearly 2,000 tightly-wound golden spirals dating back to the Bronze Age. The discovery of gold in Boeslunde isn't uncommon, as numerous gold objects have been unearthed in the region over the last few years. But the purpose of these coils has stumped archaeologists who refer to the find as the "golden enigma."   From the Colossal Shop: New Stackable CMYK Coasters of Famous Paintings Our wildly popular stackable CMYK coasters are now available in a bunch of different designs. Based on the CMYK color model, these acrylic coasters 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 some of the world's most famous works of art.