Force of Nature

The Force of Nature: A Series of Sculptures That Depict Mother Nature Hurtling Planet Earth in Circles After witnessing the destruction brought on by hurricanes in Thailand, the Southern U.S. and around the world, Italian sculptor Lorenzo Quinn began creating a series of sculptures titled 'Force of Nature'. Made from bronze, stainless steel and aluminum, the sculptures depict mother nature hurtling planet earth around in circles. The furious image is meant remind us of the power of nature and what Quinn describes as our "false sense of security" towards it.   Artist Cai Guo­-Qiang Sends a 500-Meter Ladder of Fire into the Sky Above China In the early morning hours of June 15, a huge white balloon filled with 6,200 cubic meters of helium slowly ascended into the sky above Huiyu Island Harbour, Quanzhou, China. Attached to it was a 500-meter long ladder coated completely with quick burning fuses and gold fireworks that was then ignited by artist Cai Guo­-Qiang. Titled Sky Ladder, the piece burned for approximately 2 minutes and 30 seconds above the harbor and was the fourth and final attempt to realize the performance.      Generative Illustrations of the Human Form by Janusz Jurek Over the last year, Polish designer and illustrator Janusz Jurek has been exploring different forms of generative illustration as it relates to the human form. Some of my favorites are collected into a series title Papilarnie where bundled lines that look like lightning or roadways on maps converge into 3D arms, feet, and other incomplete bodies.   Everbright: A Giant Interactive Light Toy That's Like a Lite-Brite for Grown-Ups At 42x the size of a traditional 'Light-Brite' toy, the Everbright by San Francisco-based Hero Design is a huge grid of adjustable LEDs for drawing with light. But instead of only a limited selection of individual colors, the Everbright relies on 464 dials that change in hue as you twist them, offering almost unlimited color possibilities when creating designs.   Artist Jane Long Digitally Manipulates Black and White WWI-Era Photos Into Colorful Works of Fantasy Australian artist Jane Long transforms cracked and faded black and white photographs into colorful works of fantasy, giving the subjects a new, and entirely surreal context. The images she uses for her series, Dancing with Costica, were captured over a half century ago by Costică Acsinte a Romanian war photographer who documented WWI. By altering the images Long imagines the subjects as characters, letting the audience decide whether they are bad or good.   Paint, Oil, Milk, and Honey Mix in this Surreal Macro Video of Swirling Liquids by Thomas Blanchard It turns out that watching paint mix is a heck of a lot more interesting than watching it dry. French director Thomas Blanchard shot this lovely short of colored paints, oil, milk, and honey as they mix and bead under a macro lens. He says the video is intended as "an analogy of feelings such as anger, love, sadness and joy [as they] they mix and eventually ease."   A Ziggurat of Mirrors by Shirin Abedinirad Connects the Sky and Ground in Sydney Artist Shirin Abedinirad just completed work on her latest sculpture, Mirrored Ziggurat, a pyramid of mirrors resting near a bay in Sydney, Australia as part of the Underbelly Arts Festival. Like her earlier mirror works, the Iranian artist is fascinated by stitching the sky to the ground (or vice versa, depending on your perspective) to create unusual optical illusions from almost every viewing angle.   WALL/THERAPY 2015 Invites 14 Artists to Explore the Surreal in Rochester, NY In its fifth year, WALL/THERAPY continues to transform Rochester, New York through art and neighborhood intervention, using elaborate public murals to inspire and bond communities. Not only are the images a source of inspiration for the community, but the walls on which the artists create their work are also resurfaced and rehabilitated, bringing a literal therapy to the murals' structures. This year the 14 murals were focused on the themes of surrealism and the fantastic, with work ranging from a gigantic superhero casually sitting on the side of a building, to a gigantic whale swimming within a whale-shaped bubble.   There's Some Pretty Sweet Stuff on Sale at the Colossal Shop It's true. From iamhome's quirky-cool Chalkboard Skulls to Vintage Confections' out of this world Nebula Lollipops, there's a whole bunch of neat stuff with a cheap new price tag. Find it all at the Colossal Shop.