In The Name Of Art ↓

Paintball Pop Art Marilyn Monroe

“If Andy Warhol and Jackson Pollack had collaborated with paintball guns back in the day, they would’ve painted this.”

Negative Space Art

“To provoke a second glance, Noma Bar expertly uses negative space: his illustrations are formed of both a single image and a series of themed elements that give the final piece its shape.” w/ photos

Gargoyle Faces Made From Toilet Roll Tubes

“Coming face to face with one of these creations in the bathroom might be a shocking experience. But these gargoyle-esque faces are no bog-standard art project, but a painstaking process involving the intricate moulding of single four-inch toilet roll tubes to create a modern sculpture. French artist Junior Fritz Jacquet, 30, who describes himself as a ‘creator and sculptor in paper’, then mounts his creation on steel stands and sets them loose on the art-buying world. The Parisian artist said his passion for paper started with school origami classes and he now takes inspiration from the unique characteristics of card. He said: ‘I first concentrate on the construction of the eyes, then the nose, then the mouth and then the entire expression. ‘I am trying to create funny and jovial expressions and will keep working on my technique because there is no limit to experimentation.” w/ photos

One-Handed Handstand Over Cliff’s Edge

“One slip and it is all over for this extreme artist as he pushes the boundaries of strength and concentration with his latest incredible balancing feat. Delicately poised one-handed on a ladder 300m up a cliff, Eskil Ronningsbakken repeated this amazing display over 40 times. ‘I’ve had the picture in my mind since 2001, but started realising the plan about three months ago,’ says the 30-year-old Norwegian at the edge of the Flydalsjuvet cliff in Geiranger. The mission with the balancing was to create new images for an art collection, and hopefully being able to replace the traditional photos from this amazing spot.’ Describing himself as an ‘educated balancing performer’, Eskil has been honing his achingly-difficult abilities since the age of five, which have taken him through circus troupes and round the globe.” w/ photos

World’s Greatest Toothpick Artist

“His face is the picture of concentration as he painstakingly finishes off Cambodian temple Angkor Wat. And concentration is something Stan Munro certainly doesn’t lack after spending six years building famous landmarks from around the world – using six million toothpicks. The former television presenter used more than 170 litres of glue as he worked full time on buildings such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge and The Vatican. He has also recreated Sydney’s Opera House, the Taj Mahal and Cutty Sark in 1:164 scale. The married 38-year-old can take anything from one day to six months to make each building. The majority of his time goes into research. He downloads as many technical drawings and satellite images as possible from the internet and scales the rest himself. Stan’s buildings are largely hollow, with just a few structural supports – also made from the toothpicks he buys direct from a wholesaler. The larger models are made in separate pieces so they can be moved with less hassle. Stan continues to work on his models at the Museum of Science and Technology in Syracuse, New York, United States.” w/ photos

Incredible Light Graffiti

“The name light graffiti struggles to do these displays justice. The fantastic spectacles of colour – which are the latest trend in street art – are as impressive as fireworks. A host of light sources, from flash lights and bike lights to blinking LED lights, are used to ‘paint’ a picture straight onto the camera lens. Also known as light drawing or light painting, these arresting images are created with long exposure cameras in the dark. Sometimes the exposures run on for longer than an hour. Creating the light ‘picture’ also needs a slow shutter speed, often longer than a second, and a tripod to keep the camera steady. These images are made by Jan Wöllert and Jörg Miedza, the brains behind Light Art Performance Photography. The pair from Bremen, Germany, have been working together since 2007 but neither are full-time photographers.” w/ photos

The Melting Men

“A thousand miniature people have slowly melted away in a Berlin square in an effort to draw attention to melting ice caps in Greenland and Antarctica. Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo carved the figures out of ice and placed them on steps in the central Gendarmenmarkt square where they began to melt within about half an hour. Temperatures in Berlin were about 73 degrees Fahrenheit (23 Celsius) Wednesday. The installation, Melting Men, was meant to spotlight the World Wildlife Fund’s warning that melting ice could possibly cause levels to rise more than 3.3 ft by 2100. The group warns that the warming of the Arctic will change weather in different parts of the world and increase the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere. Since 2005, Azevedo has been setting up her Melting Men in various countries around the world. Although originally intended as a critic of the role of monuments in cities, environmentalists around the world are adopting her work as climate change art.” w/ photos

Body Paint Installation

“Body Paint by Mehmet Akten is an interactive installation and performance allowing users to paint on a virtual canvas with their body, interpreting gestures and dance into evolving compositions.”

Reverse Graffiti

“Hailing from Brazil, Alexandre sees his as a way of getting an environmental message across to those who ordinarily wouldn’t listen. A few years ago he adorned a tunnel in Sao Paolo with a mural consisting of a series of skulls to remind drivers of the detrimental impact their emissions have on the planet. He did all his work with nothing but a piece of cloth and water, using the cloth to wipe away the dirt.”

500 Colored Pencil Set

“Designed by felissimo for social designer this complete set of 500 colored pencils consists of 20 units, each pencil telling its own story with a unique name. You cannot buy the complete set of pencils all at once, but you can receive them over the course of 20 months. Four different display methods let you keep your pencils at hand, while being displayed either as an artwork, or kept aside as a special collection. The cases have been designed especially for the 500 colored pencils and are available in a limited edition.” w/ photos