Out of Your Gourd

I'm loving these hand carved and drilled gourd shells imported from Senegal. The mixture of translucent and transparent sections make the shells themselves gorgeous to look at and the patterns they cast are just stunning. I'll take ten.

via DorNob

Cows Fly

I usually wouldn't post something like this, as most of you come here for inspiration and not politics, but I have really mixed feelings about this "piece". I am glad the cow has a second chance to live, but animals are not art installations and cows are herd animals, so how much better is a lonely, elevated existence for our bovine friend here? Also, I noticed that this installation is from 2005. I'd like to know what became of the cow in the interim. You may now weigh in and I'll get back to the more inspiring stuff.

Here's the rest of the story:

"Rescued from its inevitable death in a slaughter house, and taken to a recreated farm on the top of a ten story building in the center of Santiago. The cow has a second chance to live, this time on top of the city as an impossible reality. Its newfound life opportunity as a rural icon challenges our own urban daily routines. The cow's building is strategically located within view of Chile's religious, political and economical powers. Forcing both the local authorities and population to stop and look again."

via NotCot

Kylie Stillmans Paper Relief

I love the depth of these paper carvings by Kylie Stillman. There's something very calming to me about these hollowed out silhouettes. Ghosts of bonsai trees and bird migrations, impressed in stacks of paper making the pieces seem like a fossilized relief of the natural forms. Really nice. Thanks to Sarah Beth for the Tip!

via Beautiful Decay

Oreo Cameos

+1 to my buddy Malcolm for turning me on to the work of Judith G. Klausner, who makes these intricate cameos out of the filling in Oreo cookies. Double stuff, anyone?

via Laughing Squid

The Paper Sculptures of Chun Kwang Young

Are you kidding me? These things are absolutely unreal. Thousands upon thousands of foam wedges covered in hand-dyed mulberry paper make of these huge formations, looking like some geological find from the center of the earth. Color me impressed. You can read more of the story and see more pics over at Colossal!

Pendulum Sound Machine

I must admit, when I first saw a picture of the Pendulum Sound Machine by Kouichi Okamoto, I was under the impression that its little arms would somehow "play" the record, turning out a weird forward/reverse cacophony of vinyl mayhem. What it actually does is much cooler, I think. Check out the video.

via Unplggd

Handwritten Portraits

Digging these handwritten portraits by artist, John Sokol. Coolest thing is, the subject's own words are used to make each piece come to life. Nice!

via Crooked Brains

Vanity Barcodes

Digging the new look for the boring, old UPC symbol. As NJ based Vanity Barcodes says: "straight up and down is so yesterday."

via Core77

iPhone Music Video - Steve Shane

Nice job by director, Behn Fannin on this music video for Steve Shane's "Every Pretty Smile". Mobile devices may have been used in a similar fashion before, but there are some pretty nice touches here.

via NotCot

Uke Band Poster

I spent a good part of yesterday goofing around with an idea for a poster for my ukulele band. What? You didn't know I had a ukulele band? Well, now you do. At any rate, I was inspired by mid-century toy packaging and matchbook design, so this is what I came up with. Not a bad way to spend a hot Saturday.

Concrete Alphabetical Bookends

Digging these cast concrete bookends from designer Jochen Korn. A hip, industrial looking way to alphabetize even your heaviest tomes.

via If It's Hip, It's Here

Cha Jong-Rye Says It With Wood

I'm stunned by the incredible woodwork that I happened upon this morning by Korean artist, Cha Jong-Rye. Form, time, patience, and skill are all on display in every single meticulous piece. I'm totally digging on the seemingly kinetic contained within the static nature of these pieces. Amazing!

via Colossal

Socialist Propaganda - Tetris Poster

Totally digging this Soviet-like propaganda poster featuring the fictional origin of the game, Tetris. Only $20 from Pop Chart Lab. Bargain!

via NotCot

Johan's Ark

Johan Huibers had a dream. Nope, it wasn't a dream about building an ark. It was a dream about a great flood that prompted him to build a giant ark (half the size of the Titanic). How many cubits is that? As the flood has not come since his original vision, Huibers is hoping to turn his creation into a museum.

Via Neatorama

Cardboard Furniture

Hey parents! Got a kid who is going off to college and trying to rake you into buying some Ikea for the old dorm room? Fear not. Australian company, Karton is now making entire living room, bedroom, and dining sets out of corrugated cardboard. Now you can send junior everything he needs in a flat pack box and tell him to assemble his apartment himself. Better yet, get him some boxes from the back of the supermarket and tell him to figure it out himself!

via DorNob

Illustrator Chris Turnham

I'm digging Chris Turnham's stuff this afternoon. Perfect color palette for me today. Check out the interview over on Illustration Mundo.

If Blur Brids Fly....

If I were to take a stand on anything related to the craft world, it would be against mass produced items badly masquerading as handcraft. Therefore, I think this is hilarious.

via The Lovely Ladies of Badder Homes and Gardens

* Note: While Badder Homes and Gardens is a hilariously irreverent blog that I adore very much, it is also rife with racy language and is probably not suitable for children, the elderly, or folks who are offended by words.

Sawdust Lamps

Israel based, Kulla Design has just come out with these cool looking 50% sawdust lamps for the home. I'm not wild about the bases, but I'd definitely consider theses for pendant-type, ceiling mounted illumination. More at Design Boom.

Posters for Joplin

Great series of posters by Moosylvania with all the proceeds going to provide relief for the tornado-stricken community of Joplin, MO.

via Grain Edit

Netflix Envelope Art

Loving this collection of sometimes whimsical and often disgruntled Netflix envelope art from Doodler's Anonymous.

via Neatorama

Liu Bolin - Dragon Series

Chances are, if you've been clicking links on the internet in the past two years, you've probably run across photos of Bejing artist, Liu Bolin employing his incredible urban camouflage. This "Dragon Series" is new to me and I think it's some of his best stuff yet. More at Design Boom.

Shawn Dickinson's Old School So-Cal Illustrations

I'm loving these illustrations by artist, Shawn Dickinson. Brings me right back to my childhood when I loved Ed "Big Daddy" Roth, Von Dutch and all those way out cats who made a home of the surf and rod culture in California. Love it.

via The Selvedge Yard

Möbius Ship

Now, this is the coolest freakin' thing I have seen in some time. Every once in awhile I'll click a link and what appears immediately quickens my pulse. Artist, Tim Hawkinson's "Möbius Ship" did just that!

via Ollonet

Post Office Restaurant

In Manhattan Beach, California there stands a 1950s-era post office that has recently been renovated and turned into a very cool looking restaurant. I'm especially digging this dividing wall between the bar and dining areas. The full story can be read over at the LA Times.

via Unconsumption

Light Reading

I'm digging these hardcover book lamps I found over on DorNob this morning. More of an accent than a task lamp, but they would still go well in your library to shed some light on your literary interests. More here.

Swamp Thing

Morten Flyverbom (what a name!) has, quite possiblly, found the greenest automobile in existence. Carbon footprint: zero. Love it!

via Recyclart

The Airbus Concept Plane Scares Me

Okay, I don't like flying in the first place. I spend most of the flight pretending that I'm not 35,000 feet in the air. The Airbus 2050 concept plane is no help in this regard. A see-through cabin? Heck, why not just make the floor transparent and issue me a Depends undergarment upon boarding. Who's flying this thing, Wonder Woman? Those of you wackos (I love you anyway) who love flying will be the first in line for this. I'll stick with the cramped tube with tiny windows that we have today, thankyouverymuch. You can watch a video here.

via Design Boom

Rotary Smart Phone

Nope. I don't ever want to go back to a rotary dial telephone and I have no idea how this thing would fit in your pocket, but I am digging the look of Richard Clarkson's rotary smart phone concept.

via Toxel