11 Foot 8 Schadenfreude.

At the corner of Gregson and Peabody streets in Durham, North Carolina, lies a railroad trestle with an infamous history. The 11-foot-8-inch underpass, also known at the “can-opener bridge,” has seen hundreds of truck collisions over the past eight years. And Jürgen Henn has captured nearly every one of them with a surveillance camera and posted them online. A local celebrity, Henn and his 11foot8 website provide a delightfully painful reminder to pay attention to what’s around you—and to never underestimate your truck’s clearance height.

Via Great Big Story. I do love the Crash art, but I’m odd that way, with my collection of swarf, and other odd things which always end up in my pockets during a walk.

Steve Warburton.

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Steve Warburton is an artist in Australia, with a very interesting perspective. The work is evocative, and I find many of the pieces to be of an expansive nature – for me, they are pieces to ponder, not just savour, and allow all the different layers of associations to come up. There’s a distinct sense of dystopia in many of the pieces, but they are all the more beautiful in their poignancy, and the hope that we do not follow such paths to their inescapable conclusions. Definitely worth spending some time, going through the galleries!

I didn’t include much here, because the galleries are set up for viewing, not borrowing, so have a wander, expand your mind, and let your imagination take you on a trip. Steve Warburton.

Sex, Depression, Marriage.

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Signe Baumane wants to make a new film, and the bits I’ve seen are captivating, to say the least. Watch the video, and if you have a bit of pocket change to send Signe’s way, that would be fantastic! Or just spread the word. Or both!

My Love Affair With Marriage.

Gorgeous Doves!

Charly sent photos of more of his mom’s (and his) work in knipling. Absolutely gorgeous doves! Charly says: These two doves were made in 2011. The first one is my mothers design. After she made it, I asked her if she could do another one with my design, and she did. My input included not only new outline, but I also suggested the use of different colours and different lace /knotting.  The difference in style is quite apparent. The first dove is what would be called “traditional” style, because in this style are made laces, collars, doilies etc.

Pictures are behind glass, so I had to adjust colour saturation and levels to bring the colours out so the pictures look like the real fabric and not too grey. They are actually larger than life on screen, in reality they are only approximately 35 cm (14 inches) diagonally. For completeness’s sake I am also including the templates, I think you might find them interesting.

I definitely find them interesting! Click for full size.

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© Charly, all rights reserved.

! Pyrography !

Open-mouthed awe here. Watch!

Etsuko Ichikawa is a Tokyo-born, Seattle-based artist who creates mesmerizing abstract “paintings” through the art of pyrography. Specifically, Ichikawa removes fiery, molten glass from a kiln as it glows at 2100° F, and then manipulates it over thick paper, leaving scorch marks and burns. The process is something akin to photography, in which light is recorded on film, capturing and eternalizing the immediacy of a moment.

Full story at Spoon & Tamago. WOW. I want to do that, unfortunately I don’t have the equipment, but who doesn’t like playing with fire?

Things You Can Do At the Same Time!

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Think Progress has a terrific interview with artist Mari Andrew, and how it’s perfectly okay to talk about fun stuff, or what’s interesting to read or watch, and so on, and still be very concerned about what’s happening on the larger scale. There’s room for it all. There has to be, or none of us will successfully hang onto our sanity, or the hope of continued activism. Have a fun read.

Shiny Insects.

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Think twice before you swat that mosquito. It just might be a delicate glass sculpture, at least if you’re in the presence of Yuki Tsunoda, a young sculptor who shapes glass into insects and plants that are almost exactly to scale.

The 26-year old artist first began working with glass in 2012 when she attempted to visualize the disgust and aversion most people have to insects, especially when they swarm together. But as she studied them more and more she began to take note of the beauty of each individual body part. Tsunoda eventually shifted her focus to emphasizing the beauty of insects by recreating them in realistic forms, and to scale, using glass.

Beautiful work! There’s much more to see and read at Spoon & Tamago.

Local Life.

From rq: 1) busstop artwork, for a campaign to build a publicly but not governmentally funded arthouse/gallery, title: Don’t Need War; 2) a street – if you go to the touristy places, things are cleaned up, but this is more typical, plus some cold February sun right down the middle!

Gotta say, I love Don’t Need War! Click for full size.

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© rq, all rights reserved.