Colossal | A blog about art and visual ingenuity.

One man, 100,000 toothpicks, and 35 years: An incredible kinetic sculpture of San Francisco

(click images for detail)

Thirty five years ago I had yet to be born, but artist Scott Weaver had already begun work on this insanely complex kinetic sculpture, Rolling through the Bay, that he continues to modify and expand even today. The elaborate sculpture is comprised of multiple “tours” that move pingpong balls through neighborhoods, historical locations, and iconic symbols of San Francisco, all recreated with a little glue, some toothpicks, and an incredible amount of ingenuity. He admits in the video that there are several toothpick sculptures even larger than his, but none has the unique kinetic components he’s constructed. Via his website Weaver estimates he’s spent over 3,000 hours on the project, and the toothpicks have been sourced from around the world:

I have used different brands of toothpicks depending on what I am building. I also have many friends and family members that collect toothpicks in their travels for me. For example, some of the trees in Golden Gate Park are made from toothpicks from Kenya, Morocco, Spain, West Germany and Italy. The heart inside the Palace of Fine Arts is made out of toothpicks people threw at our wedding.

See the sculpture for yourself at the Tinkering Studio through the end of June. Photos courtesy of their Flickr gallery.

Update: Rolling Through the Bay has been moved to the American Visionary Art Museum through September 2012. (thnx, jenny!)

Dan Tobin Smith

Dan Tobin Smith typography light installation

Beautiful typographic installations from by artist Dan Tobin Smith. Posting will be light during the holiday, back in full force Monday! (via cartwheel galaxy)

By Christopher on April 23, 2011 • installation light typography

So remember that time somebody photographed you doing that incredibly compromising thing and the pictures got out on the internet and Erin Riley wove a tapestry of it?

So remember that time somebody photographed you doing that incredibly compromising thing and the pictures got out on the internet and Erin Riley wove a tapestry of it? textiles people

Yeah, so this is that time.

Philadelphia-based artist Erin M. Riley (NSFW in a weird explicit textile sort of way) scours the internet for embarrassing and downright sketchy photos of people and weaves them into elaborate wall-covering tapestries. From her interview on Fecal Face:

So I search “upskirt”, or “drunk girl puking” then look at sketchy pictures for an hour or two, find a few that are really awesome and they sit in my folder for a bit until im ready to weave them. I don’t like to crop or alter the images too much, so it has to be a good mix of all of the elements. I like the images to be attractive and alluring while also showing you how creepy and depressing life can be. Then I trace the image on a clear sheet and project it with an overhead projector to scale. I copy it on large craft paper and lay it under my warp while I weave.

Due to the safe-for-work nature of this blog I haven’t posted the craziest stuff, so head on over to her blog here ya degenerates. (via fecal face)

By Christopher on April 22, 2011 • people textiles

Engrain Tactile Keyboard

This gorgeous tactile keyboard was designed by Brooklyn-based Pratt student Michael Roopenian. After testing several different surfaces including stone and sand he arrived at this wooden key solution that’s cut from a single piece of sandblasted lumber. Anybody need an incredible industrial designer? He’s for hire. (via core77)

By Christopher on April 21, 2011 • computers wood

Oritsunagumono Redux

Oritsunagumono Redux origami designboom animals

After several weeks of searching I finally managed to get in touch with Takayuki Hori the creator of the Oritsunagumono endangered animal origami collection that I posted here a while back. He provided some fantastic additional images and I was able to share them in my latest post over on designboom.

By Christopher on April 21, 2011 • animals designboom origami

Invasive crochet: Lace doilies and razor wire

Invasive crochet: Lace doilies and razor wire street art New York installation crochet

Artist Crystal Gregory created this Invasive Crochet installation as part of a show in New York called Art in Odd Places. Via her web site:

Invasive Crochet challenges gender roles by placing handwork on hardened city surfaces around New York. Crocheting lace doilies onto the razor wire of an abandoned lot for the 14th Street public art show Art in Odd Places, smothering the urban landscape in a soft, decorative, and familiar juxtaposition.

And suddenly I have no idea where I found this. Suffice to say, it was certainly somewhere.

By Christopher on April 21, 2011 • crochet installation New York street art

What if you lived at IKEA?

What if you lived at IKEA? tableau IKEA humor

A few shots from a great project by photographer Christian Gideon who asked the question, what if you lived at IKEA? … and answered it by taking some hilarious photos of he and his friends living it up in IKEA mock rooms furnished with all matter of low-cost Swedish design. (via sub-studio)