Art

Birds Made from Recycled Metal Scraps by Barbara Franc

Inspired by the forms of animals artist Barbara Franc seeks to capture a sense of motion as she recreates a variety of wildlife from birds to horses using reclaimed materials such as old food tins. Via her artist statement:

I have always been fascinated by the shapes and sculptural forms of animals, they present a never-ending source of inspiration to me. I try to capture a feeling of their movement and presence in my sculpture. For this I use wire and other materials in a way that suggests drawing in three dimensions. This allows me greater freedom to add changes whenever I want during the construction to keep the feeling fluid and to reflect the diversity of movement and form. I increasingly use recycled and discarded materials as I enjoy the challenge of transforming something with a past history into something new and exciting.

You can see much more of her work on her website, and she appears to have a number of works available via Union Gallery. (via junk culture)

Art

Swing to Infinity Inside Thilo Frank’s Mirrored Room

Measuring just 4 x 4 x 8 meters this small, windowless room might normally be considered a claustrophobic nightmare if it were’t lined from floor to ceiling with dozens of mirrors creating a reflective universe that seems to stretch into infinity. Titled “The Phoenix is closer than it appears,” the room was constructed by artist Thilo Frank at the Museum of Modern Art in Aalborg, Denmark. The Matrix-like space also features a swing that allows visitors an opportunity to view hundreds of cloned reflections swinging at all possible angles. I can think of quite a few illicit substances that should probably not be consumed before entering this room. (via designboom

Art

You Are Beautiful: An Art Movement Turns 10

Ten years ago Chicago artist and designer Matthew Hoffman decided to print a batch of 100 stickers that read simply “You Are Beautiful” which he gave to friends and colleagues who found the phrase to be inspiring, hopeful, and infectious. Requests for the stickers began to trickle in so Hoffman started selling them in small batches online at You-Are-Beautiful.com. Demand quickly began to swell, so much so that he’s now printed over 500,000 of them. Soon the stickers were accompanied by numerous public art installations in Chicago and eventually, the message began appearing around the world on fences, street overpasses, and sidewalks. To celebrate 10 years of ‘You Are Beautiful’ Matt is putting together a book with help from Kickstarter that documents the evolution of the project including photography, stories, and tons of really awesome rewards including his hand-cut wood signs and of course tons of stickers.

Art

Shattered Glass Animals by Marta Klonowska

Using carefully broken shards of colored glass, Polish artist Marta Klonowska assembles translucent animals in life-like proportion and size. Almost all of her sculptures are based on animals found in baroque and romantic paintings by such artists as Peter Paul Rubens or Francisco de Goya next to which they are often displayed. Her work appeared most recently at European Glass Context 2012, and you can see many more images over on lorch + seidel contemporary. (via lustik)

Photography

Photographer Christian Åslund Turns the Streets of Hong Kong into a 2D Video Game

Stockholm-based photographer Christian Åslund recently payed tribute to retro 2D video games using the streets of Hong Kong as a backdrop. The photos were taken as part of an ad campaign for shoe brand Jim Rickey utilizing models who would lay flat on the streets or sidewalks to create the unique perspective. I’ve seen many photographers toy with this idea, but the wide-angle nature of these shots taken from such height creates a truly fun and expansive environment. See many more shots from the series here. (via design taxi)

Illustration

Elk Art Print by DKNG

Design/illustration studio DKNG just released this gorgeous elk art print based on an earlier Dave Matthews Band tour print from last year. The four-color screen print is available in their shop in a limited edition of 300. (via this isn’t happiness)