Free Art - Download A Cloned Artist

When artist and furniture designer Bert Simons had a midlife crisis, he decided to tackle it head on . His solution was to clone himself. Not with complex biological methods using DNA and sheep, but with good old fashioned paper and glue. The results are striking. The three dimensional paper bust sculpture is fascinating in the way that it's computer generated form betrays a of high tech aesthetic while being something that is realised with such low tech materials. In this era of online avatars and virtual worlds, it is as if the artists alter-ego has stepped from the digital realm into reality.

The artist encourages people to help him in his quest, to mass produce himself, in true contemporary social media style, inviting people to download the online kit which gives you everything you need to recreate the artwork. People that make the sculptures have their masterpieces featured within the artist site. Is this art 2.0?

Bert has mastered the art of paper sculpting and has created many more in his series of photo realistic three dimensional portraits and sculptures. Visit Bert Simons site for more information and to check out his other works which range from furniture, interior, paintings and even rocket design.

Not only are the sculptures very unique, but he has also managed to craft an interesting story around it, and also by explaining and demonstrating his process.

Rain Of Madness

Check out this mockumentary of a trailer of a mockumentary of a documentary. So many great comic actors in one film, this is it a recipe for a great movie or a disaster! I can't wait to find out if Rain of Madness will live up to its billing. It will be interesting to see how Steve Coogan can play off Ben Stiller and Jack Black.

Artist Dominic Wilcox Is The Bee's Knees

I really enjoy the work of artist Dominic Wilcox. I found his site while browsing recent images on vi.sualize.us (a very interesting new social image bookmarking site, that I have been meaning to post about for a while). The humor and play reminds me a lot of the work of a close friend on mine, Daniel Eatock. Dominic is a fairly recent graduate from the RCA and is surely someone to watch out for. Please check out his excellent body of work on his site, but here are some of my favorite works by Dominic.


A bowl made from partially melted plastic toy soldiers. I love the contrast between the smooth outer surface and the rough inner surface. Resulting effect is beautiful, not only visually, but also in the fact that the final result has a lot of uncontrollability about it.


Chairs and installation created by vacuum forming plastic over office furniture and house hold objects.


Stickers to put on your car or bike that make it look rusty, to discourage thieves from taking it.



A bed where the mattress takes on the form of a sleeping body.



A bee's knees. A literal expression of the famous phrase.

New Sprite Ad & Old West Ad

A couple of ads that I found while browsing recently and wanted to consign to memory. I love the music in the Old Lady - West ad. I do not know who is the artist, so if anyone knows who it is please tell me if you know. How weird it that ad? I can't think of a less appealing character to promote smoking, which actually makes the ad all the more interesting! It really feels like an old Diesel spot.


West_Old Lady commercial from Stefan_K on Vimeo.

As for this Sprite advert, I really like it's simplicity and way that it delivers its surprise.


De lejos están todas buenas from Matias Tripailao on Vimeo.

My Friend The Next Victim Of A Serial Killer?

This shocking discovery of a serial killer in London seems to have every one living in fear. None more that one of my colleagues, Kimm Kroll who shares the same name as one of the names written on the killers apparent targets list found at the scene of one of the crimes. It is such a distinctive name, I just hope it is not actually my friend!! I hope that the catch this killer soon.

More information on the killings can be read here.

Top 10 Ways To Increase Your Visibility In Flickr

Thomas Hawk provides a very useful, informative and well written list of things you can do to help increase visibility of your images in the Flickr image hosting and photo sharing community site. Read it here.

BMW GINA - Morphing Car With Flexible Fabric Skin

Yesterday I posted a video of the BMW interactive kinetic sculpture, an installation that forms part of the companies recently launched museum. While browsing their Web TV site I saw a video of another exhibit from the museum. Called GINA, the exhibit is a prototype car with a flexible fabric skin instead of a traditional rigid metal or fibreglass body. The car is engineered to be able to morph, changing its shape. The changes can only be made within fairly limited physical parameters. It is a framework under the flexible skin that is able to move, but with such precision engineering in car design, even the most subtle of changes in a plane or line can have radical aesthetic or aerodynamic affect.

The concept of using a flexible fabric skin is in itself very radical and interesting, especially combined with the ability to change the cars shape, and I am sure that there will be great desire and expectation to see something so innovative find its way into production. However the thing that I find even more interesting is to see how the car itself has been so influential on the visual language of the current series of BMW production cars. The car itself looks very much a BMW. The shapes and lines that the car cuts, are distinctly BMW, yet it does not appear that a visual language has been mapped onto the car, rather the technology of a simple frame pushing through the flexible fabric skin creating its own unique language. From what I have garnered from other posts online, the car is at least six years old. It would appear that the team imagined up a car that not only explored the idea of a flexible skin, but also became a tool for exploring new forms and shapes, and became a tool in evolving BMW's avant guarde visual design language. This is an example where, at least in part the technology has been used to express the visual language. The shapes do not come from a computer, or from traditional crafts and design, rather from new materials and technology.

A truly inspirational project. From many angles!

See more images and video of the car below, and the teaser that preceeded it. Not only an interesting story, but also an example of successful online marketing, with the video notching up over two million views in several weeks.

I read about this first on Geekology blog

BMW kinetic Sculpture

The new BMW Museum in Munich, home to the company’s 90-year history, opened last month and has carefully combined architecture and exhibition design, focusing particularly on new media.

ART+COM media installations set the museum’s architecture in motion, creating a unique dynamic for exhibits and content. Along with atelier brückner, Stuttgart (architecture and exhibition design) and Intégral Ruedi Baur, Zurich (graphic design and visual identity), ART+COM has created a contemporary take on Schwanzer’s original exhibition concept of “the road in converted space”. Media installations literally set the museum’s seven themed buildings, 25 exhibition rooms and 125 exhibits in motion.

One kinetic sculpture uses 714 metal balls that move vertically along barely visible thread to reveal forms and planes. Seemingly weightless sculpture moves through a cycle of free abstractions and typical BMW vehicle forms to create a beautiful and magical effect. See the videos below.


The BWM Museum is open to the public from 21 June 2008.