Extra Ordinary Art

Extraordinary is perhaps a gift that ordinary people possess, but what makes them extraordinary is the ability to transform simple things into masterpieces.

Some artists have this fantastic ability to create magic from anything and they inspire everyone to re-look at objects with fresh perspective. We came across three such objects that we transformed through initiated ideas of some ordinary artists.

Brian Dettmer is a kind of ‘book surgeon’; if one can say who performs “autopsies” on old volumes with engaging three-dimensional results. He uses an array of precision instruments to create or reveal patterns within a given book or set of books, often taking advantage of the particular appearance, form and content of his subject material. In many cases, the connection between the material, process and product is overtly evident, as he reveals an interpretation the past through history books and dissects virtual bodies via anatomy texts.

Mizuta Tasogare and Kato Jado divide their incredibly intricate pencil carvings into four basic types and the rest they consider variations on these basic themes. Any mistake, they note, is fatal for an individual work which must remain intact throughout the delicate carving process. Creating link after link without breaking through the thin wooden barriers; and dealing with the material change between the graphite and surrounding wood is extremely challenging, but the results are beyond gratifying.

Lew Jensen, Don Lisk and Brian Baity and others have approached the art of egg shell carving in a variety of ways and with strikingly varied results. Some artists work layered reliefs into the seemingly one-dimensional shells, others are subtractive and emphasis the relationship between figure and void.

The ability of these artists to gauge through the outer crust of something so ordinary and create is the magic of human creative spirit and perhaps the very core of our existence!

Image Courtesy: http://weburbanist.com

Text excerpts: http://weburbanist.com