I remember stacking cards as a kid, once using two full decks to create a primitive multi-story structure. It stood intact for perhaps ten minutes, long enough for my mom to see it and my two mischievous little brothers, one of whom is today an architect, to knock it down. Just think what I might have accomplished had I stayed with it instead of pursuing a career in business!

Bryan Berg broke the Guinness World Record for the World’s Tallest House of Cards in 1992 at the age of seventeen, with a tower fourteen feet, six inches tall. His latest record-holding structure in the category is over twenty-five feet tall. In 2004, Guinness created a new record category for the World’s Largest House of Cards to recognize a project Berg built for Walt Disney World — a replica of Cinderella’s Castle. He continues to hold both records.

A self-taught artist, Berg uses no tape, glue, or other tricks in his work. With 3,000 decks of freestanding playing cards, some scaffolding, and a view of the real building, he worked for a month on the Disney grounds to build the 450 pound card version of Cinderella’s Castle. The structure was 14 feet tall and 14 feet square, detailing all the turrets and tunnels of the actual castle.

Take a look at some of the structures Bryan has built in the galleries. Maybe if I start practicing now…

Regular readers know of my interest in unusual art forms. This French site features “orange art,” a form I’ve not seen before and found quite fascinating. I suppose it could be classified as “fruit art,” but I think it would more accurately be described as “peel art.”

As someone who feels truly accomplished when I’m able to peel an orange in one continuous spiral, my hat’s off to anyone with the skill, dexterity and vision (not to mention free time) to create such interesting works as the one’s shown on these pages.

Since I don’t read French (who am I kidding; I don’t speak it either) I was unable to tell just how the, uh, orange artist creates his work. Does he manage to carve them as he peels, or does he peel in one large piece and then create? I suspect the latter but… If anyone can read French, let me know.

Go ahead and explore the site. Of course, it’s in French, so navigating may pose some difficulty, but with a little perseverance you’ll get the hang of it. And who knows, it may reignite some long repressed flame of creative desire and have you reaching, knife in hand, for the fruit bowl…

This photo has been circulating around the ‘Net for a year or more, but I first saw it last year on Joey Devilla’s site. It’s of a rather large lower back tattoo, or “tramp stamp”, of the apostle Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians (1 Corinthian:13.) While I’m certainly open to self expression and the rights of young women who choose to do this sort of thing to themselves, I have to say that this one seems, at least to me, way over the top. But it’s a Bible verse, you say? I’m sorry; this is just wrong on so many levels…

Of course, it immediately brings to mind two memorably funny scenes from The Wedding Crashers, the first when Vince Vaughn’s character says, upon spotting a tramp stamp at the wedding,  “Tattoo on the lower back… Might as well be a bullseye,” and the second when Vince Vaughn’s and Owen Wilson’s characters are placing bets on whether the reading at the wedding will be First Corinthians or Colossians 3:12.

May not be work safe depending on your work environment and office policy.

Looks like John Cox, one of my favorite cartoonists, is thinking about creating a graphic novel (that’s a highbrow comic for you book-of-the-monthers) featuring “Detective Frank Pound, world-weary crime fighter for The Burg.” I love John’s ‘toons and see this as a success waiting to be born.

He claims it’s just an idea he’s toying with, but if this first panel is any indication, he’s given it serious thought. He’s even begun character development: “Missy,” for example, “is a tragic story of re-animation and a soul gone bad. She’s a doll that’s come back from ‘the dead’ and she’s not happy about it.”

I’m telling you, I think John’s on to something! Anyway, here’s the first panel. Whaddaya think?

Artist John Cox started commercial freelance work in 1994 and began showing his paintings at the Abstein Gallery in Atlanta at about the same time. Over the next four years, he sold many oils on canvas and watercolor studies for upcoming work.

Shortly after 9/11, the artist began doing political cartoons with Allen Forkum. The duo launched the Cox & Forkum website in March 2003 and developed a fan base that kept them in the editorial business for the past four years. The effort represents about 1,200 cartoons receiving some 9,000 hits daily. C&F cartoons appear in dailies a few times a month, with the largest of the newspaper outlets being Investor’s Business Daily.

Of late, Mr. Cox has returned to an emphasis on creating fine art. Bay area gallery Quent Cordair Fine Art  is officially representing John’s fine art paintings.

John’s work embraces a wide array of media. I particulary like his political sketches. Here’s one that caught my eye today on his blog. Says John, “A military officer I’ve read about likes to welcome new recruits in Iraq with a speech about being tough and surviving combat. His advice? ‘Embrace the suck’. I believe diehard liberals could use the same advice.”

Stephen Wiltshire has been called the “Human Camera.” In this short excerpt from the film Beautiful Minds: A Voyage into the Brain, Wiltshire takes a 45-minute, first ever helicopter journey over Rome and then draws a panoramic view of what he saw, entirely from memory.

Beautiful Minds - A Voyage into the brain presents a series of super-talented savants like the “real” Rainman, Kim Peek, the inspiration of Dustin Hoffman’s character in the movie “Rainman”, who knows about 12,000 books by heart - word by word; or Matt Savage, a 13-year-old piano and composition genius who released his first CD with his own jazz compositions at the age of 7; or Stephen Wiltshire, nicknamed the “living camera” due to his unbelievably precise drawing by heart; or Temple Grandin, who looks at the world through the eyes of animals; or the German calculating champion Rüdiger Gamm, who raises within seconds 56 to the power of 33 without a calculator or recalls over 160 decimal digits of 62 divided by 167. More…  Thanks Pat G.!

In his earlier work, Richard Caldicott used Tupperware containers as the subject for his photographs, elevating these common household objects to objects of beauty. Piling vibrantly colored plastic cups and bowls, he created abstract formations that were like eye-popping op-art paintings

His concern was the metamorphosis of the everyday, which for him has something almost alchemical about it. This went one step further in photography, by chemically transforming his constructions into two-dimensional pictures at the touch of a button. The work shows that he was aiming for a kind of transmutation of the functionality of everyday objects.

Caldicott refers to his latest works as “Constructions,” which not only suggests that he is manually making the things he photographs, but also creates a connection to constructivism and architecture. In this series, he leaves the realm of using specific objects, and deals directly with abstraction. He makes collages and assemblages, and then photographs them multiple times. The transparencies are then overlapped in different formations to get the final image.

His work is currently on view at the Galerie f5,6 in Munich until May 26th.

Via Cool Hunting.

I saw this series of six images of tattooed pigs from this site on cranium. I’m not sure whether it’s a true art form in China or a tattoo artist practicing his craft on farm animals. I’d like to believe it’s a Chinese custom, in which case it’s one of the most unusual I’ve seen. If not, call PETA. See what you think.

I’m always amazed by people’s creativity when it comes to artistic expression. Also surprising is how popular fruit and vegetables have become as a palette for food art, one of the more unusual art forms. Leslie sent these dozen images that illustrate my point:

Kristine Eubanks admits to conspiracy and tax evasion in scheme that defrauded customers of more than $20 million.

According to the Associated Press, the satellite TV show host has pleaded guilty to federal charges stemming from an investigation into bogus artwork sold through televised auctions that defrauded customers of more than $20 million. Kristine Eubanks, 49, of La Cañada Flintridge pleaded guilty Monday in a Los Angeles courtroom to one count each of conspiracy and tax evasion. She faces up to 10 years in prison when she is sentenced September 24, prosecutors said.

Eubanks’ husband, Gerald Sullivan, 51, pleaded guilty April 2 to one count each of conspiracy and failing to file tax returns. He faces up to six years in prison at sentencing in September. Authorities said the couple acknowledged duping more than 10,000 customers through their “Fine Art Treasures Gallery” show which aired on DirecTV and Dish Network. The couple also said they rigged auctions by creating false and inflated bids for art and jewelry sold during the live auctions, prosecutors said.

Nearly $4 million and various pieces of artwork were seized when the couple were arrested.

It’s just another example of how important it is to buy art from galleries you know and trust.

Mr. President features works from 1972 to the present by over thirty artists who have created non-traditional portraits of United States presidents. Using various media including video, sculpture, drawing and painting, these artists seek ways to penetrate the mythic perceptions of America’s most powerful men by providing alternatives to the official portrait.

The work in Mr. President runs the gamut from irreverent humor to deeply felt homage. Representing a wide range of cultural backgrounds and artistic orientations, the artists selected for this exhibition share an interest in reflecting on the idea of the American presidency in relation to their own artistic practice. Their work provides a provocative sampling of how the American presidency remains an elastic idea that extends far beyond the men who have held its office.

Cloud Gate, on Chicago’s AT&T Plaza, is British artist Anish Kapoor’s first public outdoor work installed in the United States. The 110-ton elliptical sculpture is forged of a seamless series of highly polished stainless steel plates, which reflect the city’s famous skyline and the clouds above. A 12-foot-high arch provides a “gate” to the concave chamber beneath the sculpture, inviting visitors to touch its mirror-like surface and see their image reflected back from a variety of perspectives.

                          Taken hand-held during the bewitching hour, September 2006.

Cloud Gate taken from the concave chamber beneath the sculpture looking across AT&T Plaza toward the Jay Pritzker Pavilion.

From the sides, Cloud Gate resembles a giant bean. In fact, many people refer to it as the “Millennium Park Bean.” It is one of Chicago’s most photographed sculptures due to the interesting effects visitors achieve when photographing themselves in its reflection.

An unusual perspective, straight up into the concave chamber beneath the sculpture. If you look very closely, you can just make me out taking the image.

Well, if not the largest, it’s certainly one of the largest. Mini Wonderland Hamburg’s warehouse district is home to this colossal railroad that would make any young - or old- model hobbyist jump with glee. Day turns to night every half hour in this miniature world. The mega-miniature railroad includes more than 450 railway carriages with more than 7.000 trailers, 50,000 trees, 30,000 figures, 10,000 cars, more than 3 miles of track, 3,000 houses and lots of bridges. Truly a stunning showcase of miniaturization - Cars, bridges, human figures - the level of detail is amazing! Reason enough to visit Hamburg. The linked series of 20 images will give you a sense of the magnitude of this layout.

Here’s an unusual art form submitted by Adam. I know you’ve all seen at least a couple of these and, yes, they qualify as an art form. Twenty have apparently been posted on Flickr by roving photographers who search them out for sport. Some are pretty interesting. See what you think.