3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Brooklyn’s Superhero Supply Shop, No Villains Allowed
Beautiful “Paintings” Hide a Mind-Blowing Secret
El Bosc de les Fades – Barcelona’s Fairy Tale Cafe

Brooklyn’s Superhero Supply Shop, No Villains Allowed

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 05:05 AM PDT

Think you have what it takes to become a superhero, but lack all the necessary accessories and superpowers? Don’t worry, in the real world, antimatter and immortality can be bought by the gallon. Well, at least at the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop they can.

Sure, most comic book superheroes made their own costumes, but these are busy times, and it’s more convenient to buy them That’s where the Superhero Supply Shop, in Brooklyn, New York comes is. If you have a few buck to spare, you can conceal your true identity behind a cool mask in no time at all. But capes and costumes are just a few of the awesome things you can find in this amazing place. Just because we haven’t all been blessed with incredible strength, mind control powers or lightning speed, doesn’t mean we can’t be superheroes, right? It just means we have to buy our superpowers, and there’s no shortage of those at the Brooklyn Superhero Supplu Shop. You can find x-ray glasses, grappling hooks, cans of gravity, cloning fluid, and even an invisible jet that costs $42 million. Whatever you need to make crime-fighting easier, these guys have it.

The Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop is always busy around Halloween, but although you can find their awesome supplies online, there’s nothing like going into the actual shop and picking superpowers off the shelf and trying out cool costumes and capes. You can even get de-villainized (in their patented De-Villainizer, which helps people rethink their choices and become upstanding citizens) or shop for a invisible mp3 player to remain undetected after you’ve consumed some invisibility in a can. But whatever powerful items you decided to get, you should know you’re not allowed to just walk out of the superhero supply shop with them without The Vow of Heroism out loud. This is apparently the best way to make sure dangerous equipment doesn’t fall into the hands of the wrong people, so before you go, the items are first locked in a safe, until you recite the vow, thus ensuring you will not waver in your pursuit of truth and justice.

Photo: Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop

But like the superheroes it caters to, the Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop is not what it appears to be. This New York establishment is actually a front for true superheroes – a non-profit organization offering free tutoring for New York school children. They encourage all kinds of writing, from comic books to newspaper articles and novels, and all the tutoring goes on in the back of the shop, accessible through a hidden door. So if you hear children’s laughter while shopping for provisions, don’t freak out.

Photo: Brooklyn Superhero Supply Shop

Photo: Anna Debenham

Brooklyn’s Superhero Supply Shop, No Villains Allowed was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Beautiful “Paintings” Hide a Mind-Blowing Secret

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 03:42 AM PDT

You’ve probably seen hundreds of nature-inspired paintings like the ones created by Russian artist Alexander Yurkov. But, although you can’t tell at first glance, his works are truly unique. In fact, they’re not even real paintings…

It’s a real shame awe-inspiring artworks like the ones created by Alexander Yurkov remain unknown to most of the western world, while other less impressive works get loads of attention on art and design sites and in famous galleries. This Russian master spent decades perfecting a technique he developed himself that involves creating painting-like mosaics exclusively out of dried leaves, grass and flowers. That’s right, there isn’t a single stroke of paint or pencil in the masterpieces below, only cleverly selected and positioned tree leaves, pieces of dried grass and withered flowers. How he manages to get the color tones and shades so perfect that it makes people stick their nose to the artworks trying to spot the actual leaves and making sure there’s no oil paint involved, is beyond me, but it’s this mystery that makes Yurkov’s art so intriguing.

Alexander Yurkov was born in 1935, in Russia’s Perm region. He grew up in Krasnoyarsk, graduated from art school, and attended the College of Arts. He worked as an art director at theaters in various Siberian cities, and since the 70′s he has been living in Nizhny Novgorod, one of the Russian Federation’s most important cultural centers. It was here that Yurkov started developing his unique technique of creating painting-like mosaics exclusively from natural materials. As you can imagine, the process of piecing together such an intricate work of art is a tedious and time-consuming process that requires great patience, a keen eye and a delicate sense of color.

One would be tempted to think that the materials he uses only allow Yurkov to create autumn landscapes, but the artist’s inspiration allows him to depict realistic winter scenes, white clouds, buildings, animals, and whatever else s needed to make his works look as realistic as possible. His impressive portfolio even includes a self portrait made from dried leaves and flowers Hundreds of his incredible floral mosaics are displayed in the Yurkov gallery, in Nizhny Novgorod, but over the years his works have been presented at various galleries and exhibitions across Russia.

Photos via Privet.ru

Beautiful “Paintings” Hide a Mind-Blowing Secret was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

El Bosc de les Fades – Barcelona’s Fairy Tale Cafe

Posted: 23 Oct 2012 02:39 AM PDT

If you’re looking for an other-worldly experience in the Catalonian city of Barcelona, look no further than El Bosc de les Fades (The Fairies’ Forest), a unique cafe decorated as an esoteric land of fairies.

Tucked away off Las Ramblas, on Pasatje Banca next to the Wax Museum, El Bosc de les Fades is one of the most unusual attractions of Barcelona. As the name suggests, this offbeat venue was inspired by a fairy forest, complete with an artificial woodland of snaking branches, trickling waterfalls, will-o-the-wisp lights, weird demons lurking in mirrors, various optical illusions and, of course, fairies. It’s kitschy, yet original, and most people enjoy the novelty of it. The main room of the cafe offers plenty of seats under the lush artificial vegetation, or at the bar that’s also been decorated to fit the fairy tale theme, but for visitors who want the full-immersion effect of this place, there’s the private grotto where they can get lost in the very depths of the mysterious forest. And if you’re looking for a creepier fantasy setting, El Bosc de les Fades also features a "haunted house" room complete with eerie mannequins and a magic mirror in which apparitions suddenly appear and then vanish again.

Photo: Verica Prekic

Fairy forests are hard to find, and El Bosc de les Fades is no exception. Getting to this urban fantasy land is an adventure in itself, but after winding through a labyrinth of hallways and doorways, you’ll be glad you took the time to visit. The atmosphere alone is worth the effort and the delicious and affordable jugs of sangria are an added bonus.