3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Japanese School for Mascots Teaches Tricks of the Trade
Celebrity Portraits Made from 5,000 Sweets Taste as Good as They Look
Chinese Motorway Built Around House Because Residents Refuse to Move

Japanese School for Mascots Teaches Tricks of the Trade

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 07:32 AM PST

You know those over-sized furry creatures that entertain kids at theme parks and special events? They’re called character mascots and being a good one is apparently about more than putting on a costume and acting silly. For professional training, there’s the Choko Group mascot school in Tokyo, Japan.

Probably the only school for mascots in the world, Choko Group was founded in 1985, by veteran mascot Choko Ohira. Students that go here are taught everything from traditional dance, which helps with goofy mascot dancing, to various walking styles that help illustrate different ages when wearing the funny costume. Wannabe mascots also learn how to interact with children, project a friendly or scary aura and using gestures to communicate when users are unable to see the wearer’s face. Right now,there are around 25 students at the Tokyo mascot school. Their ages range from early 20s to mid 50s, and while some are attending Ohira’s courses for pure fun, some are interested in pursuing mascot careers, and are hoping to some day work at a big theme park.

Photo: Reuters

“I just want to tell them that’s not how to do it. I want to show the world how to fully become the character and explain that’s how to make children happy,” Choko Ohira said in an interview with Reuters. ”When I see places where someone’s hand is coming out between the costume’s hands, or they take off their mask in front of people, or show their skin under the mask, it’s very disappointing,” She’s been teaching people how to correct these common mistakes for the last 27 years.

Japan absolutely loves cute big-eyed characters, so finding a job as a mascot is not that difficult for graduates of the Choko Group school. In Tokyo alone there are around 250 mascots, working at theme parks, tourist sites and even government offices, and that’s not even counting the mascots hired for company promotions.

Japanese School for Mascots Teaches Tricks of the Trade was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Celebrity Portraits Made from 5,000 Sweets Taste as Good as They Look

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 03:49 AM PST

Florida-based artist Cristiam Ramos creates portraits of celebrities like Marylin Monroe, Beyonce, Lady Gaga and Nicki Minaj out of thousands of sweets, giving the expression “eye candy” a whole new meaning.

The 32-year-old Mexican artist uses Gummy Bears, liquorice, M&M's, bubble gum and after dinner mints to craft colorful portraits of various celebrities. Each of his tasty artworks contains over 5,000 individual sweets, and his largest creation so far, a life-size candy motorcycle is made up of over 20,000 sweets. Ramos says he got the idea to use sweets as a medium for his art four years ago, while he was in a park. He saw a dad give his son a piece of candy to sooth his pain, and after seeing the boy smile, he realized sweets make human beings happy. He kept thinking “what if they saw one of their favorite artists enshrined in their favorite sweets?”. That thought turned into a reality soon enough, and now Cristiam Ramos’ celebrity portraits sell for up to $18,000, depending on the size of the picture and amount of sweets used. Celebrities immortalized in candy by Ramos also include Justin Bieber, Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley. Believe it or not, there’s no paint used in any of them.

Photo: Cristiam Ramos/Barcroft Media

“I love and feel inspired to create different things with new materials,” the Mexican artist said. “My only desire as an artist is to convey to people the pleasure I feel in doing this work and that if ever anyone sees a work item out of the ordinary rest assured that is Cristiam Ramos.” His works have been displayed in museums around the world, and some can be admired in Ripley’s Odditoriums.

Photo: Cristiam Ramos/Barcroft Media

Photo: Cristiam Ramos/Ripley’s

via Daily Mail

Celebrity Portraits Made from 5,000 Sweets Taste as Good as They Look was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Chinese Motorway Built Around House Because Residents Refuse to Move

Posted: 23 Nov 2012 01:58 AM PST

A half-demolished building stands in the middle of a new motorway in in the city of Wenling, China’s Zhejiang province, after its elderly residents refused to move.

Talk about an accident waiting to happen… Cars travelling at high speeds in the Chinese city of Wenling have to go around a building located right in the middle of a newly-built motorway. Luo Baogen and his wife refused to relocate, because they believed the compensation offered for relocating was not enough to cover the costs of rebuilding. So even though all their neighbors took the government’s deal, they stayed behind in the empty building. To ensure the structural integrity of the building, adjacent rooms in the building have been left intact. During most of the Communist era, private ownership of property was abolished, so it was easy to relocate people, but nowadays the new laws make it illegal to demolish a building until an agreement is reached with all its owners. Although the five-storey structure was affected by all the heavy machinery operating in the area during the construction of the motorway, the old Chinese couple have no intention of moving away. Luckily for them, traffic is pretty light, because the new road has not yet been officially opened, but once that happens, the noise alone will probably be too hard to bare, not to mention the danger of crossing the street.