3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Belgian Hotel Lets You Spend a Night in the Human Digestive System
Israeli Artist Upcycles Bicycle Chains into Intricate Dog Sculptures
Going Out with a Bang – Firework Funerals for Pets

Belgian Hotel Lets You Spend a Night in the Human Digestive System

Posted: 12 Dec 2012 03:40 AM PST

Up until now I'd always associated Belgium with chocolates. But not anymore. Not since I read about the gut-wrenching (well, maybe that's an exaggeration) experience that customers have at the Hotel CasAnus, located on a small island halfway between Antwerp and Ghent in Flanders, Belgium. The place is just as horrendous as it sounds, at least as far as exteriors are concerned. Shaped and designed like an enormous human intestine, the hotel is the creation of Dutch designer Joep Van Lieshout. The place is one large human colon, and the finishing touch is the rear – a giant replica of an anus.

Not everyone might envision spending their vacation inside a structure dedicated to the human digestive system, but surprisingly, a large number of people are actually interested in such an experience. The interiors aren't all that bad, featuring double beds, showers and central heating. Run by Belgian art lovers Geert and Carla Verbeke-Lens, who purchased it as a part of their collection at the 30-acre Verbeke Foundation sculpture park, is certainly one of the most unique hotels to spend your vacation at. According to Carla, "guests are really happy to sleep undisturbed in a place surrounded by nature. They can see black swans and frogs and discover the stars in the night sky, as well as visiting all our different exhibitions. More and more travelers are coming to us from all over the world to explore what they call a 'unique place'." That's no exaggeration, stats show that more than 20,000 tourists visit the Verbeke Foundation each year and many of them choose to stay at CasAnus. Several other activities take place at the foundation, like art exhibitions of collages and bio art.

Photo: Anda Van Riet / Verbeke Foundation

Spending a nigh inside a large replica of the human bowels isn't very expensive. At 120 Euro (about $155) a night, guests are made to feel quite comfortable with 3-star hotel amenities. On arrival, guests are taken on a stroll around the grounds and through all the important collections of collage works done by artists from around the world. A bar-cum-café allows mingling between the residents and the owners, who fill everyone in on what to expect at their hotel. Sleeping at CasAnus involves strolling through works of art including a clutch of live chickens and a huge white pod, before reaching a large, comfy bed. The silence is unnerving to a few, but others sleep very peacefully. Since it opened, CasAnus has attracted several people ranging from curious hacks to paying customers, and even overnight artists. Breakfast is included in the aforementioned price, but imagine having a meal inside a colon!

Photo: Le.Mat

Photo: Thomas Wilemsen

Photo: tonBouton

Belgian Hotel Lets You Spend a Night in the Human Digestive System was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Israeli Artist Upcycles Bicycle Chains into Intricate Dog Sculptures

Posted: 12 Dec 2012 02:33 AM PST

Israel-based artist Nirit Levav has found a way to create beautiful art an recycle metal, at the same time. She uses discarded bicycle chains to create realistic sculptures of man’s best friend.

Nirit Levav Packer graduated from the Parsons School of Design, in New York City, with a degree in fashion design. She built a career for herself, specializing in bridal gowns, but after years of working in the fashion industry, Nirit realized she couldn’t satisfied her artistic urge to create solely as a designer. so she started broadening her education by studying iron sculpting, pottery, jewelry and ceramics. Although her newly acquired skills helped develop as an artist, it was at her father’s theater sets workshops that she most of her training, including welding, metal cutting and experimenting with various materials and substances. The time spent in her father’s workshop also inspired her love for recycling, as nothing was ever thrown away there and everything could be used to create something new.

Nirit’s earliest work emphasize her ability to make art from a seemingly endless array of materials, from metals rails, nails and keys, to light bulbs, clothespins, acorns and even plain gravel. But one particular experience lead to her using a single material for her art: one day, while visiting a bike shop in search for junk to use for her artworks, she received a box full of bicycle chains. They proved so versatile that Levav decided to use them exclusively for her “HOW!WoW!” series of dog sculptures. She’s been making regular rounds at bike shops and motor garages looking for discarded chains that would normally be thrown away. She uses them to create incredibly detailed life-size sculptures of her favorite animal, the dog. So far she has created a Rottweiler, a collection of greyhounds, poodles, a cocker spaniel and lots of other canine races.

Nirit Levav’s bicycle chain dogs sell for thousands of euros.

via Inhabitat

Israeli Artist Upcycles Bicycle Chains into Intricate Dog Sculptures was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Going Out with a Bang – Firework Funerals for Pets

Posted: 12 Dec 2012 12:33 AM PST

Scattering a loved one's ashes in water is apparently a thing of the past. At least, as far as pets in Sydney are concerned. Ashes to Ashes, a service run by trained circus performer and pyrotechnician Craig Hull, allows people to part with their pet's ashes with a bang – sending them up in the air as fireworks, descending onto the waters of Sydney Harbor as their final resting place.

Hull first came up with the idea for Ashes to Ashes when his two beloved dogs died three years ago – Zeus, a German shepherd-akita cross and Gyprock, a white lab-cattle dog cross. They left a big hole in the performer's life that he felt could be filled only with a big gesture of love. Having already scattered the ashes of a dear friend during an aerial routine at the opening ceremony of one of the Olympics (he won't say which one), he wanted to give his dogs something even more spectacular. "I thought I'll get a job as a pyrotechnician and I'll send them up in fireworks. So I did," says Hull. The event finally occurred on Sydney's New Year's Eve fireworks display in 2010. Hull says that he had a "vision of color and light" as his dogs' ashes were fired into the skies that night, as opposed to the "sad memory of scattering them into the water." "To be able to scatter someone's ashes like that, scatter them over a huge area in the air was incredible. To be able to look up to the heavens when you send your loved ones off is a pretty amazing feeling. And I thought this is so amazing, other people should be able to experience this as well," says Hull.

Photo: Ashes to Ashes

Hull's first customer was his long-time friend, Warren Blackwell. Blackwell had held on to the ashes of his dog Gypsy for eight long years, never having found the right occasion or place to celebrate her life as he gave her up. Gypsy, a smart and loyal Staffordshire bull terrier was only four years old when she was hit by a car. The incident occurred when Blackwell had just moved to the city from the countryside. "I've never been able to part with them (the ashes), I've never been able to come up with anything that was suitable to do with them that would make me happy," he says. He never wanted to do something that was about her death, but instead something that was all about her life. So things changed for Blackwell when Hull came to him with the idea of Ashes to Ashes. "When Craig suggested this I said 'mate I want to be the first cab off the rack'. I've seen the shell, and I've seen her go into the tube over there, she's over there waiting. I know she's going to make a loud bang, that much I'm sure of." On Gypsy's final day on Earth, a modest crowd gathered under a eucalyptus tree to say their goodbyes, as sprays of gold, silver and blue erupted into the night sky.

Photo: Ashes to Ashes

Ashes to Ashes helps people all over Sydney get over the grief of losing their beloved pets in a manner that celebrates life. For A$950 (that's about US$990), the service will send up the pet's ashes in a fireworks display complete with soundtrack, catering and a bar." The animals are done in groups of four, and Hull says that pet owners like to show each other photos of their dogs, sharing their memories. He wants to give the same opportunity to humans in solo shows (at A$4,800), but no one has taken up the offer so far. Hull agrees that, "it's not everyone's cup of tea but I believe it will become a common thing one day." Hull is so confident that his idea will become popular someday, he's even investigating the possibility of sending ashes into outer space. "People are so creative they'll want lots of different things; they'll want to be spread over four different cities simultaneously, to the second." Perhaps, soon enough, gone will be the days when pets were buried in shoe boxes in the backyard, and humans in graveyards.