3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Coffin Therapy Helps Ukrainians Get Used to the Afterlife
German Artist Creates Art from Chaotic Splotches of Tea, Coffee and Juice
Nice Jewish Guys Calendar Is Not about Gorgeous Hunks

Coffin Therapy Helps Ukrainians Get Used to the Afterlife

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 04:32 AM PST

Enterprising coffin maker Stepan Piryanyk, from the Ukraine, is offering living people the chance to lay down in one of his comfortable coffins in order to get used to the afterlife. After all, death is always so sudden, so why not take some time to get used to it…

Lying down in a coffin as therapy is not unheard of. Just a week a go we posted an article about a special Chinese psychotherapy clinic where patients lay down in a coffin and have the lid shut over them, in order to experience death and rebirth. A Taiwanese professor also buries his students alive in a coffin in the floor of his classroom, to make them appreciate every second of their lives. But Stepan Piryanyk, from the Ukrainian town of Truskavets, has found a new way to use his spooky wooden boxes as a form of therapy. The owner of a large coffin-making business, Stepan decided it would be a good idea to set up a special room where people could just lay down in one of his comfortable coffins, and experience being dead. Ironically enough, some people actually took him up on his creepy offer and said it was a very relaxing experience.

“When you lay in the coffin, it feels just like a bed,”Piryanyk says. “It’s the same sheets, the same pillow… a wooden coffin has its own aura inside.” His company, Eternity, employs 150 workers and produces about 1,000 coffins per month, so it wasn’t hard for Stepan to spare a few of them for his offbeat idea. “Patients” can choose from a variety of coffin models, all lined with lace and featuring silk pillows. After a hard day’s work you can come in and just relax, it’s great!” says one lady lying in a coffin, but not everyone seems to think it’s a good idea. Some wouldn’t dream of lying in a coffin before the time comes.

While some media outlets say Stepan Piryanik is currently offering 15-minute coffin therapy sessions for free, others say he’s found a way to make some money off the living, as well, charging $25 per session. If only it could make some people more at ease with their inevitable demise, that money would be well spent.

via ITN

Coffin Therapy Helps Ukrainians Get Used to the Afterlife was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

German Artist Creates Art from Chaotic Splotches of Tea, Coffee and Juice

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 03:24 AM PST

Stains of coffee and fruit juice are dreaded by most people, but German artist Angela Mercedes Donna Otto actually uses them as the basis for her creative artworks. She randomly pours colored drinks on paper canvases and spends hours contemplating the splotches, looking for familiar shapes.

At the base of Angela Mercedes Donna Otto’s art is “apophenia”, a term used by psychologists to describe the pursuit of the human mind to construct meaning, order and forms even from chaotic structures (e.g. seeing faces and shapes in clouds). She starts the creative process by making random splotches of coffee, tea and various fruit juices on a paper canvas, to create all kinds of chaotic patterns. Then, she spends hours on end in her studio, contemplating the stains and using her imagination to identify meaningful patterns and shapes. Finally, the motifs she finds in the visually stimulant material are extracted from the patterns by drawing with colored ink. Though they are carefully worked out in detail her pictures provide a wide range of interpretation, different approaches and scope to "see more".

German Artist Creates Art from Chaotic Splotches of Tea, Coffee and Juice was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Nice Jewish Guys Calendar Is Not about Gorgeous Hunks

Posted: 04 Dec 2012 02:20 AM PST

If you’re tired of all those half naked gorgeous men in fireman and male models calendars, you could try the Nice Jewish Guys calendar, featuring 12 average-looking Jewish guys who are nice and have good jobs.

Yes, women like some eye-candy from time to time, but what they really want is a nice guy who can hold a job and isn’t afraid of commitment. That’s right all you Chippendales wannabes out there, you’re doing it wrong! At least that’s what the creator of the Nice Jewish Guys calendar seems to think. TV producer Adam Cohen gt the idea for the offbeat calendar back in 2010, while talking to friends about how all calendars have firemen or pin up hotties. Wouldn’t it be hilarious if there were nebbishy Jewish guys like “David” (pronounced with an affected long island Jewish mom twang) and this guy is posing up on a rock with his button-up shirt, still holding his jacket. People thought it was brilliant and HAD to be done. As I got into it I started realizing it was more of a cultural comment and it became a more serious endeavor, yet still with good humor. What happened was that I realized I was now carrying the torch for all the nice guys who get passed up in the bar, are still good to their moms, and are a good catch, but the women just don’t know it yet. As it started coming out I started getting tons of feedback from women who absolutely adore these guys. I never knew there was such a fetish for nice Jewish guys. Women of all religions were coming out of the woodwork,’ Cohen told Blog with Benefits.

Asked what the qualities of a nice Jewish guy who wants to make his calendar should be, Adam said “look is important and I can’t tell you what it is. I’ll just know when I see it. But he’s definitely not the sort of guy you’d point at and say, “you… you need to be Mr. September.” It’s quite the opposite.” They also have to be trustworthy, good listeners, qualities that can be as valuable as six-pack abs. Some of the guys featured in the calendar are friends of his friends, people who answer internet listings, and even dudes who look him up to audition. Most of them are rejected for being too good looking or just lacking that “it” factor. The 12 average guys that make it into the Nice Jewish Guys Calendar may not be the best-looking guys you’ve ever seen, but they have good jobs, boast accomplishments like “making a mean Challah French toast” or “solving complex Maths problems”, and most importantly, they’re nice.

What does Mr. Cohen seek to accomplish with his Nice Jewish Guys Calendar? If this calendar can accomplish anything it would be my hope that women give this guy a chance out at a bar,” he says. He’s funny, nice and a great listener. What’s not to like!?

The new 2013 Nice Jewish Guys calendar can be found at various online stores, for $7.99 or less.