3d illusion arts: Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Quirky Calendar for Nerds Goes on Sale in Germany
Russian Artist’s Paintings Are Made with Dead Butterfly Wings
Designer Creates Fashionable Dresses Out of Thousands of Colorful Rubber Bands

Quirky Calendar for Nerds Goes on Sale in Germany

Posted: 09 Jan 2013 03:09 AM PST

A group of three self-confessed nerds hired a photographer to create a calendar that would appeal to fellow gamers and vintage technology fans. The 2013 Nerd Dreams Calendar recently went on sale in Germany but is available to geeks worldwide.

Are you a big fan of iconic devices like the Atari ST, Commodore C64 or Steve Jobs’ NeXT Cube? Would you like to see them in the hands of attractive girls that don’t have to take off their clothes in order to attract attention, and more importantly, share your passion for nerdy stuff? Then you’re bound to appreciate the new Nerd Dreams Calendar for 2013, imagined by a group of German nerds tired of having their interests passed up by calendar makers. They created their very own company, Nerd Dreams, hired a photographer and put together the calendar they’ve always wanted, making sure every photo was “suitable for work”. ”We sub-contracted everything that had nothing to do with computers,” said Henning Schneider, one of the brains behind the nerd calendar, so the models were provided by an agency, and the pictures were taken by photographer Anna Schnauss in Frankfurt. Nerd Dreams 2013 features girls sporting geeky glasses and playing with old gadgets, as well as girls dressed as iconic video game characters like Lara Croft.

Photo source: www.nerd-dreams.com

Amelie with the Commodore C64

Photo source: www.nerd-dreams.com

Henning Schneider: “Katerina with the Robotron KC87. If you don’t know the Robotron KC87 that’s okay, it was East Germany’s computer built in 1987. Some say the GDR was planning to get a Trabi and do an East German version of Knight Rider. Thankfully, the wall collapsed just in time.”

Photo source: www.nerd-dreams.com

Scarlett with the Sinclair ZX81. Schneider: “Built in the UK in 1981 and the first attempt to bring a console to every home.”

Photo source: www.nerd-dreams.com

Henning Schneider: “November: Laura is tied to the NextCube, just like we’re all tied to the internet. Steve Jobs built the NextCube after getting fired from Apple 1988/89. Tim Berners-Lee then used it to program the first server and browser and gave birth to the WWW as we know it.”

Source: Nerd Dreams via The Local

Quirky Calendar for Nerds Goes on Sale in Germany was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Russian Artist’s Paintings Are Made with Dead Butterfly Wings

Posted: 09 Jan 2013 02:20 AM PST

Vadim Zaritsky, a former police officer turned artist and entomologist uses a very strange medium for his artworks – butterfly wings. The subjects of his unique paintings range from landscapes and still life to portraits of political figures and famous artists.

I know it sounds cruel, but before you label Vadim Zaritsky’s art as a crime against nature, you should know he only uses the wings of dead butterflies that died en masse he finds on the paths and roads around his home city of Lipetsk, 438 kilometers southeast of Moscow, and dead specimens donated by fellow butterfly collectors. "Butterfly collectors know that some wings are considered – collectors call it trash," Zaritsky says. "If the wings are damaged, if they have partially faded, specialists would usually put them aside. It's a shame to throw them away but you cannot use them either. In time, the bits may become infested with pests and you have to throw everything away anyway." One day it occurred to him that these pieces could be recycled into art instead of simply throwing them away. So he began using these discarded wings as a medium for his art, and in the last five years he has created over 100 works of art of varying size and theme. The Russian entomologist takes between a week and several months to complete a single butterfly wing painting.

Zaritsky has been collecting butterflies ever since he was a child, but it was only after he retired from his job as a police officer, two years ago, that he began dedicating himself to this passion. "I have finally got in touch with my origins," he says. Previously, I worked to earn a living and neglected the things that made me happy. Although, I must say, I always gravitated toward a creative perception. Even as a navy officer or a policeman, I always seized upon any chance to experience the beauty of the world. Now I rejoice in the possibility of creating my works whenever I want." Although some African masters have used butterfly wings in their art before, none have exhibited the talent of Vadim Zaritsky, and that is precisely why he is considered a pioneer of this fascinating technique.

Most art lovers appreciate Vadim’s paintings, but there are always over-sensitive people who insist he and other entomologists are upsetting the natural balance by decimating the butterfly population. To reassure them he always quotes Vladimir Murzin, a well-known Russian entomologist: "Insects are a natural link in the food chain between plants and vegetables. Nature has designed them as a source of food for other species. This kind of natural extermination has no effect on insect populations, since they multiply at an even faster rate. For instance, in just one Texas district, cave bats eat over 240 tons of insects every night. What damage could we, entomologists, possibly cause?"

"A butterfly lives for just a few weeks, while my pictures give people a chance to admire it for many years," Zaritsky concludes.

Source: Indrus

Russian Artist’s Paintings Are Made with Dead Butterfly Wings was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Designer Creates Fashionable Dresses Out of Thousands of Colorful Rubber Bands

Posted: 09 Jan 2013 01:08 AM PST

Bulgarian-born designer Margarita Mileva spends around 90 hours painstakingly knotting rubber bands together to create wearable dresses. Her latest creation numbers 18,500 rubber bands.

The first time we featured Margarita Mileva on OC was back in 2011, when she created a stunning pastel dress out of 14,235 pieces of rubbery office supplies. She beat that record by knotting together a 10-kilogram garment from orange and black rubber bands, inspired by the spirit of Polynesia and the tattoos of the Maori. It took 150 hours to complete, and comes with matching rubber band shoes. “I always had an eye for jewelry and love to design clothes, knit and make collages,” 49-year-old Mileva says. “So when I started making jewelry from reusing paperclips, punched business cards and rubber bands, it didn’t come as a surprise to anyone. Rubber band dresses were the next step – I am trying to create unique pieces that I would like to be seen as conversation openers.”

Although she admits her fashionable rubber band dresses are pretty heavy, and she has never worn them herself, Margarita says the models really like them. She does wear many of the rubber band accessories she designs, and likes to see people’s reactions. If you’re looking for a unique wedding dress to surprise everyone on your big day, the New-York-based designer says she is open to taking custom orders. She also sells rubber band accessories through her Etsy shop.