Metalwork: Trash into Transformers

"How a Father-Son Duo Turns Trash Into Transformers" by Great Big Story

This video centers around a talented father and son team who build Transformers statues from scrap metal.  The video comes from Great Big Story and it's part of their "Passing The Torch" series.

"In 2010, Chinese farmer Yu Zhilin and his son Yu Lingyun opened up their own metalworking shop in the country's Hunan Province. Inspired by the futuristic robots from the movie “Transformers,” the pair began fashioning original statues from scrap metal. Their first design took about a month and a half to build, but they’ve since created an impressive array of statues, giving new life to discarded car parts along the way. It’s not just the success of their new business that makes this father-son duo happy; the craft itself has brought them closer together."

Sculpture: Forgotten Giants

"The Six Forgotten Giants - Recycle Sculpture Treasure Hunt" by Thomas Dambo

Danish artist Thomas Dambo, known for his incredible hulking wooden sculptures, partnered with the Vestegnes Kulturuge to create a wonderful outdoor exhibition entitled "Forgotten Giants." The handmade wooden giants – Teddy Friendly, Thomas on the Mountain, Sleeping Louis, Oscar Under the Bridge, Hill Top Trine and Little Tilde – were placed in different areas around the beautiful wild areas of western Copenhagen to sit in wait for curious adventurers to come and find them.

Sculpture: Darth Vader

Recycled Metal Dark Lord by Kreatworks

Available for purchase from Etsy. US$12,000

Do you want to scare the crap out of visitors to your house? Well, this massive Darth Vader statue should do the trick just fine. It measures in at a whopping 7’2″ tall, which is about how tall the real Vader is, and it tips the scales at nearly 850 pounds, which is what Jabba the Hutt probably weighs.

The sculpture was made by Kreatworks, using a variety of old car parts, and other found junk. If Darth Vader were really made of this much metal, he probably would have survived Return of the Jedi.

Sculpture: Upcycled Star Wars

Upcycled Star Wars Sculptures by Gabriel Dishaw

Gabriel Dishaw upcycles old typrwriters and machine parts. He also likes Star Wars. He’s built lots of different versions of Vader, including AIR Vader and Tank Vader. He’s also done a couple takes on C3PO.

Sculpture: Infestations

"Infestations" by Steve Casino

Via: BoredPanda

Steve Casino sculpts and paints characters into broken and discarded things. He calls them “Infestations” for lack of a better name.  Most are sculpted from polymer clay into really consumer packaging.

Sculpture: Computer Component Bugs

"Computer Component Bugs" by Portsmouth, UK-based Julie Alice Chappell

Julie Alice Chappell has created this series of insect sculptures from recycled circuit boards and other computer components to raise awareness of environmental waste.

"My art practice involves breaking down the pre-existing materials, reinterpreting them and offering them a new form with new purpose, creating something beautiful, whimsical and precious." explains Chappell in a Permaculture article unveiling the series.

"The recycled bits of cultural refuse that are woven throughout my work represent a direct encounter with the excesses of modern living highlighting the dangers of planned obsolescence and e-waste in the environment. The work displays an aesthetic beauty whilst offering a socio-political discourse, attempting to reclaim waste and the destruction of the natural world, in the beauty of visual art."

Merchandise: Dragon Flamingos

Dragon Flamingos by Kate Higgins (Flamingo Incognito)

Prints available for purchase from Etsy. US$105 - $125

Kate Higgns upcycles old lawn flamingos with weather resistant paints, papier-mâché, aluminum foil, recycled plastic, and "lots of coffee and imagination" to transform them into dazzling fantasy creatures, including dragons, sea serpents, mermaids, and dinosaurs.  Each Flamingo Incognito is entirely handmade to order and finished with a protective UV coating to help it withstand the elements.

Visit the Higgins’ Flamingo Incognito Etsy shop to check out many more of her fantastic garden creatures.

Sculpture: Dr. Evermore’s Forevertron

"Dr. Evermore’s Forevertron" by Tom Every

The “world’s largest scrap metal sculpture” stands in an art sculpture garden in the middle of Baraboo, Wisconsin. 

For most of his life, Tom Every was a professional destroyer. Tom worked in Wisconsin as an industrial wrecker, thrashing old factories, breweries and any other building that stood in the way. But when he retired in 1983, he decided he would dedicate the rest of his life to being a creator: Dr. Evermore, to be exact. 

Dr. Evermore is imagined by Mr. Every as a Victorian inventor from Eggington, England, with a back story involving a Presbyterian minister father and a traumatizing lightning storm. Dr. Evermore manifests his creativity in the Forevertron, a massive sprawling sculpture park in rural Wisconsin, one that Mr. Every or “Dr. Evermore” says will send him “into the heavens on a magnetic lightning force beam.” 

Made from industrial scrap, the sculpture park includes a decontamination chamber from NASA’s Apollo project, dynamos built by Thomas Edison and scrap metal salvaged from an army ammunition plant.

Sculpture: Creepy Mechanical Bugs

Creepy Mechanical Bugs by Chicago-based Justin Gershenson-Gates

Chicago-based jeweler, JM Gershenson-Gates, creates unique accessories from discarded watch parts, in a bid “to show the beauty of the mechanical world, a place generally hidden from the public behind metal and glass.” Each of these tiny masterpiece takes several hours to create, and because the design is too consistent to suffer any breaks, Jason has to complete every one of them in a single sitting. That means he sometimes spends up to 12 hours assembling watch springs, stems, gears and straps, and soldering them all together.

Paintings: Smaug's Attack

Source: Imgur via Reddit

This Redditor repainted this old thrift shop painting into a scene from The Hobbit featuring Smaug.  It's amazing, but I keep waiting for one of these artists to discover that the painting he chose was actually valuable.  Nonetheless, the final product is an amazing piece I'd be glad to hang on my wall.

"I've seen several people who take old pictures and then paint on top of them so I thought that I would give it a go.

I decided that I would paint something for my dad, his new apartment is looking rather bland. He's a huge Lord of the Rings fan and we had just seen the new Hobbit film so I thought something middle earth inspired would be perfect."

Sculpture: Hubcap Animal

Hubcap Animal Sculptures by Brighton, U.K.-based Ptolemy Elrington

[ Previously: Hubcap Creatures ]

For over twelve years now, Ptolemy Elrington has been morphing discarded hubcaps into amazing animal sculptures. Within his work he concentrates on creating sculpture of natural forms from found and re-cycled materials. At the moment he is working with a variety of materials including shopping trolleys, scrap metal and car wheel trims which he re-shapes into a variety of life forms.  Read an interview with Elrington at Empty Kingdom.

"Hubcap car are made entirely from re-cycled materials. All the hubcaps are found, usually on the side of the road, and therefore bear the scars of their previous lives in the form of scratches and abrasions. I believe these marks add texture and history to the creatures they decorate."

Sculpture: Upcycled Creatures

Upcycled Creatures by Russian sculptor Igor Verniy

Sculptor Igor Verniy creates birds, butterflies, and other creatures from scrap metal and silverware. Most of his pieces are created in a steampunk motif with fully articulated joints.  These are some of my favorite pieces, but you can see more on the artist's VK and Facebook pages.

Illustration: Coffee Cup Comics

Comics on Starbucks Cups by Josh Hara

Cartoonist Josh Hara uses the back of his coffee cups as a canvas for funny and intricate comics, ranging in topic from our never-ending coffee addiction to celebrity spoofs and more.

Illustration: Star Wars Coffee Cups

Star Wars Coffee Cups by Sam Wolk

Illustration: Starbucks Coffee Cup Art

Starbucks Coffee Cup Art by Seoul-based Soo Min Kim

For the past few years, Seoul-based illustrator Soo Min Kim has been turning original Starbucks paper cups into wonderful pieces of art by creatively transforming the brand’s classic mermaid logo into pop-culture characters and drawing her into scenes of daily life.

Sculpture: Upcycled Boba Fett Helmets

Upcycled Boba Fett Helmets by Gabriel Dishaw

Sculpture: Scrap Metal Animals

Scrap Metal Animal Sculptures by South Dakota-based John Lopez

Bronze sculptor John Lopez builds large and powerful beasts entirely out of scrap metal. From buffalos to triceratops, Lopez welds layers of iron together to form life-sized creations filled with interesting details and texture.

Sculpture: Skateboard AT-AT

"AT-AT made out of reclaimed skateboards" by Derek Keenan

Part of a group art show at The Black Book Gallery.

This awesome AT-AT sculpture was created by Denver, CO-based artist Derek Keenan using reclaimed skateboards. It measures 16 inches tall by 17 inches long and features articulated joints.

It’s part of a Star Wars-themed group show, entitled Deathstar Blues, that’s on exhibit at the Black Book Gallery in Denver, CO throughout the month of June 2014.

"Skateboarding and Star Wars are two of the biggest creative endeavors and commercial outlets of the past 40 years. Both gained immense popularity going into the 1980’s creating generations of devoted fans and successful consumer related brands that continue to thrive. As part of our June exhibit “Deathstar Blues” we will be hosting a “First Look” of new Star Wars merchandise from two iconic American brands – Vans Shoes and Santa Cruz Skateboards."

Sculpture: Steampunk Insects

Steampunk Insects by Dmitry Khristenko

Sculpture: Hubcap Creatures

Hubcap Creatures by Brighton, U.K.-based Ptolemy Elrington

Ptolemy Elrington specializes in sculptures of animals, insects and marine life made from recycled materials, including car trim, hubcaps and shopping carts.  Read an interview with Elrington at Empty Kingdom.

"I come across many things which have been abandoned and find something more in them than their intrinsic worthlessness. Hubcaps, for instance. Aesthetic in purpose but ultimately of very little use. They’re automatically rubbish when on the side of the road, but with a little effort and imagination I transform them into something which gives people a great deal more pleasure."