Cute and freaky stone sculptures by Hirotoshi Itoh

These are amazing! Hirotishi takes stones and rocks and transforms them into something odd and fantastic. The English translation on this blog is somewhat interesting but still perfectly understandable. 

Odd Art News: A mysterious Oklahoma monument, museum of bad art and a sculpture made of chewing gum

Art is in the eye of the beholder. I like to think that if a person decides to make art and then does something, that’s precisely what they’re doing. No big guidelines, no list of rules (man!). It just depends on whether the result is your cup of tea.

Therefore technically performance art is occurring at my house every day. Seriously, come and see, the Dance of the Towels was a particularly beautiful piece.

So here’s a quick news roundup of odd art I spied today, follow the links for more joy.

A monument to Azathoth, HP Lovecraft’s ‘God of Chaos,’ appeared overnight in front of a restaurant in the Paseo Arts District of Oklahoma in August.

One legged babies and sculptures made of chewing gum. Yum yum! Have a look at the oddest sculptures conceived.

You might get thrown out if you’re caught nibbling. I’ll still try though

This makes me both happy and sad. The Museum of Bad Art has put ‘so bad they’re good’ pieces on display, though in my opinion no art of any kind will ever replace The Room‘s ultimate position as Worst Ever Anything.  Anyone wanting to see more can skim through this best of collection of photos from the unfortunate museum pieces. Here’s my personal favourite: 

Well, there we go. Try not to weep at the beauty and I shall see you next time.

The creepy world of automatons

What is it about automatons that some people find so disturbing? Perhaps it’s hard for us to understand when a thing that looks so much like us has…nothing behind the eyes.

Yet they’re amazingly clever, and here are a few to prove this.

This mortuary scene was created by John Dennison. Follow the link to read more about him:

This Japanese lady shoots arrows while a tiny man turns cogs beneath her. I like that tiny man, I’d like him to be my friend:

This was an advert to go outside a butcher’s shop and is now on display at The Museum of Automatons in La Rochelle, France:

Marvin’s Marvelous Museum in Michigan (say it quick, I dare you) is home to this lovely Hell monster:

This modern creation is based on an 18th century occult magician:

Well, there we are! Sleep tight, don’t let the soulless monsters bite.

Fairies, Nymphs, Demons – A Bizarre Collection

Well howdy there pardners. Sorry I’ve been watching Deadwood. Except no one actually says that in Deadwood. Technically if I were to speak how they did in Deadwood it would be “F******* you c******* and your ******** with it’s *******. **********.”

So anyway….go here to see the spooky specimen artwork of Alex CF, featuring mummified fairies, nymphs, demons, aliens and probably others, and the explanations accompanying them. Just remember those creatures don’t actually exist. Or do they….?

A little list of post-Halloween weird for you

Bonjour, how are my little cocktail sausages? I decided to share a couple of things I’ve seen via t’internet over the last few days just to reassure myself that Halloween is never over:

Firstly is some stunning pumpkin carvery by artist Ray Villafane. Wander over to blog Halloween Culture for more (and you know you want to):

Secondly blog and home of loony literary kittens Bizarro Central will be alerting us to a new weird artist each day of December. Write it in your diaries! Not in blood, try this biro. Have a look at this blog post for more info and a list of last year’s December artists.

Next up is a facebook page (that’s it, I’m getting technical on you) dedicated to the gothic world of Old Hollywood: Decaying Hollywood Mansions. Enter a world of vintage stars, studio overlords and bootlegging gangsters.

Also included is this post on the Gashlycrumb Tinies, a children’s book for adults I remember reading many years ago. To read through the whole ghastly business (apparently Neville died of ennui, I know how he feels) visit this post on The Year of Halloween.

Lastly, it would be silly to miss out the Body Parts Bakery. Here is a picture and video stolen from Bizarro Central featuring the stash of bready body bits all made by artist Kittiwat Unarrom in Thailand (everything is edible and sold in the bakery):

A mini-bag of Halloween treats

Merry Halloween! Ho, ho, ho! Have you been good, or bad? Reach into my sack and…I’m sorry, I seem to be delirious.

Anyway, I thought I’d share a few spooky artistic things with you on one of my favourite days.

First up is some evil popcorn from artist Katarzyna Redesiuk:

Second is blog Can of Mystery, a plethora of strange and true tales of places and people that have oddness leaking from their pores, such as Countess Bathory. Want to know more? Have a look.

Thirdly my free fiction site Legends of Odd has had an influx of spooky posts in the Guest Author section. If you’d like to be included follow the instructions on the home page.

Next up is a squirrel sticking it’s head inside a dangling novelty Halloween decoration:

Next up I’d like you to have a look at the miniture world of artist Slinkachu’s Little People, occasionally disturbing, often funny and always fascinating.

And lastly is a music video from The Cure, Lullaby:

Folkestone Creative Quarter and Art Trienniel

A wedding dress in a Folkestone Town shop

When I visited Folkestone last winter I was very surprised. I knew there would be sea, and walks by the sea, and tea by the sea, and maybe a town by the sea, but I had no idea what else was waiting. I’ll be honest; I expected to be so bored I’d end up wandering in the dead of night, wailing and rendering my garments. Thankfully, it didn’t come to that.

I had arrived in the middle of an enormous art festival completely by chance and discovered Folkestone has an area named ‘The Creative Quarter.’ Although the festival itself is once every three years (next should be 2014) The Creative Quarter is dedicated to the arts all year round. As it says on their website they have “become home to a thriving collection of studios and (creative) businesses.”

I wandered past the extensive market in the town centre, foaming at the mouth with excitement. The Quarter didn’t let me down; the buildings were as colourful as Mr Men books and each held a different adventure.

Me by the sea

It’s a well-worn phrase but there really is something for everyone. Some galleries were smooth and shiny as a space-ship containing beautiful landscapes and portraits. Others were dingy buildings with patchy walls and attic smells. They were my favourites; entering into darkness while a man pulled comedy faces on a screen was like falling into a separate universe.

These were mostly run by a group called The Folkestone Arts Collective displaying video art, sculptures, performance, paintings, models and interactive if you count the coal I got on my jumper from one sculpture’s ‘teeth.’ Personally I loved the video art as there were some beautiful and unexpected moments, such as the Lynchian scenes of a pensioner’s tea dance.

Some of the work I saw was playful, some serious, some reflective and one terrifying – for a moment I had thought a man tied to a chair with a sack on his head was real. I’d stumbled across it in a dark corner and had actually felt goose-bumps. To calm down I enjoyed a cup of tea in Googies Art Café – a pleasant and relaxing place with yet more paintings on the walls.

The local students were just as involved as gallery owners and professional artists and, even better, it was all free. If travel isn’t a concern or you live nearby, I really recommend a visit; check the websites to see what events are taking place. It’s better than spending a holiday wailing and rendering garments.