“By having a major figure from Chinese mythology appear on European shores, Huang Yong Ping examines, the notions of identity and cultural hybridity, as is often the case in his work. The environmental question is also very present in his art where he regularly exposes the paradox of the man sawing the branch he is sitting on, torn between creative abilities and destructive impulses. This is one of the many possible interpretations of this work: placed on the beach, the skeleton appears with the tide and, little by little, will be home to marine fauna and flora.”

Serpent d’Océan by Huang Yong Ping was created as a permanent work for the Estuaire contemporary art exhibition in 2012.

Sources: Nantes Tourisme, Laughing Squid, Flickr.
(All photographs shown in this post might be copyrighted by their respective owners)

The whimsical sculptures by Greg Brotherton, a.k.a. Brotron…

(via sweetstation)

Ever thought about your childhood heroes & icons breaking bad? Did you? So make sure to check the Badass Fanarts Tumblr by Sylvain Sarrailh, a.k.a Tohad… (he plans to add 2-3 images weekly)

(via ufunk)

Dr. Fritz Kahn (1888–1968) was a Berlin based gynaecologist and popular science writer who visualized the structure and function of the human body in a very unique way.

“The biology of smelling a roast: pictorial representation of the processes that occur in a man’s head between the sensation of
smell and the ‘reflectory’ salivation.”

“The basic forms and functions of the bones and joints in man’s body are very similar to our own architectural and technological constructions.”

“Man is right-handed and right-speaking because he is left-brained. We speak, write and handle objects using our left side of the brain. The nerve fibers cross over in the spinal marrow of the neck. The right half of the brain is—relatively—lacking in centers and, so to speak, largely empty.”

(Text and images © Fritz Kahn)

“A ballerina, whose pointe shoes are extended by a set of sharp kitchen knives, dances and twirls insistently until reaching exhaustion, fighting to maintain balance on the lid of a grand piano set on a stage. The theatre with its red velvet warm lighting, resembles an oversized music box. The camera turns around the dancer revealing the opposite side of the room: an empty and painfully bare theatre.

The ballerina appears as an eerie figure expressing effort, sacrifice and pain in her strive for perfection. Both fragile and cruel. Initially shy and hesitant, her steps become more and more emphatic, menacing and not exempt of violence, scraping and cutting into the delicate surface of the piano with her sharp pointe shoes.

Through this work, Javier Perez investigates and reflects once again upon the human condition. Using a strongly metaphorical language rich in powerful symbolism, he reveals the weaknesses that become the boundaries between seemingly irreconcilable concepts such as: beauty and cruelty, fragility and violence, culture and nature or life and death.”

(via MY AMP GOES TO 11)

Liu Xue‘s bizzare sculpted hybridations…

(via ufunk)