The Coolest Swimming Pool Slide Ever. The Carbon Fiber Silver Leafed Shoot Slide.

SplinterWorks, formed in 2009 by Miles Hartwell and Matt Withington, is a custom furniture company whose designs are more like functional art than traditional pieces of furniture. Their self described mission is to create functional sculpture that unites conceptual, visual and practical fundamentals to create engaging and inspiring pieces.

One of their pieces that stands out is Shoot, a slide for an indoor or outdoor swimming pool that puts all those hideous fiberglass ones to shame.




Starting as a thin burst and shooting up vertically from the ground, the large shining arc emulates the trajectory of water itself.



Made of carbon fiber coated with silver leaf, the sculptural piece curves inwards at the edges forming handrails and the steps are like artful pedestals that form the footholds for climbing to the top.



While it's beautiful to look at and undoubtedly fun to experience, I do not know how the slide keeps from getting too hot. Although I know that Carbon Fibre (or Carbon Fiber for us Americans) has a very high heat tolerance.

The piece, measuring 1800 mm high by 3800 mm long by 900 mm wide was created in an edition of three.

Based thirty minutes south of London in Guildford, SplinterWorks portfolio consists of pieces crafted from exceptional materials such as marble, concrete, jesomite, mirror polished stainless steel, laquers and exotic woods.

See more of SplinterWorks beautiful pieces here.

The Artist As Dictator. Phillip Toledano Explores Narcissism and Self-Delusion in Kim Jong Phil.

Most popular blogs and sites have been sharing images from Phillip Toledano's A New Kind of Beauty series (photographic portraits of extreme plastic surgery), because people love that creepy stuff. But Toledano is an artist of many talents that express his unique perspective on the world.

In his project, Kim Jong Phil, Toledano has replaced dictators Kim Il Sung, Laurent Kabilla and Saddam Hussein in pre-existing art with images of himself. The project reflects his personal philosophy revealed in his own words below.

I think a great deal about what it means to be an artist.

I reflect on the elaborate psychological mechanisms required to pursue something so elusive, so ambiguous. I often wonder: ‘Am I talking to myself?’

I don’t make work for other people, but as an artist, I need to be in dialogue with the world that exists beyond my overpopulated cranium. I’ve concluded that to be effective-to be functional-I must guzzle an eye-popping cocktail of delusion and narcissism.

It occurred to me that being an artist is a great deal like being a dictator.

Just like a dictator, I must live in a closed loop of self-delusion. A place where my words and ideas always ring true. A gilded daydream of grandiosity. There can be no room for doubt. I must be convinced that I have something vital to say. I must believe that the world is waiting in keen anticipation to hear my message.

For my palette, I’ve copied pre-existing dictatorial art. Paintings from North Korea, statues of assorted dictators (Kim Il Sung, Laurent Kabilla, and Saddam Hussein). I had these works re-created in China, and each instance, I’ve replaced the great leaders with myself. -- Phillip Toledano, 2011

I insist, ladies first. Oil on canvas, 30x40 inches:

detail:

I'll be back for the dog. Oil on canvas, 30x40 inches:

You have so much to learn, and I have so much to give. Oil on canvas, 50x60 inches:

International world global domination. Oil on canvas, 40x50 inches:

detail:

It's true. I'm utterly fascinating. Oil on canvas, 30x40 inches:

detail:

His royal equestrian majesty. Oil on canvas, 30x40 inches:

A sporting chance. Oil on canvas, 30x40 inches:

Love oils the cogs of revolution. Oil on canvas, 30x40 inches:

I love the smell of adulation in the morning. Oil on canvas, 20x30 inches:

Mr Toledano as Saddam Hussein. Bronze, 20 inches:

Mr Toledano as Kim il Sung. Bronze, 20 inches:

Mr Toledano as Laurent Kabila. Bronze, 20 inches:


About the artist:

above: A portrait of Phil taken by his father
Phillip Toledano was born in London to a French Moroccan mother, and an American father. He believes that photographs should be like unfinished sentences. There should always be space for questions.

Phillip’s work is socio-political, and varies in medium, from photography, to installation.

His work has appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times magazine, The New Yorker, Esquire, GQ, Wallpaper, The London Times, The Independent Magazine, Le Monde, and Interview magazine, amongst others.

See more of his work here

Be sure not to miss his moving and personal photo essay Days With My Father.

Turning Discarded Graffiti Spray Cans And The Leftover Paint Inside Them Into Art.

Canlove is a collective of artists devoted to removing discarded spray paint cans from heavily concentrated graffiti zones and properly recycling them by turning them into various artworks.



Discarded empty spray cans are a natural part of the scene in areas with a lot of graffiti. Some cans lie around for years before being sent to the landfills. And these cans are not necessarily environmentally friendly either. Many times spray cans are not recycled because of their pressurized and toxic nature.



Canlove takes those cans and unlocks their potential as a medium for artwork in themselves. The results are everything from unusual floral-like bouquets which use every part of the can to abstract art made from the residual paint left in the cans.

Flowers
These beauties are pretty self explanatory, and can add a burst of color to anywhere they sit. Metal cut flowers, bouquets or plants made from the discarded cans. And the best part is you don’t need a green thumb to own one forever.

Bouquets:




Custom Bouquets are available in a range of styles and colors, please contact them with any custom requests.

Cut Metal Flowers:




Orchids:




Other Floral Plants:


Many of the above shown arrangements are currently on display at the Chalk Gallery in Venice. To inquire about pricing, contact them at getlove@canlove.org

Bleeds
All of these works were created from the residual paint left over in the spray cans. It is released in different ways to achieve the desired painting technique for the piece. Sometimes hundreds of cans make up one work since there is so little paint in each can.

Splatter and Skelecan:

Intersect:

Pulled Apart:

Galaxies:


See all the Bleeds here

Canscapes
Canscapes are mosaic types of art created from body of the can. The square of metal that it becomes is colored completely on its own, its the paint drying when its exposed to air that makes the composition of the swatch. They collect them and rivet them together into the following compositions.

The Mucho Amor series:

Furious Five:

300 Cans:

200 Cans:


Purchase Canlove artwork here

Get involved and donate your cans, time or money to this wonderful organization.


all artworks ©Canlove