Simply Creative: March 2013

Barcode Art by Scott Blake

Tampa born artist Scott Blake creates unique works of art using bar codes.

"I created this portrait of Jesus using my first refined barcode program. The individual tiles look like real barcodes, but the halftone goes beyond regular density patterns. I created a scannable barcode signature, in the lower left corner using the UPC lines from a Pepsi 2-Liter."

“I was originally inspired by the Y2K computer bug back in 1998. It was the end of the world all because of zeros and ones.”

"I stumbled upon barcode imagery while experimenting with halftone dot patterns. I was inspired by Roy Liechtenstein's large comic book style paintings with the over sized benday dots. I was looking for a black and white shape that could be repeated and modified to create gray tones for a digital mosaic. I first tried circles or dots and then squares, then rectangles. The tile patterns morphed into a cluster of lines, and before I knew it, I was staring at a bunch of bar codes. I assigned the numbers to describe each pixel's grayscale value and grid coordinate."

"It takes me 2 - 6 months to make a portrait out of barcodes. I start by collecting UPC or ISBN numbers that relate to the person. I search online databases for DVDs, CDs, or books, whatever products I can find that relate to the celebrity. Next, instead of arranging the barcodes straight up and down, I like to create unique tile patterns to add extra dimension to each portrait."

"I have made more than 30 large-scale digital portraits of cultural icons using actual barcodes connected to some aspect of their lives."

"My Barcode Elvis portrait is made with barcodes from his music CDs."

"Barcode Bruce Lee and Barcode Marilyn Monroe are comprised of barcodes from their movie DVDs."

"Barcode Oprah is made with the ISBN barcodes from her book club."

All images are © Copyright of Scott Blake

Check his website: www.barcodeart.com/

Source: lodownmagazine

Soot Art by Steven Spazuk

French Canadian artist Steven Spazuk has developed a unique technique, which entails essentially burning a thick sheet of paper, and then manipulating the soot left behind to create these amazing monochromatic images.

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He uses candles and torch flame to partially burn thick pieces of paper. Then he uses various tools to draw directly on the soot. A collection of burnt paper are gathered together to create the entire drawing.

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Check his website: http://www.spazuk.net/

Reconstruct The Name Cards

As my previous post on creative name cards was very well recieved, today I'm going to share another smart name card designed.

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Bicycle Chain Sculpture by Seo Young Deok (서영덕)

South Korean artist Seo Young Deok creates these unique sculptures made from tightly knit configurations of welded bicycle chains and industrial steel chains.

This 7ft 6in stunningly detailed human head called Nirvana is made of over a mile of bicycle chains, took over a year to build from bought or discarded chains, and costs over $40,000.

"The sculpture of the head came from a photograph of a manual labourer working at a construction site. The muscle above his upper lip was a great detail and I used it in my work."

"When nothing crosses my mind I go out with my camera to a crowded place like a market, subway or bus station."

"Inspiration also comes from Buddhist sculptures and paintings which I have admired since I was very young."

"I like Asian beauty. So most features of my work seem to take on an Asiatic pose."

"I try to express an attitude which is humble and enduring. The Asian spirit is bearing and forbearing, overcoming agony as opposed to escaping from it."