Barbara Holmes: Lattice Works

Every year, the San Francisco City Dump selects 2 local Bay Area career artists for its coveted Recology Artist in Residence program. If chosen, the artists are provided a stipend and work on site, combing 44 acres of recycling facilities and public disposal areas — aka the Transfer Station, aka the dump — searching for materials to make art from. At the end of the residency the dump holds a reception, and the results are almost always intriguing. From trash to treasures! To date, my favorite work has come from Barbara Holmes, a woodworker, sculptor, and teacher who used her time to make, among other things, these intricate geometric forms using reclaimed lattice. There is something magical that happens in the tonal gaps where the wood once crossed over itself. Be sure to check out her blog, re(f)use, where she documented her process and the show.

Studio Pepe Heykoop: Brick Series

Speaking of forward chandelier shapes, check out the Brick Series by Dutch artist Pepe Heykoop, composed of wooden children's blocks. The series originated as a exploratory reaction to a chair drawing made by James Gulliver Hancock (above). FURNISM will soon produce and manufacture the chair, an exercise in "extreme seating" no doubt.

Nina Lindgren: Cardboard Heaven

OK, there seems to be an upward trend in diminutive cardboard dwellings. First there was Benjamin Van Oost's Favela, and then Anna Serrano's Cartonlandia. Now there is Swedish illustrator Nina Lindgren's city of dreams — Cardboard Heaven. I am just blown away by that work-in-progress shot. You can read more on her blog, which does include a translation button, though to indeterminate effect.

Christopher Fennell: Bus Stop Shelter

Floridian sculptor Christopher Fennell is the man responsible for this fabulous Athens Georgia bus stop (West Broad and Alps). The Bus Shelter is made from 3 old school buses, years: '62, '72 and '77. The seat is from one of Atlanta's decommissioned city buses. It's a tad too literal to be meta, but I give it mad points for being cute, clever, and upcycled. Check out the build here. Videos here. [via Recyclart]

Michel de Broin: Superficial

Invited to reflect upon the notion of transparency, Canadian born artist Michel de Broin chose to cocoon the facets of a large rock resting deep in the forest with fragments of mirror. The effect is one of conspicuous invisibility — "because it reflects one cannot be mislead by its presence, yet we cannot seize it, rather it is the rock that reflects us." [via Very Very Fun]

Michael Johansson

Swedish artist Michael Johansson delights with assembling, nesting, and repackaging everyday objects into re-envisioned configurations. "By repetition, displacement of scale and new function he questions the receivers interpretation of the unique". Q: Is too much enough? A: Too much is not enough. More at Nordin Gallery ... Some assembly required. [via Kate Pruitt]

Stephane Halleux

Bobby Solomon of Kitsune Noir said it best: "What do you get when you mix the older films of Jean-Pierre Jeunet with the gothic creativity of Tim Burton? I think it would roughly add up to the amazing sculptures of [French artist] Stephane Halleux." Add a little Miyazaki, a bit of Katsuhiro Otomo, and a dash of Wallace and Gromet and you start to get the idea. Loaded with Steampunk goodness, Halleux's creations breathe an other-worldly air. Beast or brute, man or machine, gizmo or gadget, these quirky characters propel us instantly to the imagined territories from whence they came.

Jin Young Yu: Army of Transparencies

The camera is not the only medium capable of capturing the aura: "It’s not every day that an artist is able to stake her claim in the art world using an invisible medium. Yet with each pigeon-toed, see-through figure she creates, that is exactly what Korean sculptress, Jin Young Yu has done. Constructed entirely out of a self-formulated PVC (glass and clear plastic just weren’t transparent enough), each invisible man, woman, and child is a three-dimensional examination of hypocrisy, domestic secrets, and the ongoing battle between a private versus public self." [via Planet]

Hubert Duprat: Trichopteran Integument

Hermit crabs are apparently not the only critters to experience an artful intervention of man. Hubert Duprat, a French artist and naturalist, has replaced the natural river bed materials available to a group of caddis fly larvae with gold, semi-precious and precious stones. Caddis fly belong to the insect order Trichoptera, whose larvae bodies require a protective casing. Read the wonderful interview between the artist and philosopher and art critic, Christian Besson. Watch a short video of the caddis in action. [via Cabinet compliments of Mr. Bourn]

Anna Serrano: Cartonlandia

If Benjamin Van Oost built a Favela for Slinkachu's Little People, it would be Anna Serrano's Cartonlandia. The first generation LA-born Mexican American artist tends to focus on subjects such as "those in low socio-economic positions, with particular interest in their customs and beliefs, as well as the architecture, fashion, and informal economies." Cartonlandia, Favela, shanty town ... Check out her blog, OK, Bye. [via Reuben Miller]

Benjamin Van Oost: Favela

Dutch artist Benjamin Van Oost, co-founder of design company Toykyo, has created a miniature favela with his girlfriend Annelies. The "sculpture is made entirely of trash — recycled boxes, pieces of metal found on the street, toilet paper rolls, and aluminum cans." Read the entire MAKE Magazine article in volume 19, by Thomas Wilson.

Tom Sachs: Cameras

Sculptor Tom Sachs has expanded his recreations of cultural artifacts to include that aura-capturing icon of the modern age, the camera. "The exhibition includes the earliest existing work by the artist, a clay replica of a Nikon SLR camera that Sachs made when he was eight years old as a gift to his father. This contrasts with his recent elegy to the now-defunct Polaroid Corporation: a fully functional 'instant' camera that has been cobbled together out of (among other things) a Canon digital camera, a tiny HP inkjet printer, and a battery from a Makita cordless drill." [via Cyana Trend Land]

Brandon Blommaert

Brandon Blommaert is an awe-inspiring audio and visual artist from Alberta. The above work is from a series called eco station — fantastic handmade creatures set in epic storybook landscapes. Check out the build process. [via Kitsune Noir] The above video reads "an animation about a scientist in a computerized cave."