Spiderweb
Posted by CultCase at Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Read more about animals , photography , science
Did you know that not all spiders build webs to catch their prey, and some do not build webs at all? Designed to be used as traps, spiderwebs are of nature's most sophisticated devices and are built by spiders out of a special silk extruded from their spinnerets. Insects get trapped in spiderwebs and then eaten, providing nutrition to the spider. The tensile strength of spider silk is greater than the same weight of steel and has much greater elasticity. Spiderweb structure is constantly being researched for potential industrial applications. Two examples are bullet-proof vests and artificial tendons (Wikipedia).
Above: A spiderweb in our garden.
Photo by CultCase. High-res here.
Polar Bears Prefer (Unstable) Chubbiness
Posted by CultCase at Monday, April 13, 2009 | 6 comments
Read more about animals , humor , news , weird
We already know Lions Prefer Blondes and make great Photojournalism dramas but other than the Grizzly Man we had very little explicit visual information about the human oriented culinary preferences of bears in general and polar bears in particular. Thanks to CNN News, we can now report that polar bears prefer unstable chubby young women. This preference is clearly demonstrated here with a German 32-year-old lady during a casual visit to the Berlin zoo and, well... after climbing into the moat surrounding the bear pen during feeding time.
Swimming. watching (via cri.cn)
According to local police the woman jumped into the water-filled ditch that separates visitors from the enclosure that houses the bears. Not surprisingly we should say, one of the bears dived into the water and "mauled the woman" a little bit causing "serious injuries". Above: bear is eating (via nydailynews)
Luckily for our young friend a few brave Zoo workers came to the rescue and tossed their always waiting rescue rings to hoist her out.
The polar bears swam nearby and the whole scene was captured on cameras, video included.
Official police spokesman said that "The woman has proved herself to be careless by jumping into the enclosure." adding that "Logic tells us that polar bears will do this type of thing in this situation." We tend to agree with the German police in this case only we are not sure if that's a matter of logic or a simple appetite for a chubby meal. Rescue video below.
20 Creative Ways to Reuse Egg Cartons (in Pictures)
Posted by CultCase at Friday, January 16, 2009 | 8 comments
Read more about animals , art , environment , featured , howto , recycle , reuse , sculpturing
Did you know the egg carton was invented in 1911 in British Columbia in an attempt to solve a dispute between a farmer and a hotel owner who kept on blaming one another when the farmer's eggs often arrived broken? Probably not. But approximately 100 years later, egg cartons are obvious items in almost every modern house and a significant portion of the trash we generate. Yet, from modern art and high-class lighting sets to beds for cats, seed starters and toys - there are countless of ways egg cartons can be reused and otherwise useful. CultCase has photo-listed 20 of them here, but we know there are more. If you know of any others and have some photographs please do feel free to drop us a line anytime and we may publish them here.
1. Eggcubism Village Party
Completed in December 2008 and titled Village Party this new monumental masterpiece by Dutch artist Enno de Kroon is sized 154 x 209 x 24 cm and made of acrylic and egg cartons. If you are a regular reader at CultCase you may have already stumbled The Art of Junk: 7 Creative Approaches to Trash Reuse and met De Kroon. From his studio at Rotterdam, The Netherlands, De Kroon leads a new wave in reuse art and helps taking cubism into the 21st century. (Re)using ordinary egg crates for canvas De Kroon makes spectacular "two-and-a-half" dimensional paintings in a style he defines as Eggcubism. Above: A frontal view studio shot of Village Party. Below: details (cut by the artist).
According to De Kroon:
"The egg carton works came about out of my previous work where I find the relationship between the viewer and the piece as an object to be of great importance. I've always played with distortions of perspective, which puts the viewer on the wrong foot and makes them conscious of their manner of observing. The way we see things is so conditioned and decides what our minds eventually see in something. The egg cartons had been lying around my studio for some time ready for me to be painted upon, but it took some courage before I could take the plunge. It also took a while to come up with a product I was satisfied with."
No textual explanations had been made available about Village Party so far but, since we asked, De Kroon did provide us with a few words of clarifications about the inspirational roots of it. "Village Party was inspired by open air dinner parties that take place in the village streets of Provence in the south of France." Says De Kroon "it is a mixture of different perspectives one can have of such parties and the special social relations they involve. Someone has described my technique as "exploding" perspective. I don't know about that but they are related to Pieter Breugel works."
According to De Kroon he did not use any real photos of the described village party dinners but he did send us a snapshot of the painting 'Peasants Wedding' by Pieter Brueghel the Elder.
http://www.ennodekroon.nl
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ennodekroon
2. Heart
Patricia Zapata is a mom, wife, graphic designer, author and an avid blogger at alittlehut.blogspot.com where she shares and explores new ideas and projects. Zapata's paper craft book "Home, Paper, Scissors" will be published in August in 2009. Above: Recycle project no. 11 - egg carton turned into a heart.
3. Mona Lisa
This interesting pixel-like piece is made of cut-out egg cartons and paint. It was first sketched with a pencil and then ("slowly"…) painted. "Took a long time to fully visualize the look of it". We love it! Via niveakpl
4. Dubrovnik
This sculpture is named "Not Montenegro, but Dubrovnik in Croatia" and made from egg cartons. via Greenwich Photography
5. Volkswagen Trucks Ad
"Volkswagen Trucks. For every kind of load" is a print advertising campaign by advertising agency from Sao Paulo, Brazil named ALMAPBBDO. Copywriter: Eduardo Andrietta. Art Directors: Marcus Kawamura, Ary Nogueira. Photographer: Hugo Treu. Via publicidad21
6. Lighting sets
This fellow was feeling guilty for buying the blue egg carton "because it contained eggs from caged hens" which he usually does not buy.
Handsome guilt!
And here you can learn how to make your own egg-carton flower fairy lights.
The original intention here was to show local artisans how reusing materials could become a source of income. Yet, this quickly turned into a passion for Salvadorean designer Eugenio Menjivar. Dancer includes three shades made from egg cartons. The shades sit slightly askew, dancing, on a recycled iron base and held in place with recycled iron rods. You can get your own Dancer in three different colors including violet, lime and black. Via apartmenttherapy.com
Egg Carton Flower Pendant Light is a DIY Lighting project. Made from paper pulp egg cartons, this pendant light is promised to give off a soft, beautiful ambient light. Via addicted2decorating.com
7. Cat beds
Flickred by cieraphotography this wild animal looks very much and comfortably asleep where 12 chicken eggs used to reside. We are guessing he is dreaming about the chickens.
After a few days out of the box, Flickr user Kimberly Jennery was already used to finding those three clumped together in the "human bed". The other day she came home and found them all clumped in an egg carton. Goofies indeed.
Please meet Toby, (staring) on his very own egg carton.
And this is Alice who think egg cartons are "irresistible, especially when they're precariously balanced atop the recycle bin".
And this one is another, slightly smaller, wild cat in the same carton. "I assure you that no human intervention was involved in these poses. Last 2 by jiffy from Tomecat.com
8. Footstools
This versatile Good Egg footstool by award-winning industrial designer Inna Alesina is handmade from recycled paper pulp egg cartons and colored with water-based fabric dye ("no varnish or lacquer is used"). It can be used upright or on its side for a relaxing rocking motion and is also designed to make a sturdy base for a coffee table. Alesina is an award-winning industrial designer who looks to "keep the spark of invention alive in each of us." Via eco-artware.com
9. Seats
A cool seat made mainly of egg cartons. Not for heavy folks. Via Grynster
10. Seed starters
Egg cartons are perfect as seed starters. Just fill each cup with potting soil and plant some seeds. Cut each cup from the tray and plant it after seedlings sprout. Above: Tomato sprouts
Sowing Coriander and Chives
This one also has a sense for shapes.
11. Flowers
Colored egg carton flowers. Via munchkinmay
12. Dozen figs containers
Someone gave Marilyn Blanche's mom - a genius mom - a dozen figs. We digg you Miss Blanche!
13. Concrete slabs
The above shanty shack concrete slabs are made with egg cartons.
An egg carton "detail" poured into a porch slab.
14. Bulletin Boards for office
This may actually work.
15. Toy Cameras
Daniel takes a picture with his creatively reused egg-carton-and-water-bottle camera.
16. Toy Potties and Toilets
Via deanj
17. Costumes
T-rex Costume
Frog eyes egg carton mask
18. Proofing sound
Experts say Egg cartons are not very good as sound proofing devices but this is still one of the most common ways to reuse them. Shown above is journalist Abdourahmane Toure in a studio lined with egg cartons to improve sound quality at Radio Pindjiguiti in Bissau, Guinea-Bissau. It might not work so well but admit it looks pretty cool.
Sources: dontbesostubborn, swimvixen2, poligraf
19. Apparel
Not exactly made from the classic carton type but this nice dress was once containing eggs, that is for sure.
20. Organizers
Flickred by willowpoppy, a "Klutzy, creative, spirited British lass" from California, U.S.A, this is titled "favorite activity".
Have any photos of other cool usages for egg cartons? please let us know.
How to Keep (the back of) Your CRT Monitor Clean
Posted by CultCase at Friday, October 24, 2008
Read more about animals , howto , humor , photography , television , weird
Unless you have your own Pug, keeping the front-side of any monitor clean has never been a very easy task. Dusting the back side of an old CRT monitor, however, can be a real tedious nightmare.
Here is one way to help you keep up with this task. No Pug required. Only a Grasshopper.
Images via (our own) Flickr and Nikon Coolpix 8800.
What To Do If You Encounter A Mountain Lion
Posted by CultCase at Sunday, March 16, 2008 | 1 comments
Read more about animals , humor , people
In continuation with our latest exploration into the subject of humans and lions sharing the same territory we stumbled upon the above photograph of a busted sign taken by Father Dan as he was hiking Coal Canyon November last year. The sign explains what should we do if encountering a mountain lion. We thought that's pretty coherent with the Lions Prefer Blondes photojournalism drama. People and lions just don't mix that well but they sure are able to provide excellent photo ops.
Lions Prefer Blondes: a Perfect Photojournalism Drama with a Happy End
Posted by CultCase at Sunday, March 09, 2008 | 8 comments
Read more about animals , death , journalism , news , photography , weird
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, we know that since 1953. But did you know 180kg lions also like them very much? Well, at least according to this Daily telegraph story that might just be the case. It is not everyday that death grabs one's soul and hands it back while the entire process gets captured on camera in a perfect photojournalism drama with a heart and a happy end. Yet, for British primary school headmistress Kate Drew that is more or less how things turned out when a 180kg cat pounced on from behind and dragged her to the ground, sinking its teeth into the back of her neck.
Those amazing photos are signed with the watermark "Austral" but it is not clear who is the cool headed person who should be thanked for them.
Working as a volunteer teacher in Tanzania, Drew (28) was spending a few weeks "traveling across Africa on a bus with other backpackers". During this tour the group visited a reserve in Zimbabwe where lions are bred to be released back into the wild and tourists can pay $50 to "walk with several of the big cats" which are "considered tame enough to be allowed contact with humans". Here is what happened in Kate Drew's words:
"We were just leaving and everything seemed to have gone well - until one jumped at me from behind. I was scared enough when he pinned me to the ground, but when I looked up and saw the other two, I thought I'd had it.''
It may have been a miracle or just a random coincidence. Though the wounds on Drew's head left her with 13 stitches (below) they missed her brain stem and she was rescued by the brave reserve wardens (above) who "rushed in with sticks and wrestled the animal away."
According to the Daily Telegraph the lion was not on his way for it's lunch when it grabbed poor Drew but was apparently just playing around a little bit after being "attracted by her mane-like long blonde hair". There goes at least one advantage of being a blonde, ha?
Unfortunately, Drew's story is not always how things end in this genre. According to lairweb.org.nz, a website focusing on endangered large cats, only three out of every one thousand tigers will resort to attacking people, making their reputation as a man-eater "quite inaccurate". Yet, also according to this website, even this low number has been enough to make the tiger responsible for more human deaths than any other predator. Lions are cute but if you are still not sure they also kill people, here is a list of Mountain Lion Attacks On People in the U.S. and Canada since 1986.