Technabob » pop art

Cube Works Rubik’s Cube Portraits: Geeky and Classy

Lambert Varias — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:43:27 +0000

Before I go on, let’s get it out of the way. Yes, Rubik’s Cube art is nothing new, and in all likelihood Nick Hall and the rest of the Cube Works team are following on the footsteps of earlier Rubik’s Cubists. But that doesn’t make Cube Works’ pieces any less beautiful.

Thinking of how hard and complex something must have been to create – whether it’s a song, a bridge, or in this case a portrait – makes me appreciate it more, and with Rubik’s Cube portraits the arduousness of the process is just so apparent that upon looking at these pieces for the first time I was simultaneously thinking of how nice they look and of how frickin’ maddening they must have been to create.

If you’d like to commission Cube Works, contact Josh Chalom via e-mail. They’re willing to make portraits based on images submitted by clients, so if you want to immortalize yourself in a geeky way, now’s your chance. Check out their website for more portraits.

[via freshome and Vidafine]

Rubik’s Cube Pixel Art: the Ultimate Geek Art Form

Technabob — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 15:42:33 +0000

What do you get when you’ve got a crapload of Rubik’s cubes lying around the house, and some serious artistic talent? You make some major pixel art, that’s what.

These Rubik’s pixel portraits by Irish artist John Quigley are truly mind-boggling. Not only did he have to map out the precise pixel positions for each cube in these creations, he had to rotate the sides of each cube into exactly the correct color scheme to make it all work. To put it all in perspective, the Space Invaders scene above required a whopping 1,330 cubes.

And while Sonic only took 784 cubes to get his spiky blue hairdo, he’s still cool in my book. Not all of John’s creations require hundreds or even thousands of cubes either. Check out this Pac-Man scene, created from just 102 cubes – it still gets the point across just fine.

And Mario is no less fun, even though he only consumed 24 Rubik’s Cubes.

For obvious reasons, I’m drawn to his retro video game pixel creations, but I couldn’t leave you guys without showing you John’s unbelievable 2,622 cube portrait of Barack Obama.

Click to View Embedded Video Clip

Be sure to check out all of John’s amazing Rubik’s Cube creations over at the Neo-literal Cubist’s flickr page. He can also solve a Rubik’s Cube in 44 seconds.

LEGO Pop Art Mosaics Built Brick by Tiny Brick

Technabob — Tue, 12 Aug 2008 01:05:46 +0000

These LEGO brick art pieces are the perfect way to brighten up any drab room.

Painstakingly assembled by artist Motion5, these artworks use anywhere from 800 to 4000 colorful single-peg LEGO building blocks. Pieces range in size from 10″x10″ up to 20″x30″, and Motion5 will also do custom designs to your specifications. (We want LEGO video game characters, please!)

Inspired by pop icons ranging from Star Trek to Star Wars to Starbucks, the further you stand back, the more you can make out the blocky pixelated imagery.

But all things being equal, I think that the giant Alfred E. Newman has got to be my favorite. I think it would look great hanging over my fireplace.

Prices range from $49 to $299 depending on the size and complexity of the work. Check out the entire collection over on Motion5′s Etsy shop.