If It's Hip, It's Here (Archives)

Big Rice Straw Beasts Sculpted For The Wara Straw Art Festival.

You may or may not have seen images of large sculpted straw beasts, recently being shared all over the internet. Truth be told, they are not new, but are actually a few years old (from 2010 and 2011) from the annual Wara Straw Art festival in Niigata. According to CNN Travel, The Wara Art Matsuri takes place every year in two locations in Niigata, at Kanko Shisetsu Iwamuroya (96-1 Iwamuro Onsen, Nishikan-ku, Niigata) and Uwasekigata park (1 Matsunoo, Nishikan-ku, Niigata).

The festival is an annual celebration of Autumn where local people and college students of Art and Architecture departments create some impressive straw art in Nishikan-ku, an area is said to have the "largest paddy fields in the country," according to Japan Style.

The art is created from rice straw by locals and college students. The structures are made from pipes and wood sticks, then the straw is added, taking about a week per piece to complete.

images are courtesy of Kotaku and CNN Travel

Photographer Christian Tagliavini And His Unique Paper, Plywood and Cardboard Dressed Portraits.

Recently, artist and photographer Christian Tagliavini completed a stunning series, 'Cartes', an artful take on playing cards using models clad in his paper fashions and decorative accessories.

above: Christian crafts the hat for the "Carte" shown below

Seeing those here on Huffington Post, inspired me to take a look at more of his work. As a result, I want to share with you two other series of his, Dames di Cartone (Cardboard Women) and 1503, both of which are formally photographed portraits of models clad in artful representations of historical fashions crafted out of cardboard, paper and plywood.

Dames di Cartone (Cardboard Women)
His series, Dames di Cartone, consists of two dimensionally outfitted portraits that emulate Cubistic, 17th century,and Fifties fashions. Using corrugated, cut and colored cardboard and plywood, the craftsmanship applied to live models makes for an interesting series.

#1, Dame di Cartone, Cubism I:

#2, Dame di Cartone, Cubism II:

#3, Dame di Cartone, Cubism III:

#4, Dame di Cartone, 17th Century I:

#5, Dame di Cartone, 17th Century II:

#6, Dame di Cartone, 17th Century III:

#7, Dame di Cartone, Fifties I:

#8, Dame di Cartone, Fifties II:

#9, Dame di Cartone, Fifties III:

1503
Similar creations of his can be found in his 1503 series. These represent 16th century fashions and combine textiles with paper and cardboard for a unique look. Several of these photographs have been featured on the cover of many photography and arts magazine worldwide.

#1 1503, Lucrezia:

#2 1503, Donna Clotilde:

#3 1503, Bartolomeo:

#4 1503, Ritratto di giovane donna:

#5 1503, Ritratto di signora in verde:

#6 1503, Ritratto d'uomo:

#7 1503, Artemisia:

#8 1503, Cecilia:

#9 1503, Ritratto di giovane uomo con cappello piumato:

Born in 1971, Christian Tagliavini was educated in Italy and Switzerland, where he lives and works as a photographer. This provides him the perfect frame and background to invent, create and totally produce images that blend fine arts and craftsmanship.

above photo of Christian Tagliavni by Paola Bergamaschi (courtesy of his Facebook page)

Christian Tagliavini

Lipstick Sculptures by Artist Maya Sum Will Leave Your Mouth Agape.

You may have seen some novelty shaped lipsticks such as the cute cat-shaped lipsticks by Paul and Joe and the Pipedream Products Lipstick Penises, but Hong Kong artist May Sum takes the concept of a sculpted and shaped lipstick a step further.

above: Tilda Swinton in Mark Fast

She may look a bit alien, but Scottish actress and artist Tilda Swinton knows how to strike a pose. The muse for many fashion designers, you can see why in these stunning photos. AnOther Magazine has a flashback section in which they show the best bits from their archives and these images stopped me in my tracks. They are from the magazine's S/S09 issue's cover shoot, in which Tilda was photographed by Craig McDean and styled by Panos Yiapanis wearing some of that season's most exciting new designers and looking like a million bucks. May be a few years old, but Tilda, the photography and even the fashions hold up nicely.