Greg Olijnyk creates amazingly detailed cardboard creations. Often fully articulate and outfitted with LED lights and glass where necessary, the extraordinarily works are futuristic, slightly dystopic, and part of larger world-building.
Olijnyk is based in Melbourne and shares works-in-progress and more photos of the machine-like sculptures shown here on his Instagram.
Everyone should check out the 2008 documentary film called The Wrecking Crew – because it astounding this story has gone untold for so long.
Popular music of the 1960s was dominated by young bands like The Beach Boys, The Mamas & the Papas, The Monkees, Simon & Garfunkel, Dean Martin, Cher, Elvis, Tina Turner, Frank Sinatra, and many more. Turns out, these bands sometimes didn’t even play their own records. At times, the only members of the band on a song was the vocalists. The Wrecking Crew were the Los Angeles studio musicians that played for almost all of them. They played and shaped hundreds of now-classic records and are likely among the most recorded musicians in history. The movie shows just how influential these musicians were in creating the songs we now know and love.
To give you a taste, check out how many classics of rock they were the ones that performed and created.
Social elites, artists, the rich, and now influencers have been known for extravagant and unusual types of gatherings and parties. The movies Eyes Wide Shut and The Game gave people a little glimpse into these worlds, but actually getting into these kinds of events is secretive and selective. Most people don’t even know about them even well after they happen. Just being invited often requires the right connections, social and artistic cache, as well as a bit of luck. Even chosen guests often know little about the details of the location, theme, artists, or the food until the very last minute.
Madame Lupin is a private Parisian experiential design group that extends invitation to those who take the time, effort, and patience to discover the secrets of Paris. They often organizing events at secret and abandoned locations – like sand caves under the Paris streets, an abandoned art museum, old military complexes, etc. They then invite new painters, sculptors, performers, and musicians to entertain – along with food and beverages.
Moving up the ladder of expense and extravagance, We Are the Oracle is a top tier organization that hosts elaborate clandestine dinners and parties, including the Paris catacombs, empty railways, and abandoned chateaus. What began as a word-of-mouth soirée among the Paris’ elite influencers has evolved into seasonal theme parties, all-night raves, and immersive theatrics of shows like “Sleep No More.”
As the reputation of their parties grew, so did the pressure to raise the level of extravagance. “Venise Sous Paris,” for example, took a year to plan and cost more than a million euros to produce. Check out some of their work like the party in the catacombs of Paris.
The above pictures are another event thrown by We Are the Oracle. They hosted a candlelit costume ball inside the abandoned Rothschild Chateau in the East of Paris.
If you don’t find yourself on these selective guest lists, you can check for other events on AirBnB or similar platforms – like spending Halloween night in the Paris catacombs – complete with dinner, spooky storyteller, and a bed to literally sleep with the dead.
Or, check out the “Don’t be a Tourist in…” series by Messy Nessy. She has books on New York and Paris (as well as a playlist to set the mood).
Tim Hunkin is an innovative English engineer, cartoonist, writer, and artist best known for creating the Channel Four television series The Secret Life of Machines in which he explains the workings and history of various household devices. He has also created museum exhibits for institutions across the UK, and designed numerous public engineering works, chiefly for entertainment. Hunkin’s works are distinctive, often recognizable by his unique style of paper-mâché sculpture (made from unpainted newsprint), his pen and ink cartoons, and his offbeat sense of humor. His website has lots of information about how he came up with his ideas.
His “Under the Pier Show” is on Southward Pier in Suffolk, England is a true delight. I love it!
There’s a place in the US with similar cool machines at Marvin’s Marvelous Mechanical Museum in Michigan.
Cakeland LA “The Beauty War” by Scott Hove is like taking a surreal adventure inside a multi-layer wedding cake…
Bloomlight by VOUW Studio is a series of lanterns that senses your presence and starts bending towards you while the lantern opens.
Uncanny valley describes objects that imperfectly resemble actual human beings and provoke uncanny or eeriness in observers.
We need another word that describes things that actually horrify you. Perhaps the terror trough?
I love a good spooky story. With covid locking us all down, folks making scary experiences have gotten creative.
Psycho Clan – a group that creates immersive theatrical events – is making some interesting horror audio experiences in which you blindfold some friends, set up some simple props, and then guide them through the auditory experience. Looks like it could be some good fun!
Inspired by the classic ghost story “The Toll House” by W. W. Jacobs, you play Sam, a member of an intrepid group of friends who stubbornly insists on testing whether a house, notoriously known to be haunted, truly is… by spending the night in it!
