Awesome Art & Design

The Scalevo is a prototype design for a wheelchair with an impressive capability – it can climb stairs thanks to a tank-like set of treads and a hydraulic mechanism to keep its rider upright as they ascend or descend.

Designed by Chaiyut Plypetch for Propaganda, these playful plastic pendant lamps look like a giant AC plug dangling from your ceiling, with each skinny bulb representing a prong. We’re going to need a bigger outlet.

Darriel Caston creates these tools with cobalt steel blades, embellished with a retro-futuristic rocketship. The copper or bronze handles are made with classical Japanese techniques. To order, contact Darriel via Facebook.

Artist Soleil Zumbrunn du Midi sold out of her earlier glitch image playing cards, so she’s back with a new batch, with two different decks, each with their own unique box art, and designs that incorporate vibrant spot color inks.

Artist Benjamin Ducroz created a series or small wooden sculptures from layers based on sine and triangle waves. When spun, they work like zoetropes, resulting in some trippy, morphing organic shapes.

Artist Chet Phillips envisions what baseball might be like if the players were all monsters from the worlds of Godzilla and Ultraman. Available as a deck of 40 cards or as an 18″x24″ poster. Be sure to show your team spirit with a t-shirt.

Watch an incredibly detailed work of art emerge from a sheet of metal at LasX Industries Inc. as it’s burned using an impressively quick computer-guided laser beam. The sound it makes is nearly as satisfying as the visuals.

While rumor has it that the TSA won’t let you through security with Yvan Arpa’s precision Swiss timepieces, they’re still pretty awesome, with components made from real bullets. In stainless, PVD, technical resin or 18K gold.

Made by Lithuanian shop Life is Short, the Rocking Couch is a flat pack cardboard couch. It weighs just ~20lb but can hold up to ~330lb. You can assemble it in just two minutes without tools or glue. Lasts up to two years.

Artist Steve Spazuk lays out the dark areas of his images using the sooty residue from an open flame, then manipulates what’s left behind on the paper using feathers, brushes and other tools to bring out detail from the darkness.

In his Sisyphus series, artist Bruce Shapiro creates hypnotic, non-permanent works of art using computer-controlled contraptions which make intricate patterns by rolling a magnetic ball through a tabletop covered with sand.

Architects Haim Dotan designed this awe-inspiring bridge to float 984ft. above China’s Zhangjiajie Grand Canyon, offering up to 800 pedestrians incredible thrills as they look straight down to the bottom. Opens 10/2015.

Video artists Dropbear created the stop-motion animation for Opiuo’s electro-funk track Quack Fat using 240 audio cassettes, 5,600 feet of video tape, 108 floppy discs and an old Sony Walkman. The tapes and discs make good pixels.

Street artist Javier De Riba uses spray paint and stencils to create patterns that look like floor tiles, adding a surprising bit of life to the sites where he paints them. You can buy prints of Javier’s patterns from his shop.

To promote its 4K Action Cam, Sony created this OK Go-worthy video, in which they drove the cameras on a robotic platform surrounded by thousands of moving sticky notes which created a colorful landscape to travel through.

Rest and relax on the world’s softest pile of rocks, thanks to Living Pillow. They’re available in a wide variety of stone, pebble and rock patterns, and several sizes. Sold individually or in sets. They’re absolutely perfect for pillow fights.

The music video for J-pop act Namie Amuro asks you to participate with just one simple act – placing your finger in the middle of the screen. The only downside is that you’ll end up with a big greasy fingerprint there by the time it’s over.

Aeroe’s GolfPod is a durable golf bag that eliminates the need to get a separate travel case. It has a hardshell cover, built-in travel wheels and TSA-approved locks. It also has an accessory that lets you mount it to car roof racks.

Lenovo’s Smart Cast is a proof-of-concept smartphone that has a built-in laser projector. When used with the phone’s infrared sensor, the projection becomes interactive, similar to a laser keyboard.

Aaron Randall’s fun, but ultimately useless Mac OS X application can turn an image on your computer screen into a Super Mario Bros. level. We’d love to see him build this out to be fully playable. Source code here.

Each of Yeair’s four rotors is powered by a 600W motor and a 1kW two-stroke engine. Yep, gas engines. This hybrid configuration allows it to fly at up to 62mph, carry loads up to 11lb. and fly for up to 1 hour. Not sure the FAA will like this.

Class up your keyboard with these awesome aluminum keycaps from HolyOOPS. They fit any Cherry MX keyboard, and come in a variety of cool designs. Our personal fave is the tiny Nintendo controller on a single key. More here.

Gizmodo writer Attila Nagy takes us behind the scenes of a 3.7 mile-long conveyor system that shuttles books to reading rooms around the National Széchényi Library in Budapest, Hungary. Here’s a video of a similar system in action.