Nike 'Ballman' Made of 3000 Soccer Balls For World Cup

Nike continues to impress with more of their interesting and artful projects for the 2010 World Cup. In addition to the fabulous carved crayons, a giant sculpture comprised of almost 3,000 footballs (that's soccer balls for those of us in the US) designed by Leeds-based Ratcliffe Fowler Design hangs in the atrium of the Carlton Centre shopping mall in downtown Johannesburg.



'Ballman' as he has become dubbed, is a World Cup project for the leading sportswear brand.



Prior to being sea freighted to South Africa, a complete Ballman test build took place at Magna, the Science Adventure Centre and steel visitor attraction in Rotherham, UK. This was one of the few places in the UK with enough room to host the operation, which was co-ordinated by the Magna technical team, Transmitta.




Summit's project manager Jay Call studied the Carlton Centre's structural plans and discovered that the atrium of the building has a 12 x 12m steel grid, complete with 5 beams, 3m apart. Summit then designed an aluminum mother grid to fly below this, which is picked up on 4 x 5 ton hoists.



Once the sub-structure was flown at its 15m trim height, the bottom was filled in with flat panels and clad with moulded polystyrene - all with 537 holes drilled exactly in the right places for the 2x steel wire drops. This completely conceals all the metalwork and rigging, giving the appearance of a solid ceiling with the Ballman 'floating' in the air.



Ballman will stay in place for the whole World Cup tournament period, and when dismantled, the intention is that the balls will be given away. Jay Call commented: "It was a great pleasure to be involved in this project, which was different, challenging and extremely rewarding, both as a feat of engineering and a creative work for public enjoyment."

images and information courtesy of World Architecture News

Diem Chau's Crayons Carved As The 12 Chinese Zodiacs

above: individually hand carved crayons that represent the 12 symbols of the Chinese Zodiac.

I can't seem to get enough of the very talented Diem Chau's unusual work. While her porcelain work is amazing, it's her carved crayola crayons that continue to blow me away.

I have blogged about her carved crayons in the past, but recently she tackled the 12 signs of the Chinese Zodiac which are now on exhibit at the Packer Schopf Gallery in Chicago along with many of her ceramic works in a show named Sojourn.




First, the 12 symbols of the Chinese Zodiac:


Now, Diem Chau's Zodiac Crayons:


She began with the monkey on the far right (note how she wrote on the crayons which was to become which animal):


and once they were finished, she mounted each carved crayon on a wood pedestal for exhibition:

above: all twelve Chinese Zodiac crayons, finished and mounted.

I have close ups and detailed images of all but the Dog, Dragon, Horse, Ox, and Rabbit.

The Goat:


The Monkey:


The Pig:


The Rat:


The Rooster:


The Snake:


and this year, the Tiger:


all images are courtesy of the artist.

Be sure to check out her porcelain pieces in the following show:
SOJOURN
Packer Schopf Gallery
February 19th - March 27th
942 W. Lake
Chicago, IL 60607
312.226.8984

Diem Chau

Designer & Artist Mannequins for Ralph Pucci International

Pucci Manikin Co., which is now Ralph Pucci International, was originally a mannequin repair company begun by Leda and Nicholas Pucci in the 1950s, in the basement of their Mount Vernon, New York home.


above: Ralph Pucci in his NY showroom (photo courtesy of New York Daily News)

Pucci's son Ralph joined the business in 1976 and then took it over in the 1980's. He then transformed it into a company that created high-end mannequins in the likenesses of top models and collaborated on mannequin designs with top fashion designers and illustrators.


above and top image: Pucci's Madame Mannequins

I'm going to show you some of those amazing mannequins today.

Of course they are also known for their pricey high end unique pieces of furniture, interior decorating, hotel designing, lighting and graphics designed by some of the most influential innovators of this time.

Literally hundreds of beautiful mannequins, clothed and au naturel, sculpted and/or painted, have graced the showrooms of Ralph Pucci International. Too many to show you in one post. But here are just a few of my favorite collaborations.

Anna Sui:



Chelsey Maclaren:


Jeffrey Fulvimari:



Kenny Scharf:



Laura Ljungkvist:


Maira Kalman:



Michael Bartalos:



Patrick Elie Naggar:



Robert Clyde Anderson:



Ruben Toledo:




Like I said earlier in this post, there are too many to share them all with you, but there is a book!
Show by Ralph Pucci, 192 pages, 154 color illustrations, published by Glitterati Inc, 2009


Buy Ralph Pucci's SHOW book here.


• Check out this nice feature the SeeSaw blog did on a 2008 tour of the Pucci mannequin factory.

above: detail of a photo by Liza Cowan for the See Saw blog factory tour article

If you'd like to know more, here's a nice and interesting 2009 article on Ralph Pucci and his company from the New York Daily News

Ralph Pucci International