We Love You So – Where The Wild Things Are – Spike Jonze

Psychedelic hubcaps? Jungian mandalas? Aerial views of Photoshopped crop circles? NO! Just some freakishly detailed pieces of art by New York’s Fernando Mastrangelo made of black beans, cornmeal, sugar and chili.

No, you may not poke them.

Sure, there were a lot of variations on these roaming the streets this Halloween but these pics from our friends at Filter show what it takes to the extra mile.

What’s the difference between drawing and doodling? Both have aesthetic ends. Both involve making marks on a surface. Both are fun.

The difference, then, must be that doodling is more about the repetitive pleasure of creating lines on a surface than any specific artful end. Drawing is about form; doodling is about the way a pen feels in the hand. But presumably there’s some crossover between the two.

Actually, considerable crossover. Cheeming Boey’s styrofoam cups exist in that gray area between one and the other. Art? Or just the product of doinking around? Whatever they are, they sure look cool.

Those who know their quantum mechanics will be aware of Heisenberg’s uncertainty principle, which dictates that the more precisely one physical property is known, the less precisely the other can be known. The specifics of the principle have to do with equations and electrons and measurements of velocity; the vagaries of it, however, can be fruitfully co-opted as a metaphor.

On this end, look no further than artist/illustrator Maira Kalman’s Principles of Uncertainty, a compendium of stories, photography and paintings that touches on everything from Vladimir Nabokov to taxidermy to Kitty Carlisle Hart. Kalman, the author of twelve children’s books, is as good at the prose game as she is at painting. The book is an encylopedia of charming objects and thoughts; a universal favorite and an instant classic if there ever was one.

When was the last time you encountered a gigantic raw side of beef? How about an anatomically-correct side of beef hanging from a gallery ceiling by meat hooks? Such objects are part of Tamara Kostianovsky’s repertoire. Happily, the meat hunks are rendered in fabric, complete with frilly little ribbons of fat. Kostianovsky’s fabric meat project was titled “Actus Reus”, meaning “guilty act”. Fill in the blanks yourself.

Born in Jerusalem, the artist grew up in Buenos Aires and currently lives in New York. Her other endeavors include maps made of hair, sculptures made of clothing and hangers, a world map made of the artist’s own clothes with yarn and ink, and currently on view: “The Persistence of Agony”, an enormous sculpture of a bisected fin built from foam, wood and vinyl. Kostianovsky might not produce the sort of picture you’d hang above your mantle, but she certainly wins the award for most unpredictable.

Argh! In this bewilderingly speedy age, technology practically becomes obsolete before we figure out what all the buttons do. What’s a potentially annoying problem for the average civilian, however, is fodder for artist Brian Dettmer, who collects cassette tapes in order to fashion anatomically-correct skulls and skeletons from ye olde bygone analog media.

Dettmer keeps his process a secret, revealing only that the pieces are made without any outside materials except for tapes. Maybe black magic is also involved.

The rumpus never stops. Up top, a wild things bento by cookingformonkeys for a very lucky recipient. Bonus points for the inclusion of healthy carrot sticks, red peppers and edamame. Gotta keep yourself in tree-swinging condition. One question: what is the crown made of?

Second, an impressive entry into the growing category of wild things baked goods. This cinnabon streusal cake by cakebreak includes a Moishe made of fondant with lovingly detailed spikes and an excessively honkable nose.

Nice work, you two.