Mike Doyle is new to the world of Lego MOCs (MOC = My Own Creation; i.e. a piece not from a Lego kit), but we think his artistry belies that fact. Doyle decided to focus on abandoned houses (one of our favorite subjects) after a visit to Legoland inspired him to begin making his own pieces. He opted for a monochromatic color scheme because multi-colored pieces can seem a little “cartoony.” Take a look at his site for more detailed shots of the piece above, along with some information on how he created it. Also be sure to check out his other brilliant piece, “Two Story with Basement.”

Three Story Victorian with Tree (Mike Doyle’s Snap)

Feral Houses is a project that grew out of the Sweet Juniper blog. The owners (who go by the sweet names of “Dutch” and “Wood”) live in “the most dangerous city in America” also known as Detroit. Dutch, a former lawyer whose real name is James Griffioen, noticed packs of feral dogs roaming the streets, which started him wondering about the thousands of abandoned houses in the city that are returning to the wild as well. He began documenting a few of them, and the photos are sad, eerie, and amazing. In the spirit of the Ice House (which we posted about here), James turned urban decay into art, and offers prints of two of the houses (including Feral House #13, above) for sale on the art-for-everyone site 20 x 200. Since his initial post, James has documented a second round of houses, and there are some amazing images. We hope he offers a few of these for sale as well, we’d like to add them to our new collection. Check out the whole posts of images at the links below.

Feral Houses (Sweet Juniper)
(More) Feral Houses (Sweet Juniper)
James Griffioen (20 x 200)

Dan Grayber creates small machines that only exist to hold themselves in place. Which we suppose is what takes them from being machines to being “art.” Johansson Projects in Oakland, where his pieces are on display, explains: Dan Grayber isolates machinery from its usual role of fulfilling human needs through placing it in an eternal mode of self-perpetuation. His safety-orange powder coated objects endlessly assure their survival through completing the simple and essential task of holding oneself up. These sculptures, which create problems as they solve them, exude a sovereign elegance, the dignity of not having to justify themselves to an outside source.

While we love his pieces like Untitled (Cavity) Mechanism #2 w/ Glass Dome (above) for its juxtaposition of materials and style (modern metal, concrete and rubber with a classical glass dome and wooden base) Grayber also has some larger, room-sized pieces on display at the gallery.

Also, view a video of Grayber installing one of his glass-dome-enclosed machines after the jump.

Machine Vitrine (bldgblog) [via]
Dan Grayber
Johansson Projects

Today, an enigmatic animated short by a group of artists and animators who call themselves Les Manèges (The Merry-go-rounds). The movie, Un Tour de Manège (A Turn on the Merry-go-round) is computer-animated, but the movement, colors and textures are astounding and somewhat unusual for the form. Be sure to check out a “making of” video that shows parts of the whole process. And if you like this one, check out Garuda, another short film by some of the same artists.

Un Tour de Manège (Vimeo)

Axis Maps, creators of infographics of the map variety, released their typographic map of San Francisco late last year. The map recreates the streets, parks, neighborhoods and even the ocean in pure typographic goodness. The details are pretty incredible, and the result is a piece of art that would be enjoyed by both cartography freaks and typography geeks in equal measure. They offer poster-size prints for $30, as well as other, smaller sizes for your viewing pleasure. They also have a Boston and Chicago map available, and are working on both NYC and DC.

Typographic Maps (Axis Maps)

Since everyone is touting the launch of the iPad as the next generation of books, we thought we’d take a look at the fine art and craft of bookmaking. REAL bookmaking. This fascinating short documentary (just under eight minutes)  by John Carrera of Quercus Press takes a look at the entire process of creating Pictorial Webster’s—from his discovery of an 1898 Webster’s International dictionary to the cutting of the fingertabs on the finished books. It’s a great look at the entire bookmaking process, and will hopefully help everyone appreciate this fine and intensive craft. If you want to know more, you can also visit the book’s Web site.

Pictorial Webster’s: Inspiration to Completion on Vimeo (via Neatorama)

Pictorial Webster’s

Last month we posted about a project in Detroit by Gregory Holm and Matthew Radune. The Ice House was an architectural installation meant to call attention to the foreclosure plight in the city. The project was completed, and Holm contacted us this week to point us to the video above which he and a film crew put together, documenting results of their work. The film is beautiful and eerie, and a great look at a project we weren’t able to see ourselves. Watch the video on Vimeo at the link below.

Ice House Detroit on Vimeo

Etsy artist Stukenborg creates stunning letterpress prints using dice. The ancient, but still-in-use process consists of inking hundreds of dice, placing paper over the top, and using a roller to transfer the ink. The indentions or “pips” on the face of each die as well as the space between each die creates the pattern. By using any of the six sides and by changing their orientation, Stukenborg has come up with a wide variety of minimalist op-art. Prints are for sale in Stukenborg’s etsy store for $100 each. Be sure to check out some process photos posted at Paper Crave as well!

Stukenborg Dice Prints on Etsy

Stukenborg Letterpress Dice Prints on Paper Crave (via Neatorama)

As we’re sure our regular readers know by now, we love anything that changes the way we look at things. Today’s artist is no exception. Kim Rugg’s meticulous work takes something familiar and reconstructs it. In the instance above (Tentacles, 2009), it is stamps. Rugg cuts stamps into tiny pieces, reassembles them mosaic-like in new formations and sees if they’ll make it through the Royal Mail. Apparently postage readers register pigments and not the actual image, so her creations make it to their destination. Visit her Web site where you can see more great examples of reconstruction, including more mail art and (stay with us here) two-dimensional representations of three-dimensional objects made from the original three-dimensional objects.

Kim Rugg (at Nettie Horn)

Look again. That’s not just a typical American tourist. Washington, DC-based artist Alexa Mead transforms three-dimensional objects (including people) into two-dimensional-seeming works of art. By applying paint to models Mead changes the way we see what is in front of us. Shown above is “Timmy”, painted head to toe to look like art. Visit her Web site to see more of work (including more images of “Timmy”).

Alexa Mead