Royal College of Art student Eliot Postma has created a conceptual project where pets could be used to harvest human organs for transplants. (more…)

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»Study #20 (171y, 171m at F16, 30 sec)«, 2010, from the series »Heinecken Studies« by Jason Lazarus. A series of photograms made with a portion of the cremated remains of Robert Heinecken.

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»Still-Life of Dead Birds and Hunting Weapons«, 1660 by Willem van Aelst.

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»The Boarders at Rest«, 1971-72, collected and taxidermised birds dressed in handmade wool outfits. By Annette Messager.

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I’m not sayin this lamp is going to kill incandescent lamps altogether, but it’s gonna slay some of them I bet, for sure. It’s called the “Allure” and it’s a pretty amazing floor lamp. It looks like a fantastic set of tentacles. Multiple light sources from the same lamp – that’s amazing! Amazing! And not only that, but while the lamp base is meant to stay in place on the ground, the lamp post rotates. Excellent!

The best part of this lamp is the remote. Maybe. Probably that it looks fabulous. But lemme tell you about the remote anyway, how about that? The remote’s got a power switch, a top light activator, a low light activator, and an RGB button. What do you do with that? You turn on all the different colors! At the base of the lamp is the source of the colors.

Beautiful!

Designer: Zhiqiang Liu

Vist the Source: Yanko Design

Fourth from a series of five.
Will be screenprinted in 70 x 100 cm.

Twelvetimestwo.com

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From the Archive of American Television, a six part interview with Roy E. Disney (1930 – 2009).

Posted on Motionographer

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CHRISTOPHER! lives and plays between Berlin and Bristol . He s also an illustrator for hire

... read the rest of CHRISTOPHER! ...

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Death may be the ultimate end but the persistence of memory demands its reward from the living. These ten drop dead gorgeous tombstones illustrate exquisitely detail the strength of the spirit to move the living once the dearly departed have themselves moved on.

Chichicastenango Cemetery, Guatemala

(images via: Susan Hardman and Trip Advisor)

If this isn’t the happiest cemetery in the world, then what is? Chichicastenango Cemetery in Guatemala’s western highlands is ablaze with bright colors and whimsical tomb “architecture” more worthy of Disneyland than Zombieland. One imagines visitors to the grave of a lost loved one would have a tough time staying in a somber mood… which perhaps is, in some small way, the intent.

Cathedral Tombstones of the Knights of Malta

(images via: The Schwartzlist, The Bear Lair and Xenophilia)

The Sovereign Military and Hospitaller Order of St. John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta were a tough bunch, and from 1539 to 1798 they lived, loved, fought and died on that storied Mediterranean island due east of Tunisia. Having withstood a Turkish siege in the 1560s – occasionally using the heads of their prisoners when cannonballs ran short – the Knights Hospitaller’s final wish was to be buried beneath the floor of one of their order’s most holy cathedrals (such as the Co-Cathedral of St. John in Valletta) and memorialized with an inlaid marble tombstone. Often macabre yet undeniably beautiful, hundreds of departed knights await the clarion call of Gabriel’s trumpet on Judgment Day.

Charles Cook’s Tombstone, St Mary’s Church, Walberton, UK

(images via: Wikipedia and The Argus)

Charles Cook is remembered not for the way he lived, but for the way he died – thanks to his eerily macabre illustrated tombstone. The stone, marked with the date 1767, depicts the unfortunate Cook at the time of his death, killed by a falling tree. Evidently village life in Walberton was a lot slower then it is today; either that or the trees fell alarmingly fast. In any case, Cook’s pictorial gravestone is one of several in the graveyard at St Mary’s Church in Walberton, and one of the more recent stones at that: though modified over the centuries, the church is around 1,000 years old and was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086.

“Ancientest Cemetery”, New London, Connecticut, USA

(image via: Asylum Eclectica)

Americans were no slouches when it came to tombstone art either, though the “KISS” (Keep It Simple, Stupid) principle seems to apply. Some of the oldest graves in the nation are in New London’s “Ancientest Cemetery”, and their simple yet expressive carved tombstones have withstood the test of time.

Scrabble Mosaic Tombstone, Portland, Oregon, USA

(images via: Trendhunter and Inspiring Design)

One thing you can say about Paul G Lind, he was never at a loss for words. Even in the afterlife. Lind’s finely detailed tombstone stands in Lone Fir Cemetery and commemorates the short life of the dedicated son, brother, fiance and Scrabble fan. We also know Lind was into computers, poker, football and Lost. Scrabble tops the list though – the stone’s designer even went so far as using the two blank pieces.

Tomb of Gerard Barthelemy, Paris, France

(images via: Life In The Fast Lane and Steve Soper)

You’d expect to see some strange, odd, even bizarre tombstones at Paris’ Cemetiere de Montparnasse, final resting place for artists and other creative types over the years. You don’t expect to see a large, reddish bird frozen in stone atop the grave of Gerard Barthelemy, 1938 – 2002. The creature appears to be a Roseate Spoonbill… its connection to Barthelemy is a mystery.

Mafia Tombstones, Russia & Ukraine

(images via: Dark Roasted Blend and Lost at E Minor)

Eastern mobsters live, well, somewhat ostentatiously so why should the afterlife be any different? These photo-realistic tombstones are available at select cemeteries in Russia and the Ukraine for between $8,000 and – wait for it – $250,000. It’s interesting to note how many of the gravestones feature Mercedes-Benz automobiles, a dubious form of advertising if there ever was. Also noteworthy is the extreme cleanliness of the markers – no bird wants to swim with the fishes.

(image via: Jill)

Above is another Russian tombstone of the photo-realistic type. Though it’s not plainly stated whether the person memorialized is a mafioso, one thing’s for certain: he was a real heart-breaker while he lived.

Tree Trunk Tombstones

(images via: Haunted Cauldron)

Tree trunk tombstones: the other petrified wood. Tombstones shaped like tree trunks shorn of their branches may be unusual but they weren’t all that uncommon in the 19th century. An allusion to the Tree of Life perhaps? Regardless of their symbolism, tree trunk tombstones truly stand out from the ordinary and considering the craftsmanship involved in their production, must have been quite expensive to procure in their day.

Tombstone’s Tombstones

(images via: AZ Adventure Tours and 2vegas)

Tombstone, Arizona may have been “the town too tough to die” but that epithet didn’t extend to the Wild West denizens who ended up in Boot Hill Cemetery. Life was hard in those frontier days and death, all too easy. From outlaws to in-laws, anyone who spent enough time in Tombstone ended up spending, well, even more.

(image via: Find A Grave)

One prominent figure in Old West lore whose greatest fame is in connection with Tombstone, Wyatt Earp, is NOT buried at Boot Hill. Instead, the lawman forever associated with the Gunfight at the O.K. Corral is buried in the Jewish section of the Hills of Eternity Cemetery in Colma, California, alongside his wife of nearly 50 years, Josie Marcus Earp (who was Jewish).

Name That Tomb

(images via: Pantufla, Anvari, Chryanvii and Ebaumsworld)

(image via: Pocketburgers)

Last but not least, we salute not only those who can laugh at death, but those who can stifle their laughter at inappropriate moments – such as funerals. Just remember: ashes to ashes, dust to dust, you may giggle there now but soon join us you must!

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It sounds like a horrible nightmare: human bones stacked in patterns on the floor, their skulls lining the walls and staring, gaping-eyed, at visitors. It’s no nightmare, though: in churches, cathedrals and underground chambers all over the world, the bones of millions of dead greet visitors. The grisly rooms, known as ossuaries, serve as the final resting place for human remains, often due to overcrowded cemeteries. They exist for different reasons, but they all hold a sort of macabre fascination for us, the living. These seven stunning examples of ossuaries remind us that life is fleeting, but some part of us can live on in this world.

1. Sedlec Ossuary, Czech Republic

Easily one of the most incredible collections of human bones in the world, the Sedlec Ossuary in the Czech Republic is unlike anything else. The small church rests at the outskirts of Kutna Hora and is filled with the mortal remains of more than 40,000 people. The origins of the “Bone Church,” as it’s commonly known, are nearly as interesting as the array of bones. In 1278, an abbot named Henry made a pilgrimage to Jesus’ burial place and brought back a small amount of earth. He sprinkled the dirt over the Sedlec cemetery, making it holy ground. Suddenly, it was the most popular place to be buried. When the cemetery ran out of room, the previously buried bodies were dug up, starting in 1511, to make room for the more recently dead.

It wasn’t until 1870 that the excavated bones were put to use. That’s when a local woodcarver, František Rint, was employed to arrange the huge quantity of bones in an attractive way. Rint proved to be a true artist, creating the most amazing bone art the world has ever seen. A coat of arms on the wall depicts a raven pecking at a skull, the breathtaking bone chandelier uses every bone in the human body at least once, and the walls and ceiling are adorned with jaunty strings of bones and skulls. The chapel is a Christian church, not a cult or Satanic ritual space as is often rumored. The bones on display were simply removed from the ground to allow more Christians to be buried on holy ground. The resulting ossuary is maybe the most beautiful one on Earth.

2. Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, Italy

Santa Maria della Concezione is a wonderful example of the fact that not everyone sees death as something to be feared. The church features the remains of more than 4,000 Capuchin friars arranged in artistic displays. Some bodies are complete and dressed in Capuchin robes, but most have been disassembled and are displayed individually as bones in artful designs. A plaque in the chapel tells visitors in three languages “What you are now, we once were; what we are now, you shall be.” It is a reminder that life is fleeting and that any one of us could be gone tomorrow. Rather than being gruesome or horrific, the reminder is gentle and positive, reminding us to take care of our affairs today and be right with the higher power at all times.

3. Brno Ossuary, Brno, Czech Republic

The Brno Ossuary has been quietly existing under St. Jacob’s Square for hundreds of years, mostly forgotten. When a new construction project was set to begin in the area in 2001, a routine exploratory archaeological dig was performed. What it turned up was beyond anyone’s imagination. The remains of approximately 50,000 people were found stuffed into the subterranean channel. The bodies were likely dug up from cemeteries to make room for more burials. They were, at one time, stacked neatly, but centuries of neglect and flooding saw them washed into a big messy pile. The city began restorations on the site and plan to open it to the public in 2010 or 2011; it will be Europe’s second-biggest ossuary. And although it’s filled with dead bodies, the ossuary won’t be a place to get lost in morbidity or sadness; rather, it will be an ideal place to meditate on the relationship between life and death.

4. Capela dos Ossos, Evora, Portugal

The Capela dos Ossos, or Chapel of Bones, sits next to the Church of St. Francis and is a major tourist attraction in Evora. Like the above ossuaries, the goal of this particular mass crypt isn’t to scare or disgust; it’s to inspire visitors to contemplate the transitory nature of life. The Capela dos Ossos was created in the 16th century to handle overflow from local cemeteries and to communicate the inevitability of death. One of the more noticeable features of the chapel is the two dessicated bodies – a man and a young child – hanging by chains from the wall. Their identities are unknown, but local legend says that they are a father and son who treated the mother of the family badly and were cursed.

5. Chapel of Skulls, Czermna, Poland

The story of the Chapel of Skulls (or Kaplica Czazek) is almost more interesting than the actual display of human remains in this Polish church. Between the years of 1776 and 1804, a Czech priest and a local gravedigger spent many long hours exhuming bodies from the numerous mass graves in the Czermna area. They set aside the more interesting skulls (those will bullet holes or obvious maladies, or those of politicians) and took the rest to the chapel. Overall, they dug up somewhere in the neighborhood of 24,000 skeletons. Most of them are stuffed into the 16-foot underground crypt, but the bones of approximately 3000 people adorn the chapel in what the Czech priest liked to call a “sanctuary of silence.”

6. Paris Catacombs

The bone-lined catacombs under Paris are arguably the most famous – and undoubtedly the largest – underground ossuary in the world. From the 18th century, poor burial procedures and hopeless overcrowding in Parisian cemeteries were causing widespread disease among inhabitants. It was decided that the dead would be buried in a the large system of tunnels (actually depleted quarries) beneath the city, and the long process of moving them all began. While the bones were originally just piled up and labeled, French officials eventually realized that the catacombs could become a major tourist attraction. The bones were tidied and arranged in neat displays, with stacks of tibiae and skulls forming lovely – if macabre walls. Sadly, a vandalism incident in September 2009 caused Paris officials to close the catacombs to tourists for an undisclosed period of time.

7. Skull Tower of Niš, Serbia

The Skull Tower in Serbia is the only bone collection on this list that is actually meant to inspire terror in those who see it. However, the terror incited by the tower was meant for a long-ago enemy. In 1809, the Serbian rebel army suffered a significant setback in their quest for freedom from the Ottoman Empire. The commander of the Turkish army ordered the heads of the fallen Serbs to be cut off and mounted on a tower to warn anyone who might try to fight against the Empire. A total of 952 were once a part of the Skull Tower, but over the years deterioration and family members have claimed most of the skulls. Only 58 remain today, and a chapel was built to protect the tower. It stands today as a monument to the brave Serbs who fought for their independence.

Vist the Source: WebUrbanist