Curious hobbyists of Russia

David Pescovitz:

Russian magazine Moskovsky Komsomolets is running a contest called Amaze The Country to honor the region's most interesting hobbyists. From The Moscow Times:

...The votes for this week's three semifinalists were being led -- perhaps rather fishily -- by an entrant who "studies the secrets of hermetic science" and makes amber pendants that cure headaches and heart problems. Coming from behind was a man from the Siberian town of Chernogorsk who has crafted an 18-meter crocodile and a life-sized Mercedes in topiary. One of those through to the semifinals is Vladimir Aniskin, a specialist in microminiatures, who has crafted a caravan of camels in the eye of a needle and written "Peace to the World" on a human hair...

Some of the most colorful entries come from the Russian Club of Records, or "Levsha," a Moscow organization that publishes a book of national records and submits information on local feats to Guinness World Records. Among the 50 or so members featured are an Altai schoolteacher who can play Ludwig van Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata while lying with his head under the keyboard and a man who has collected all his nail clippings for the last 35 years.

Link (via Reality Carnival) [via Boing Boing]

Lend me an ear

David Pescovitz: The Tissue Culture & Art Project used human cells to grow this quarter-scale replica of performance artist Stelarc's ear. In October, I posted about a tiny skin jacket they produced in vitro.

"The ear is cultured in a rotating micro-gravity bioreactor which allows the cells to grow in three dimensions. Stelarc's recent projects and performances are concerned with the prosthetic. The prosthesis is seen not as a sign of lack, but as a symptom of excess. Rather than replacing a missing or malfunctioning part of the body, these artifacts are alternate additions to the body's form and function.

Extra Ear 1/4 Scale is about two collaborative concerns. The project represents a recognisable human part. However, it is being presented as partial life and brings into question the notions of the wholeness of the body. It is also confronts broader cultural perceptions of 'life' given our increasing ability to manipulate living systems. TC&A are dealing with the ethical and perceptual issues stemming from the realization that living tissue can be sustained, grown, and is able to function outside the body. Stelarc, ultimately, is concerned with the attachment of the ear to the body as a soft prosthesis. Extra Ear 1/4 Scale is partial life form – partly constructed and partly grown – waiting to become a soft prosthesis."

Link

Related...

[Boing Boing]

Balloon Man

David Pescovitz: Cluster balloonist John Ninomiya has a Web site archiving his high-flying adventures:
"Five years ago, I decided to fulfill a childhood dream by learning to fly with a cluster of large helium balloons. I have made twenty-three helium cluster balloon flights since that time. All of them have been among my most magical flying experiences... With half a dozen pilots worldwide, cluster ballooning remains something between an extreme sport and a personal eccentricity..."
Link (via Slashdot)[via Boing Boing]