I have emerged from my internets-hiatus to share with you the following stunning (hah) monster-sized jellyfish by artist timothy horn (as seen on designboom) and his inspiration: the beauteous 19th century engravings by zoologist ernst haekel.

timothy horn’s medusae: (made of silicone rubber & fiber-optics creating a soft glow that might make it be the best chandelier of all time)

ernst haekel’s discomedusae:

detail:

Also, I would like us all to take a moment and reflect on the many magical and wonderous images that the phrase “Disco Medusa” conjures.

Hello Hi.  So this past Sunday, I dropped by the annual Bust Craftacular – this year at the Warsaw in my old bklyn neighborhood (greenpoint), yay.  Though it was far far too crowded in there to spend more than a minute at any booth before being shoved down the aisle by someone in a fedora and/or with perfectly sculpted bangs, I did have a few favorites crafters n’ artists that I am compelled to share with those who could not make it.

#1: Tugboat Print Shop (Pittsburgh, PA)

I mean, what we have here is lots of beautiful woodcut prints, which would be lovely enough, but when you add to that the fact that a lot of their work is either nautical-themed or woodland-themed, I am just all a-smitten.   From their site:

“jellies”:

“high seas drifter”:

#2: KG + AB (Brooklyn, NY)

What’s that you say?? Ceramic bears fighting in a bell jar? yes, I know, it is amazing.

also from their store:

#3: GlitterLimes! (San Francisco, CA)

You take some cross-sections of fruit, you immerse them in some kind of magical sparkly laminate and you get darling organic wearable art. Sadly my photos of the Glitterlimes table at the craftacular were poopy, so thank you and credit to flickr users panachelady and beckyh for the images.  Lovely indeed.

It was Robot Penguins.  clearly.

a very big thank you to fellow aquatic-robotics-enthusiast Rickmonkey for sending this to me, and to the folks at New Scientist & German engineering firm Festo for unleashing these glorious creatures onto the internet.