When I was a kid, toothpicks were tools used to spread glue, build simple crafts, and, well, pick food out of teeth. Scott Weaver had other ideas. Working for 35 years, Scott Weaver has patiently created his masterpiece, a moving kinetic sculpture that’s a tribute to San Francisco, which is entirely made of toothpicks. Ready to utter a Keanu Reeves style “whoa?” Then
read on.
As you can see, the attention to detail on this project is staggering, and overwhelming when taken in as a whole. While there certainly exist larger toothpick sculptures in the world, Scott’s secret weapon is the kinetic component, parts of his sculpture that move, including ping pong ball “tours” that draw the eye to certain areas of the work.
Scott estimates that he spent about 3,000 hours creating the piece, using various types and brands of toothpicks for different sections of the sculpture. For example, one of his more romantic impulses was to build the heart housed within the Gallery for Fine Arts entirely out of toothpicks collected at the day of his wedding.
Despite the fact that Scott’s chosen medium isn’t exactly crammed with competitors, this effort is certainly sufficient to place him in the upper echelon of toothpick artists. In fact, at this point, I’d say his biggest concern is a follow-up that is worthy of this immense sculpture. Scott, if you’re reading, can I suggest a garage-sized replica of the Star Wars Death Star? That project would fill a few Sunday afternoons, just saying.
Sure, the pictures are impressive, and plenty more can be found at Scott’s Flickr account. However, this is the internet and this thing was built to move. Check out the following video and see what this giant sculpture can do in motion.
For more cool arts and craft action, check out this neat kinetic optical illusion sculpture, or this article on 25 arts and crafts projects involving fingerprints.
Via: This is Colossal
