Although sculpture isn’t directly graphics-related, it’s still a brilliant platform for expression, and one which a surprising amount of graphic designers draw inspiration from, particularly if they’re looking to do work in the 3D design field.

I think it’s becoming more and more widely accepted that to be a successful artist in this day and age, be it digital or traditional, experience and qualifications are not the deciding factor by any means, and a good case in point would be my first selection:

Damien Hirst

“It’s amazing what you can achieve with an E in A level art and a chainsaw.”

Love it or loathe it, Hirst’s work has been subject to debate for a long time, and whilst some people, understandably, don’t agree  that cutting a tiger shark in half and sticking it in a tank filled with formaldehyde necessarily ‘counts’ as art (which you can see a clearer shot of here), a fair amount of people seem to disagree with him, since he’s now Britain’s richest living artist, and some of his work has fetched up to $123 million at auction. Makes me wonder whether it’s worth investing in a chainsaw of my own.

But from here on in it only gets stranger, so here’s another 4 insanely brilliant 3D artists worth taking a look at…

Gelatin

Yup, it’s a giant cuddly bunny rabbit on the side of an Italian mountain. Why not?

Gelatin are the collective group of Viennese artists who produced this gigantic knitted rabbit and placed it in Italy’s Piedmont region for the public’s general enjoyment. Anyone is free to go and take a walk, sleep or play around on top of this thing, which means that in a decade or so, it will probably be trodden to death by curious tourists. If you don’t fancy a trip over there though, you can always view it from Google Earth instead! Handy.

Mari Kasurinen

Similarly cutesy but on a much smaller scale, Mari Kasurinen modifies My Little Pony’s into well known fictional characters or celebrities, and My Little Stormtrooper is one of my personal favorites. Though, My Little Michael Jackson and My Little Batman and Robin both come a close second. This might not be a very graphics orientated post, but at least I’ve got the ‘girl’-y bit covered now.

Claes Oldenburg

Claes was born in Sweden in 1929 (now aged 80) and later moved to America, where his work was considered part of the pop art movement of the 1960’s.  He studied at Yale, as well. But this still doesn’t explain why exactly he thought placing a giant ice cream on the edge of a building was a good idea.

The main aim of his work was to take mundane everyday objects and present them in a more exciting way. Most of his pieces were public, and incredibly large. His early work was primarily focused on soft sculptures, such as this enormous squidgy cake and a tube of lipstick that would constantly deflate unless a member of the public was there to re-pump air into it. Later on in his career, however, he moved onto bigger and better things, like this humungous cherry on a spoon which doubles as a bridge.

I am clearly beginning to run out of inventive synonyms for ‘really big’.

Andy Goldsworthy

Goldsworthy is an ephemeral sculptor. All of his work is made from 100% natural materials – sticks, stones, tree bark, leaves – and will inevitably degrade over time until there’s nothing left – something which he is perfectly fine with. Perhaps it’s symbolism for how nothing lasts forever, or maybe he just never really got along with acrylics or clay. Either way, I find that there’s something about his work that demands attention. A man who has enough patience to mold a bunch of sticks into a perfect stand-alone circle, or arrange this many leaves into something as detailed as this and then is able to stand back and watch as the wind and the passers-by destroy it, deserves some respect. In June 2000, he even gathered enough snow to make a number of outrageously over-sized snowballs and set them around London to let them melt in the summer heat. I can imagine the peoples reaction would have made it worth it.