Takayuki Shimada

Piano Bar: a bar in Tokyo which seats just 8 people

Quietly nestled in the ‘Street of Drinkers’, Shibuya, is the tiny Piano Bar. Upon entering through the windowless door, you are transported to a bizzare world of red velvet, crazy chandeliers and bizarre portraits. There is a maximum capacity of just eight people, so make sure you get there first. Read more

Japanese dental students practice technique on sex dolls

From the WTF files, some dental students in Japan are practicising their oral techniques, as well as their people skills, on hapless Sex Dolls created by Yoshida Dental Manufacturing. The Hanako Showa 2 comes complete with tongue and cheeks (tongue in cheek?) and punctuates its time in the dental chair with an array of human emotions and expressios, such as ‘blink, cough, sneeze, choke and move its eyes’. Surreal!. Perhaps one can take my place for my next check-up.

Conceptual portrait illustrations by Heather Rose

In the past, my conceptual portrait illustrations have been mostly inspired by music. But I’ve always been drawn to the things that most people turn away from, and I enjoy illustrating these subjects in a style that is both beautiful and occasionally disturbing. I have just begun a new series called Phobophilia, in which I take common fears and fetishize them. My work is often slightly erotic, and with this project, I plan to turn fear into something a bit more appealing.

Maths explains the origin of superhero characters

I love the colours and simple reasoning in this clever series by Scottish illustrator Matt Cowen, which uses basic maths equations to explain how certain pop culture icons came to be. Read more

Star Wars Uncut: a fully crowdsourced version of Episode IV

The project of creative technologist, Casey Pugh, this full length version of the George Lucas masterpiece was created from multiple 15 second segments recreated from the original movie and submitted by thousands of Star Wars fans, which were then spliced together by editor Aaron Valdez to form the final product. Genius, as both a commentary on contemporary pop culture trends (there are references to LEGO, stop motion, memes and the like) and on the power of tapping your audience for quality material.

Filmmaker creates LEGO stop motion to propose to girlfriend

Now, this is one for the ages: back in 2010, Atlanta film-maker Walter Thompson created a jaw-dropping LEGO stop motion to propose to Nealey Dozier, his girlfriend of four years. The video took 22 hours of shooting and some 2,600 pictures to splice together, a small sacrifice to pay for years of happiness together. Right? Right! Oh, and she said yes. Bonus.