London-based artist Su Blackwell scours bookstore shelves for old books, wthen uses them as her medium to create delightful narrative vignettes. She tries to find something within each book that inspires her and that triggers a visual image. Scenes are cut entirely from the book’s pages and are often very intricate; some of her works take up to two months to complete. To see more of her work, visit http://www.longandryle.com/blackwell.html

A young student in Tokyo has spent four years designing his “City on the Ocean” entirely out of paper. Of course, we like the fact that it’s lighted, and apparently the light changes for different effects. It also features a working paper train, a ferris wheel, and lots of architectural flourishes. See more at the Tokyo Bling Blog. And thanks to Betsy Rubinstein for emailing us with the link.

Here’s a link to the snappy independence day celebration video by creative UTuber PES. Watch his other videos there, too.

Though not pop-ups or paper art, this Chinese runway show of balloon couture is just so good we had to post it! Who ever thought balloon art could move beyond those cute little weiner dogs and ducks to become such a glamorous fashion statement! These images were shot by Myspace member “Shane.” For the full slide show, visit his Myspace page. And thanks to Esther Smith for bringing these fabulous frocks to our attention….

These days, book artists are designing pop-up books on a whole range of subjects that have nothing to do with kids. Shana Agid has a new book out called “Snitch” in which he explores the positive and negative aspects of  “being watched” within our society. What should we fear about surveillance systems?  What will make us safer? How much privacy should we give up for safety? These are subjects that needs to be examined rigorously as technologies for keeping track of everything in our lives become ever more sophisticated and pervasive. Check out Shana’s web site at http://www.shanaagid.com/projects/snitch/snitch.html

What could be more fascinating than Isabella Rossalini working with paper costuming and sculptures to explain reproductive processes of sea creatures and insects? In her “Green Porno” series of short video productions, Rossalini acts and directs in these funny, informative, and beautifully produced little science segments. Season One covers the reproduction of flies, bees, spiders, fireflies and earthworms. Season Two expands to examine how sea creatures mate, featuring whales, limpets, and starfish, among others. Working with production designer Andy Byers and a team of theater pros, Rossalini has succeeded in making science education a lot more fun with these little video gems!

In keeping with the movable aspects of our artistic pursuits at Popular Kinetics, we love the intriguing large-scale sculptures of Dutch artist Theo Jansen. Jansen refers to his works as “animals” and bases their movements on those of insects, sea forms and other living creatures. His sculptures walk on their own along beaches in The Neatherlands, using a traditional Dutch source of energy: the wind.

Jansen’s work crosses borders between art, engineering, and bio-engineering. His artificial life forms “evolve” as he evaluates and improves the characteristics and movements which allow these “beach beasts” to survive outdoors in the elements.

Watch the video of the sculptures here: http://www.wimp.com/theojansen/

For all of us who love working with paper, the entries in this year’s Paper-Based Visualization Competition are aethetically diverse and inspiring. To see photos, visit http://infosthetics.com/archives/2009/02/paper-based_visualization_competition_the_winner_and_more.html

Happy New Year! To begin the year, we’ve found this wonderful animation of a pop-up book based on the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. We think it’s a great example of pop-up iconography. Click here to view it.