Skulls

On June 4th, 2007, artist Noah Scalin came up with an ingenious idea: he cut a skull out of orange paper and posted it online with the note, “I’m making a skull image every day for a year.” His uniquely witty works became a wild success: five months later, nearly 250,000 people have visited the site, many sending in skull photos of their own and turning Scalin’s blog into one of the world’s top sites.

Why skulls? Noah answers, “why not?” He’s always found them fascinating—and these days, they’re found on everything from t-shirts to bumper stickers. But nothing equals Noah’s incredibly beautiful, odd, and often humorous pieces: they’re made from an astounding variety of materials, from toothpaste to melted candle wax, from tea leaves to plastic straws. One is even carved into a watermelon! (Yes, it was eaten.)

Each of the 150 skulls shown is accompanied by a brief description and fun anecdotal stories. As a bonus, there are four skull projects to make. Irresistibly merging pop, Internet, and craft culture, this fantastic collection provides an inspiring example of how to find creative potential in every aspect of daily life.