Robot Resurrection is being assembled for Maker Faire, which takes place in Balboa Park this weekend!
A super gigantic fire-breathing robot is coming! You don’t believe me? I saw it today!
The amazing 28 foot tall mechanical man will be drawing a crowd in Balboa Park during the big Maker Faire event this weekend, but right now it’s lying in the Plaza de Panama being assembled!
Robot Resurrection, the name of the giant robot, is actually an articulating sculpture made from 95% airplane parts, piloted by a human operator in the metal torso. The cool creation is the brainchild of Shane Evans, who is based in Denver, Colorado. Robot Resurrection has thrilled kids and adults alike at Maker festivals all around the country!
Maker Faire kicks off Saturday at 10 am. At this epic celebration of technological and artistic innovation, all sorts of inventions and gizmos will be outside on display, including cupcake cars, a giant 12 foot electric giraffe, drones, and something called a Battlepond! Ten of Balboa Park’s museums will also participate, with related exhibits and cool events of their own! If you like this sort of stuff, you’d better go check it out! I’ll definitely be there!
Maker Faire San Diego will include many cool sights up and down El Prado, including the Imagining Zone!Robot Resurrection will stand 28 feet tall when ready to go. It will move its arms about and shoot fire from its mouth and fingers.Getting a giant robot ready to thrill thousands at Maker Faire San Diego in Balboa Park.I was told this is one of Robot Resurrection’s feet.And here’s the futuristic-looking head. It kind of appears like a robot from an old sci-fi movie or the cover of a vintage science fiction magazineFlames will be shooting from the mouth of Robot Resurrection! I’ll try to get photos!Working inside the robot’s torso on late Friday.This complicated creation arose from an airplane junkyard and one man’s fantastic, unfettered dreams.
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A human connected to technology in this new public art mural. Park it, charge it! The seven-story parking garage is located at 707 Broadway. This photo was taken from 7th Avenue.
During a walk several days ago my eyes lifted with surprise at a very cool new sight. An absolutely gigantic mural has appeared downtown, on the seven-story parking garage located at 707 Broadway!
A quick internet search revealed the identity of the creative person behind this public artwork. Christopher Konecki of Cohort Collective is a self-taught spray paint artist whose work can be seen elsewhere in San Diego, including nearby at SILO in Maker’s Quarter. This particular piece, which was finished a couple weeks ago, is said to be the largest mural in San Diego. The wildly imaginative, cartoon-like design is meant to convey the intersection of evolving communication technology with art and personal human experience.
These photos proceed from the west side of the parking garage, to the north, and finally to the east. You can see just how colorful and amazing this art is!
The huge cool mural wraps around the parking garage. I see a hot air balloon, phonograph, radio tower, satellite and various buildings, all interconnected like a circuit.The artwork engages the eyes and mind with its detailed composition. Two clusters in the image are connected by the Coronado Bay Bridge.Moving around toward the brightly sunlit east side and 8th Avenue. The high mural is viewed beyond some trees.The parking garage adds its color to the adjacent building’s futuristic graphic, at 707 Broadway in downtown San Diego.And finally we are on the east side of the parking garage. Very cool!
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Ceramic eye atop parking lot post at north end of Balboa Park’s art-filled Spanish Village. Various faces and fun eyeballs decorate nearby posts.
Spanish Village is where you’ll find artists at work in San Diego’s incredibly beautiful Balboa Park. On any given day, one can watch artists painting, shaping pottery, blowing glass, or just relaxing beside artwork for sale, out in the colorful courtyard or inside their charming studios. But before you walk into Spanish Village, there’s a good chance you’ll be greeted by funny eyes, two huge elephants, or a happy owl. And possibly even a spider!
What am I talking about? Take a look at these fun photos! (Can you find the spider?)
A peek through an arch into Spanish Village from the small north parking lot.The colorful courtyard of Spanish Village contains abundant beauty, both natural and artistic.One of many small artist studios in this very cool corner of San Diego’s Balboa Park.Here come more photos of funny ceramic eyes and faces decorating those plain steel parking lot posts.This is my favorite face of the bunch. I believe I used it in another blog post.A single artistic eyeball painted pink, yellow, purple and blue. The ceramic post-toppers have forms that are very organic.Check out this crazy, creative face! At least, I think it’s a face…A wonderfully alien, weird fantasy eye stares right back at you!Two huge shrub elephants guard a path at the west edge of Spanish Village. Walk north and you’ll arrive at the world famous San Diego Zoo!And this owl with spread wings is keeping an eye on the main entrance to Spanish Village, which is to the south.
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The Earth and a crescent moon. One of 26 terrazzo inserts arranged in a circle at entrance plaza of the Balboa Park Activity Center. Created in 1999 by artist Joyce Cutler-Shaw.
I recently enjoyed looking at some very cool public artwork. Located in front of the Balboa Park Activity Center, The Circle and the Self: A Picture Story by artist Joyce Cutler-Shaw is a series of images that tells a unique story about human activity and sport. Twenty six terrazzo inserts are arranged in a circle on the building’s south plaza, within a large tile map of the western United States, which was designed by another artist Raul Guerrero. I took a close-up photo of each terrazzo square and show them in sequence. That way you can easily follow the artist’s narrative, and the thought-provoking transformations.
The gymnasium-like Balboa Park Activity Center is where many San Diego residents go to participate in badminton, table tennis and volleyball. Similar artwork by the same artist can be found inside the building. Seventy two laser-cut metal plates depict the bodies of athletes engaged in sport, in many different, often imaginative environments.
Human figure poses beneath the slender blue moon. That moon will transform as the narrative moves counter-clockwise around the circle.Reaching up toward the ring-like moon. Striving toward hopes and dreams.After grabbing hold of the ring, and another, a gymnast swings through space.This outdoor public art titled The Circle and the Self tells the story of human athletic pursuit and competitive sport. Each tile measures 16 by 16 inches square.Planet Earth seems to transform into a ball. Is it a tennis ball being served?Here’s a planet-sized ball swooshing through a cosmic basketball net!Perhaps that ball is a round blue moon orbiting the Earth.A player tosses the ball toward the net.This fun artwork causes the curious viewer to actively walk around the large Activity Center patio. Now that’s true kinetic art!A ball and net, half light, half shadow.A competitor leaps!Another figure aims to shoot the ball.Is this an Olympic athlete engaged in shot put competition?The circle is a common image in sport. A sphere moves and bounces equally. The playing field is level.Is that a flying ball and baseball player?Here comes the ever-changing blue ball!Getting ready to catch the ball–or is it the Earth moving through space?Dynamic artwork shows human physical activity while traveling along life’s circle.Is this man playing handball?A blue ball on a stick. What sport is this?Perhaps this ball is about to be served in table tennis.The magical blue ball suddenly grows!The blue circle now seems to be a lake inside the contours of an ocean coast.As scale is altered and perspective changes, ocean and coastline become the planet Earth once more. Other blue circles are heavenly bodies throughout the universe.Our big blue marble is third planet from the sun. It has its own small orbiting moon.The viewer of this art has returned to the beginning. We’ve come full circle.The Circle and the Self by Joyce Cutler Shaw, 1999. City of San Diego Civic Art Collection. Commissioned for the citizens of San Diego.
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Many of the world’s best sand artists are in San Diego for the 2015 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge.
Right now, the world’s most amazing sand sculptures are standing on the B Street Pier on San Diego’s Embarcadero. They were created by a select group of international sand masters for the 2015 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge. These talented sculptors are world-class artists, as you can see from the following images. My photos were taken on Saturday morning shortly after the gate opened. All of the competing artists were on the pier adding the final touches to their incredible artwork. The sculptures will be officially judged this afternoon.
The theme of the U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge this year is the Olympic Games. Many of the sand masterpieces had a classic, sculptural relief appearance. Every one was sensational.
The competitive event, which takes place downtown at the edge of our beautiful bay next to the Cruise Ship Terminal, continues through Labor Day weekend. If you can’t make it, enjoy these photos!
John Gowdy, Jersey Boy, now living in Italy, has been sand sculpting since 1990. He was winner of Sand Wars on the Travel Channel.John Gowdy’s Olympics-themed sculpture features Bruce Jenner, men’s decathlon winner in 1976, and his transformation to female Caitlyn.Bruce Jender. I am Cait…now.Unzipping a past gold-winning athlete. A new person emerges.John Gowdy is interviewed by a video production crew at the 2015 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge.Sue McGrew, from Tacoma, Washington, is also accomplished in snow and ice sculpting.Sue McGrew’s sand sculpture titled Father of the Game, a statue-like image of Zeus, king of the Greek gods on Mount Olympus.Amazing artistic skill is required to sculpt sand so perfectly. These sand masters, like Olympic athletes, are the best in the world!Zeus seems to be sitting at the edge of the B Street Pier in downtown San Diego! The Port Pavilion and the Broadway Pier are in the background.JOOheng Tan, of Singapore, won last year’s competition! He has been called Vincent Sand Gogh!JOOheng Tan’s sculpture, Game Over, is a striking work of art that immediately caught and held my eye.Just an amazing, incredible work of art. You don’t see something like this everyday! In a few days it will be swept away.The artists are still at work, getting their pieces ready to be judged this afternoon.Ilya Filimontsev, from Moscow, Russia, is competing here for the first time, and I predict he will win an award! I voted for him and saw others doing the same.Ilya Filimontsev’s sculpture is titled Never Give Up!!! Wow! Now that’s an impressive sand sculpture. And he wasn’t finished!Carefully working beneath a wing and Olympic wreath on a sunny San Diego Labor Day weekend.A masterpiece of sand is being created as the public watches and takes photographs.Fergus Mulvany is from Dublin, Ireland. He studied fine art and became a sand artist as a student by chance!Fergus Mulvany is working on his creation called The Threshold of Momentum. It’s a fantastic piece, one of my favorites.Closer photo shows superb detail work of the kinetic sand sculpture.Back side of The Threshold of Momentum is simple and stylish.The artists were all friendly and didn’t seem to mind chatting with folks who were admiring their works in progress.Dan Belcher, of St. Louis, Missouri, is 14 time world champion sand sculptor!I can see why Dan Belcher has won so many world championships. The artistry of his piece, Citius, Altius, Fortius, is exceptional.Citius, Altius, Fortius is Latin for Faster, Higher, Stronger. It’s the Olympic Motto.Human figures shaped from sand have bold form and physical presence.Susanne Ruseler, from the Netherlands, studied biology and thereby learned to represent and beautify human beings and all creatures. She has won many contests.Susanne Ruseler’s sculpture is called Long Jump. An Olympic athlete leaps like a rabbit!Flowing hair made of sand. Incredible.I saw lots of water hoses, buckets, shovels and carving tools being used on the large sand creations.Morgan Rudluff is from Santa Cruz, California. She considers herself to be quite fortunate and rich in many ways. Sand sculpting has her heart.Morgan Rudluff’s sand sculpture is Perseverance. It appears to be a tower made of a Greek column and abstract human forms.We’re nearing the end of the B Street Pier, gazing out at blue San Diego Bay.Many hours of hard work and perseverance combined with imagination and skill produces a fine result.The steady hand of a world-class sand artist.Kirk Rademaker comes from Stinson Beach, California. His nickname is The Sand Guy. Fantastical mechanical machines are his trademark.Kirk Rademaker is creating a piece called Anchor Leg, which indeed resembles an anchor. How appropriate, because it’s by the water!The skyline of downtown San Diego can be seen to the east. It’s a warm day and promises big crowds.This sand sculpture was quite fantastic and left much to the imaginationMelineige Beauregard is from Quebec, Canada. Some believe sand sculpting is art, some believe it’s a sport. She believes it’s a spiritual experience.Melineige Beauregard’s artwork is called In The Zone. I believe it was the most original creation of all the entries. You’ll see why.An interesting face decorates one end of the complicated multi-part sand sculpture.The opposite end features a circle, like an eyepiece, through which visitors are meant to look.And this is what we see! An Olympic runner ready to race at the starting blocks!Jorvis Kivits, of the Netherlands, believes that in art, beauty should shine through. He has recently begun sculpting marble.Photo Finish is the name of Jorvis Kivits’ curvy piece. It’s an unusual, wonderful thing to behold!Gazing through some world-class sand art across San Diego Bay toward North Island.Eleven amazing works of art on the B Street Pier. Plus there are other team sand sculptures getting started, and a few finished sculptures by event sponsors. Lots of cool stuff all over!As of this moment, these are the finest sand sculptures in the whole wide world. In a few days…they vanish! Go see them now, if you can!
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Dan Belcher from St. Louis, Missouri and Ilya Filimontsev from Moscow, Russia, work together on the big event’s welcoming “Team USA” sand sculpture.
The 2015 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge and Dimensional Art Exposition is coming next weekend! Between this very special annual event, and the equally amazing Festival of Sail which will be held a short distance up the Embarcadero, the long Labor Day weekend is going to be awesome!
Today I walked along the waterfront in the warm sunshine to see if anything interesting was going on.
Not only has quarry sand been dumped in large piles along the B Street Pier, right next to the Cruise Ship Terminal, but sand sculptures which welcome visitors to the event were being readied by a few of the world’s top sand masters! I briefly met Dan Belcher, Ilya Filimontsev and Susanne Ruseler, three of the best, most talented sand sculptors on the planet! And all were really nice people! They and the other world-class sand artists who will compete at the event have won many top awards. Dan, alone, has won 14 world championships!
Ilya is new to the San Diego competition this year, and so is Susanne. When I spoke to Susanne, I remembered how Chris Guinto, several days before last year’s competition, told me his still unformed creation was secret. Susanne remarked that plans aren’t so much a secret–it’s that they’re only partially formed when the work begins. The act of sand sculpting is dynamic, and sometimes changes have to be made mid-creation for either artistic or structural reasons. I asked if she ever accidentally knocked down portions of a sand sculpture and she replied: “Yes!” But it’s something you get used to and work around. It’s just something one can expect when working with sand.
Funny. According to a notification I received from WordPress, today is the two year anniversary of Cool San Diego Sights. And during those two years, the most “liked” blog post is from last year’s U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge! You might enjoy seeing last year’s jaw-dropping entries!
The 2015 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge is coming to San Diego’s B Street Pier, next to the Cruise Ship Terminal, this Labor Day weekend!Dan is helping to prepare this sculpture near the entrance to the 2015 U.S. Sand Sculpting Challenge at Harbor Drive.These mounds of quarry sand from East County were dumped on the B Street Pier several days ago. They’ll be used by the competing sand masters later this week.Susanne Ruseler, from the Netherlands, is another new competitor this year. She was super nice and talked for a bit.Susanne is carefully working on another cool sand sculpture for event visitors. I can’t wait to see what she produces during the competition!
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It’s a beautiful day by the ocean in La Jolla. Some kayakers have noticed the entrance to a sea cave in the sandstone. Curious eyes spot them from above and watch the unfolding drama.
Please forgive me for this imaginative little story. It’s hot today and perhaps my brain overheated.
The summer heat is why I went down to La Jolla this morning. By the water it was thankfully a few degrees cooler. While I walked along the Pacific Ocean near La Jolla Cove, I watched some kayaks enter the nearby sea cave.
Upon studying my photographs, this short story emerged. For the exciting conclusion, please read the captions, beginning with the above first photo…
The kayakers can’t resist a strong impulse to enter the cave. They turn carefully to peer into the darkness deep within the earth. There seems to be a strange blue light shimmering inside.The mysterious glow lures them into vast blackness and possible danger. As their kayaks start to fade, the weird light intensifies…Drawn forward into the unknown, the courageous kayakers paddle along the dancing beam of light. They are explorers. Life is a great adventure.Beyond darkness lies the magical source of shining blue. They soon vanish–passing from one amazing world into another.
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A long time ago at a beach very very close…it is a period of sand wars… Star Wars sand sculpture at the Imperial Beach Sun and Sea Festival!
The 2015 Sun and Sea Festival at Imperial Beach today had almost everything. Lots of good food, live music, happy people, the beautiful ocean, and, of course, a whole bunch of awesome sand sculptures. What it didn’t have was sun. Monsoon conditions in San Diego have produced dark skies, frequent showers, even thunder and lightning this weekend.
But nothing could stop the crowds from enjoying this great annual tradition.
Ready to see the cool photos? Here they are…
The annual Sun and Sea Festival in IB features food, music, fun, people-watching and sand castles galore! This banner is hung on the pier above the beach.The Port of San Diego is a sponsor of the yearly festival, home of the famous Imperial Beach Sandcastle Competition. This sculpture was created by sand master Kirk Rademaker.A second photo of Kirk Rademaker’s sculpture. Tiny sand people stand out on a sand IB pier over the sandy Pacific Ocean!Sandstorm Fabrication team seems to be creating a large Viking head sand sculpture.Cool frog-like creature coming to life on the beach conveys a Help Conserve Water message.The Sandcastle Man team is building an elaborate sandcastle! Of course!The I.B. Posse team is crafting a complex, exotic scene of Myths and Legends out of sand near the Imperial Beach pier.Looks like the fallen head of a classic statue from a time long ago.Sand sculptor is closely watched by the unblinking eyes of his inanimate subject.This team wearing tie-dye was creating a hip sand scene with a fun, fanciful 60s flavor.Is that a mud-covered hippopotamus rising from a river? No. Just some imaginative Southern California artwork.Peace and Love. Hippie Hippos are cool, groovy and happening!These are my favorite sand sculptures. Star Wars icons Chewbacca, R2-D2, stormtroopers, the Millennium Falcon and an X-Wing starfighter!Fierce looking stormtroopers seem to be hanging out on sandy Tatooine. Where it happens to be raining today.Han Solo is probably hoping this gifted sand artist can get the Millennium Falcon to jump to light speed.Okay. You have to admit this is a lot of fun.San Diego Sand Castles was skillfully carving toothy land sharks.Hope it doesn’t bite.Over here we have a large mechanical shark, driven by a small fish! The “real” shark must be terrified.This team seemed to be digging out a whale. It’s huge!Of course, there were Minions. Lots of Minions. Oodles of ’em. They were popping out of the sand everywhere you turned.Five silly Minions seem to be having a party in a sand pit.Another team had some Minions, too. This guy is riding a sand wave while sitting on a surfboard. Too bad the sun isn’t out.Lastly, I spotted Baymax of Big Hero 6 being created out of sand. Lots of sculptures at the family friendly festival appealed to kids.A cloudy, showery day with lightning, thunder, and crowds on the beach enjoying an awesome Imperial Beach tradition.
Supergirl crosses the Harbor Drive bridge with a cool companion. Is that some sort of Star Wars stormtrooper?
Here’s batch number two of super awesome cosplay photos taken at 2015 San Diego Comic-Con!
Okay, I admit I don’t know half these characters. But who cares? It was a lot of fun just seeing them all! Comic-Con is all about human imagination. These cool costumes are living representations of the unlimited creative power that each of us possesses!
(For those of you following this blog who’d like to see something other than Comic-Con, have no fear! The big annual event is drawing to a close, and I’m sure we’ll have oodles and oodles of brand new cool San Diego sights ahead!)
It’s another Snow White! This one seemed exceptionally nice, even for a Disney character.The Walking Dead took over Petco Park today. That must be why I spotted the King County Sheriff with the ghost-busting Geek Outlaw.Who on Earth is that crazy guy with a big-eared helmet? Don’t ask me!Perhaps this nicely-dressed couple came from Scotland. Or maybe they’re promoting Outlander.Guys walk along reading books while wearing question mark masks. Makes me feel better that I don’t recognize who the heck they are.What big claws you have Wolverine! Let me take a picture!Not sure who these folks are dressed up to be. One’s got a big bloody axe.I’m guessing this is the nice Deadpool family.Somebody help me with this one. These characters seem familiar but my brain has stopped working.Lots of fun cosplay action behind the San Diego Convention Center during 2015 Comic-Con.The alluring tattooed Blindspot lady has been joined by sneaky Catwoman! Watch out guys!The Black Mage of Final Fantasy is joined by frolicking super heroines including another Supergirl.Should I be concerned that the evil, nefarious Poison Ivy is smiling at me?Okay, I do know that these awesome people are cosplaying Mad Max movie characters. Because they told me!Henchman 21 of The Venture Brothers is Hench 4 Life!This bright yellow sunny cosplay is Dayman. That sunshine is perfect here in San Diego!It’s the vile Lord Hater of animated show Wander Over Yonder!Uh, oh. Better call the Caped Crusader. Because I’ve spotted Scarecrow. You don’t scare me!Captain America is walking among happy citizens, protecting all those who are visiting downtown San Diego for Comic-Con.Boba Fett costumes are always cool. This is no exception.Spidey is always a big favorite when it comes time for kids to pose at San Diego Comic-Con.The smiling CEO of Jack in the Box just happened to be walking about the Gaslamp among a bunch of cosplayers.Clark Kent opens up his shirt to reveal the Superman emblem! Another cool sight at 2015 San Diego Comic-Con!
The other day I walked down 11th Avenue through East Village. For a few moments I paused to again enjoy The Power of Collective Thought urban art tile mosaic. I took a few photos of individual tiles hand-painted by creative San Diego neighbors. Many caught my eye…
Robert and his mom hold hands beneath trees.I large open eye gazes at people passing down the sidewalk.Another eye on a fiery, dazzling art tile.A sun painted on a tinted sky.Smiling sun and blue moon fused into one.Cool cat dances under a crescent moon.A dinosaur among dots.Ghostly figures rise like swirls of color.Cool painted tile in The Power of Collective Thought.A blue peacock and two fruit trees.A fun dragonfly with human-like face.Female head with curly hair and yellow flowers.A kimono and umbrella.Two people connect on a purple tile.A mysterious monster rises from the deep!A colorful abstract design.A sailboat and shell in San Diego.A smiling face peers back at you!
Cool San Diego Sights! 