Shadow Sculptures!

 by TheJehosephat
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Awesome sculpture that looks like a pile of trash, but when you shine a light on it.... BAM! It suddenly finds... meaning? I guess what I'm trying to say, is that through the pile of trash I can create something of beauty. Something that people will WANT to look at. I've been looking for a new way to recycle trash into art and here it was...

I found a gallery of shadow sculptures. They amazed me because I didn't know how a pile of trash could have the shadow of a motorcycle or a person! I decided that I would try my own version...
 
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Step 1: Gathering materials...

So first off you will need a bunch of junk to use. This is your opportunity to go dumpster diving. I used a bunch of recyclables myself. This is the easiest part, because you shouldn't be selective or biased based on the shape of the object. Just grab everything! (anything that doesn't go rotten or smell after a couple days)

Materials needed:

+A base of some sort. I ended up just grabbing a large cardboard box.
+Trash/junk
+Large sheet of paper/piece of cardboard/wall you don't mind drawing on.
+Something to bind the sculpture together (I personally used superglue and silicone)
+A source of light. I used a simple household lamp.

WhiteOakArt mentioned a good tip that I thought I'd share:

Hot melt glue would be my choice for an adhesive. It has nearly instant sticking power. If you are a hot melt connoisseur, like myself, you would use three different guns:
low temp: quick set, relatively safe. for light weight items. Available at craft stores, grocery stores, and department stores. This is what your preschool teacher uses.
high temp: industrial power. for heavy weight items. Will fry your skin off, so be careful. These guns are not easy to find. You must get them at a tool supply company. But they work great.
medium temp: for everything else. You can find these at any hardware store.

Or you could just use the medium temp, which is what reasonable people do.
maltesergr8 says: Nov 23, 2012. 2:22 AM
Wow!! Amazing what can be made, with just a little bit of imagination!

Beth
chicopluma says: Aug 6, 2011. 4:30 PM
haha pretty cool
star2 says: Dec 12, 2009. 4:09 PM
 it would be a cool trick to make someones shadod a wolf 
cbubblehead says: Feb 18, 2009. 1:10 PM
your right! Never know what shadow will be like I post this picture. Shadow came from chewed seat belt in my van.
rhino says: Feb 12, 2009. 8:22 PM
If you want a cat shadow why not just cut a cat out of cardboard and put a light behind it? Why waste all the time playing with trash?
billbob in reply to rhinoFeb 12, 2009. 9:53 PM
because its more creative, artistic and impressive..
rhino in reply to billbobFeb 12, 2009. 10:36 PM
Ok, but then you have a pile of junk sitting around gathering dust. That does not seem too artistic or creative or impressive. Just messy.
billbob in reply to rhinoFeb 12, 2009. 11:22 PM
i would consider this EXTREMELY impressive...the cat may not be quite that good but you have to start somewhere.

link from below
artmakesmesmile says: Feb 11, 2009. 3:20 PM
Heya.. thanks for the great tips links etc... very interesting and inspirational. Might use this technique with my 3rd year degree show... mmmm
CapinPorcupine says: Nov 4, 2008. 6:36 PM
Haha this is awsome im totally making one of these asap
whiteoakart says: Jul 22, 2007. 9:08 AM
Hot melt glue would be my choice for an adhesive. It has nearly instant sticking power. If you are a hot melt connoisseur, like myself, you would use three different guns: low temp: quick set, relatively safe. for light weight items. Available at craft stores, grocery stores, and department stores. This is what your preschool teacher uses. high temp: industrial power. for heavy weight items. Will fry your skin off, so be careful. These guns are not easy to find. You must get them at a tool supply company. But they work great. medium temp: for everything else. You can find these at any hardware store. Or you could just use the medium temp, which is what reasonable people do.
TheJehosephat (author) in reply to whiteoakartJul 23, 2007. 11:23 AM
That's a good tip right there. When I get the chance I will add that to the instructable. Would you mind?
whiteoakart in reply to TheJehosephatJul 25, 2007. 1:06 PM
I don't mind. In fact I would be delighted. Isn't that what Instructables is all about, Sharing? Have a great day. I love this Instructable. I think my kids will really like trying it.
thesupermarket says: Jul 23, 2007. 12:15 PM
here are a few artists working like this:
ian burns
Tim Noble and Sue Webster etc.
indulis says: Jul 23, 2007. 5:02 AM
The best live shadow puppetry I've ever seen was Penn and Teller in their show in Las Vegas. Just astonishing (and they are cool magic hackers as well).
catzgirl says: Jul 22, 2007. 5:00 PM
Boy that cat one really looks good. Like a real kitty.
whiteoakart says: Jul 22, 2007. 9:09 AM
Really great. Looks like a cool summer project to keep the kids busy and out of trouble.
Kirk G says: Jul 20, 2007. 9:56 PM
This type of idea (sculptures as well as shadows) are becoming more popular. For an adult themed reference, check out almost any of the three Austin Powers movies...especially the last one: Goldmember!
Jafafa Hots says: Jul 20, 2007. 8:26 PM
Something like this could be done with larger objects and outdoor lighting to create cool shadows in your yard
cati says: Jul 20, 2007. 4:20 PM
I love the work of Fred Eerdekens, artist who plays with light and shadows in a very elegant and simplistic way, to give sens to a magma of clothing, metal, clouds. He uses very simple elements of design, and yet it has a strong impact. Playing with our expectations of what an object can and/or cannot do, artists can impress us. In his work, shadows of objects turn into words, it is beautiful, check it out!
Shadow of Objects

Also a very fun project, the shadow monsters created by Philip Worthington at the RCA. You play with your hands, their shadows transforms into monster on a projector screen. Awesome!
Shadow Monsters
royalestel says: Jul 17, 2007. 4:43 PM
Double plus good!
JakeTobak says: Jul 16, 2007. 6:46 PM
Wow, that's really cool. Although, there are a lot of cool things on this site. Unfortunately, I will never do any of them T_T
royalestel in reply to JakeTobakJul 17, 2007. 4:41 PM
Why not? This has got to be one of the easiest (and coolest). Take your trash, a lamp, and some duct tape and go to it!
ongissim says: Jul 17, 2007. 10:53 AM
Great job! Now if there could be animation involved... :-)
TheJehosephat (author) in reply to ongissimJul 17, 2007. 1:32 PM
I've been thinking about this myself and have come up with a couple ideas. If one of them works, I'll make an instructable!
iamnotsancho says: Jul 17, 2007. 12:09 PM
I've been wondering how to do that. I'll use this for sure...cheers!
iamnotsancho in reply to iamnotsanchoJul 17, 2007. 12:10 PM
TheJehosephat (author) in reply to iamnotsanchoJul 17, 2007. 1:30 PM
You know, that's the exact page that inspired me to do this? Nice find, I lost the link :P
Erik Lindemann says: Jul 17, 2007. 2:19 AM
Nice job, that looks really cool. Did you submit it to the "Go Green" Contest?
TheJehosephat (author) in reply to Erik LindemannJul 17, 2007. 11:48 AM
Actually, I didn't join in that contest until you mentioned it! Thanks a lot!
zecapataintuna says: Jul 17, 2007. 11:16 AM
awesome. I have been thinking about trying this for a while, I really like the idea of shadow art. I will use your awesome instructable to help me finally try this out. great job!
Bran says: Jul 16, 2007. 9:41 PM
Great first! Definitely gonna have to try this one!
HamO says: Jul 16, 2007. 8:53 PM
Way too cool! Well done instructable. Thanks for sharing.
drum303 says: Jul 16, 2007. 7:54 PM
Well done!
robertm says: Jul 16, 2007. 6:53 PM
wow that is pretty cool and creative nice instructable
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