Gallery Of The Absurd

I stumbled upon this initially unassuming site, at the bidding of my fabulous pal Joel, called Atelier V. It lists a series of 30 sets of photographs, with accompanying descriptions, that appear to detail cheap, DIY inventions for the creative mind immune to snide titters and bemused stares from strangers and peers alike. It has obviously been made into a book, although any details I could gather were hopelessly unavialable to me as I fail to speak fluent German. However, the intention seems to hover betwix the charming oddity of lazy, starving artist inventiveness, and the reinterpretation of familiar objects through imagination and inspired use.

But trust the Germans to publish such ideas as tennis balls ...

... turned into ear muffs.

Or even the remarkable concept of transforming clothes pegs ...

... into functioning dining aids for the chopsticks-impaired?

I love the surprised amusement one may inspire if a paint brush ...

... were to be bent and used as a door stopper.


And my personal favourite: embarrassing your kids by cutting up an old vacuum-cleaner dust bag ...

... and shoving it onto an ice cream cone to prevent unsightly spills.

Honourable mentions:


One of those whippy-mashy kitchen appliance things (I failed home economics) turned into a cotton wool holder, to be stored besides toothbrushes in a chic little glass.

Still own a pair of goggles from those days of chlorine-laps in primary school? Pop one of the eyes out and, voila! A head rest for long train rides through the city.