Late last year, an extremely trippy video made its rounds on social media. The otherworldly clip was shot in a sterile museum setting, and showcased an incredible reality-bending sculpture. At first glance, of course, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary: a classic-looking bust was placed onto a pedestal and appeared to be made of solid materials. Within a few seconds however, the head was manipulated to bend like a melted block of cheese. Needless to say, upon viewing the thing, our minds were promptly blown. Take a peek at the video below, courtesy of Twitter.
단순 석고상인줄만 알았는데 큐레이터가 손을 대자 뒤로 180도 접어지고, 늘어나며, 자유자재로 펼쳐집니다. 바로 중국 아티스트 리 홍보(Li Hongbo)가 종이로 만든 ‘Apollo’ 조형 작품이랍니다. https://t.co/tufZVkWwk9 pic.twitter.com/W1eoUi435y
— W Korea (@wkorea) December 8, 2016
Upon further investigation, we discovered that the sculpture was not only 100% real, but it was also just one of many pieces to feature the same cutting-edge design. Along with the famous Greek statue, there were a ton of other cool vases and busts out there in the art world, and every single one of these psychedelic effigies has us scratching our heads.
Li Hongbo, paper pic.twitter.com/Bad2s0J4FL
— David Morris (@dm_aus) February 4, 2017
The pieces are the work of a Bejing-based artist named, Li Hongbo. The 43-year-old master has been pushing the boundaries of design for many years now, and has gained the respect of his peers through these impressive creations. While the sculptures appear to be made of marble, they’re actually crafted out of paper and glue. The intricacy of how the two materials are placed allow for flexible movability, which could be straight out of a deleted sequence from The Matrix.
Hongbo’s creations have made him world-renowned, and have been surprising museum attendees for a number of years. To get a closer look at it all, watch an amazing close up profile of the sculptures below. Trust us, they’re all equally amazing.
