Some interesting behind the scenes process images from Chop Shop on Halloween Forum for his Hissing Skull sculpture. Even though I don’t sculpt I always find these sorts of things interesting. The latter images show the latex mould of the initial sculpture.
Death: A Self Portrait is an exhibition currently on show at the Welcome Collection in London and is from a collection of works from Richard Harris.
The exhibition has been running since November and will be closing its doors on the 24th February 2013 – I suggest going to see it; it’s free and full of skulls (not to forget loads of interesting information and history). See here for more details on Death: A Self Portrait.
The exhibition is one of the best that I have been too and contains a fantastically diverse collection of skulls, skeletons and anatomical art. The collection has been put together by Richard Harris and was inspired by anatomy in art, skulls and also death.
The collection comprises of around 1500 artworks and historical artefacts relating to death and Richard Harris started this collection in 2000 and is still collection works today. Harris has said: “As I get older the thought of my own demise has begun to enter my conscious thoughts. The universality of ‘Death,’ with the realisation that we will all die, encouraged me to begin the conversation of my mortality visually, rather than reading about it.”
You can see an interview below where he talks about the collection:
Just like Richard Harris, the exhibition also got me thinking of my own death – where will my skull be in a hundred years and what would I have done with it to not only enrich my life but also the lives of others.
All this time I have been drawn to skulls as objects for artistic expression but they are more than that. They represent our mortality, our life, past and present, and our imminent death. Initially when we started this blog posting skulls daily it was for enjoyment and to share our passion with you, but it’s more than that, it’s about celebrating life and death every day.
My favourite piece at the exhibition was this huge skull, Calavera from the Mondongo Collective (Argentina), plasticine on board, 2011; which is three-dimensional and and stands about 4 ft tall (rough guess). I have included the description from the Welcome Collection’s website below.
Calavera, Mondongo Collective (Argentina), plasticine on board, 2011
Argentinian collective Mondongo (the word for a traditional Argentinian tripe stew) assemble everyday things into irreverent three-dimensional collages. In this work, the economic and cultural dominance of Europe and the USA (represented by neoclassical architecture and Western literature) is seen to have radical consequences for South America (evoked by the villa miseria or shanty towns that are found close to Argentina’s largest cities). Copyright Mondongo Collective
Get on down to the Welcome Collection and explore death before it’s too late.
With Halloween fast approaching it’s time to start thinking of some ideas and if you are like us then I’m sure you don’t have any yet. So being skull lovers it seems only right that we represent! So here are a few Halloween skull Mask (face paint to follow) ideas we have collected that you can either purchase or take inspiration from. There are of course many more skull masks out there so please feel free to add any links in your comments and we will be sure to check them out.
Metal skull mask in case you get knifed or shot in the face. Normally used for Airsoft games but fuck it. Available from Evike for $89.99
Keep it traditional with this oddly named Death Sock Skull Mask from Caufields Novelty for $41.99
Great custom leather masks created by Merimask. Make sure to check out the other non skull designs as they are very nice indeed.
Not available for sale or human size compatible but blady awesome skull mask idea from Kessen-Chu
Sabertooth skull by Miss Monster (sold out)
Jason Soles Excarnate Mask available from his Etsy store for $500. Not sure his is for wearing but good idea if you can make similar from rubber latex.
Awesome punisher skull mask from Mike Loh (sold out)
Go big or go home. Deer skull mask made from paper mache by Custom Fairy Wings
Mistic Unicorn custom Death Skull mask (not for sale)
Metal-esque Horned Deaths ceremonial mask by Dragon Armoury (not for sale as far as I can see)
Throw in some more bones with this Skeleton with neck skull mask from Spirit Halloween for $29.99
Pretty weird one aptly names Fin Skull Mask .$34.99 from Spirit Halloween
Simple elegance with this piece by Joji Kojima. I can’t find this piece for sale but if it was it would probably be around $1600 going by the store prices of some of the other pieces.
Red skull mask from Horror Emporium for £9.99. The same red freaky red skull dude from Captain America that I could not quite take seriously.
This metal filigree skull mask is definitely one of the finest skull masks I have seen. Created by Masque Boutique and costs £65. This will look amazing when worn or framed.
From one extreme to another with this watermelon mask from Haw Haw James.
I recently bought this Book of Skulls from Amazon and it’s the perfect little book for any skull lovers’ coffee table. The book tells a story of the skull and how, from around the 1970′s, it has enjoyed a renaissance and emerged as one of the most recognisable symbols in today’s contemporary visual landscape. It’s over 150 pages of skull porn – from skull prints to skull sculptures and skull fonts to skull tattoos, this book has it all.
I highly recommend this book! It’s only around £7 ($11) and can be bought from Amazon here.
The Book of Skulls
Author: Faye Dowling - freelance photography editor, art buyer and curator.
If you have ever played Modern Warfare 2 then you will be aware of a character called Ghost that wears an ominous skull mask / balaclava. Alright for a character in a game but some folk have the idea that it’s cool to wear in real combat situations. Ok, maybe that can be kinda cool but definitely not when you are called a ‘Peacekeeper’.
I actually quite fancy one the these, maybe sightly toned down, for cycling in the lovely London winter.
Ghost from MOD2 by Strider of Shadows on Deviant Art.
Image from NY Post
Peackeeper image from Military Photos.
Schampa Skull Balaclava $14.99
Ghost Skull Face Mask Grey $12.63
Found this amazing Mickey Mouse Skull on Sick of the Radio and had to share. Would love to see a series of these with Donald Duck, Goofy and the rest of the crew.
IF you know who created this skull please let us know. We’d like to give him/her some skull appreciation. Skull creator found!! This Mickey Mouse skull was created by Nicolas Rubinstein.
Even if you don’t know the reference for this mask, as in the game Army of Two, you will probably still find it pretty damn wicked. For some reason it reminds me of Batman when he was purchasing material for his headgear.
This Army of Two skull mask, perfect for halloween, is made form ABS plastic and is only $17.95. I’m not into mask buying but that seems cheap to me. Though you might get shafted on shipping.
