Merce Cunningham Plastic Arts

Scott Weaver

You might think needling together millions of toothpicks in the name of art is too tedious a triumph, but some artists swear the simple combination of glue and slivers of wood is perfect for creating sculptures. The projects below—including a replica of the Taj Mahal and a gorgeous galleon—are perfect examples of toothpick art at its most skilled. Some are the byproduct of years of work and some two-week adventures, but all the structures below are reason enough for a big food-free smile.

"Locomotiva a Vapore"

It took artist Marco Pini, who goes by the artistic name of Steccopiteco, one year to complete this 58 x 18 x 13-cm train, which was made using 800 small wooden sticks and modeled after a 1920s-style locomotive. According to Gigarte.com, he took the model train apart and put it back together, mimicking his steps in toothpicks. The piece—which boasts wheels (that spin!), back lights, an inside furnace and a supporting railroad track—was completed in 1999. Photo courtesy of Gigarte.com.

"Embracing Hope"

Austin, Texas–based Peter Chang, MD, built this 4-foot-tall sculpture in 1971, using an "elliptical slab of pecan tree" as the base. The piece is part of Dr. Chang's series of sculptures made from wood and other natural objects. According to Dr. Chang, though the lines curve, "the toothpicks are straight, flat toothpicks glued together; no wire or string." Photo courtesy of Peter Chang.

"Galleon"

San Francisco Bay Area artist Scott Weaver is the stable hand behind this gorgeous 57 x 56 x 13-inch galleon—a large, multidecked and multi-mast ship—replica made of just over 25,000 toothpicks. He began the project in 1991 and completed it in 1993, though he added reconstructive touches during 2009 following a humidifier incident (his little boy got a cold and the steam from the humidifier melted the glue). The ship's features include an anchor and a sterncastle, among other components typical of a galleon. Photo courtesy of Scott Weaver.

"Horse Mosaic"

Well-known Albanian modern mosaic artist Saimir Strati was recognized by Guinness World Records officials for creating the world's largest three-dimensional toothpick mosaic. According to GuinnessWorldRecords.com, Strati worked for 40 days at the Arbnori International Center of Culture in Tirana, Albania, during September 2007 on an 8-square-meter polystyrene board, and used a total of 1.5 million toothpicks. Photo by Getty Images.

"Grand Mosque"

Syracuse, New York–based artist Stan Munro is the steady hand behind two cities recreated in toothpicks: Toothpick City I: History of Skyscrapers (TPC1) and Toothpick City II: Temples & Towers (TPC2), which this and the next five structures are part of. According to Munro, this 15-foot-long replica of the largest mosque in the world, the Grand Mosque in Mecca, Saudi Arabia, took three months and a quarter million toothpicks to build. Photo courtesy of Stan Munro.

"Brooklyn Bridge"

This sprawling sculpture is part of TPC1, which is now on display at The House of Katmandu in Mallorca, Spain. According to Munro, he worked on the 21-foot replica of the 1.14-mile-long New York City landmark for one month using approximately 50,000 toothpicks and, according to his website, ToothPickCity.com, regular Elmer's Glue—his bonding supply of choice. Photo courtesy of Stan Munro.

"Sydney Opera House"

This Australian landmark replica is part of TPC2, which is now on display at the Milton J. Rubenstein Museum of Science & Technology in Syracuse, New York. According to Munro, he used 35,000 round, square-centered toothpicks (found in most grocery stores) to create this piece, one of many structures for TPC2, which he hopes to have complete by this spring. Photo courtesy of Stan Munro .

"Taj Mahal"

Munro completed the replica of the famous mausoleum—considered one of the finest examples of Mughal architecture—using 15,000 toothpicks in a record-breaking two weeks time, he said. The structure is part of TPC1, and like all his creations, according to ToothPickCity.com, is hollow. Photo courtesy of Stan Munro.

"St. Patrick's Cathedral"

This toothpick-rendered replica of New York City's most famous Roman Catholic cathedral—designed in a neo-Gothic style by James Renwick, Jr., in the 1850s—is part of TPC2 and took Munro just under a month and 15,000 toothpicks to create. "While I took that photo," Munro says about the image above, "the police were telling me to move my vehicle." Photo courtesy of Stan Munro.

"St. Peter's Basilica & Square"

This 10-foot-long Vatican City landmark replica, which is part of TPC2, took Munro—a former TV reporter in Rochester and Albany, New York—three months and approximately 150,000 toothpicks to complete, he says. "Toothpicking is much more relaxing [than being a reporter] and entertains a lot more people than a live two-minute morning segment," he writes on his website. Photo courtesy of Stan Munro.

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Merce Cunningham Plastic Arts

Source: https://www.womansday.com/life/a1219/10-top-notch-toothpick-artworks-102253/

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