- HotSpot Media

DEAD MEDIA: ARTIST CREATES SKULL OUT OF OBSOLETE VHS

If you're ever struggling to find a use for your old VHS tapes you might want to take a tip from this innovative artist. Noah Scalin has turned his obsolete videos into a veritable art attack, forming the shape of a skull using 497 pieces of dead media. At first glance, the work appears to be a jumbled mess of old tapes, broken plastic and tangled film but on closer inspection the form of a human skull literally comes to life. The work of art, which measures 20ft by 9ft, has been carefully constructed to form an optical illusion meaning the skull only comes into view when the piece is viewed from a certain angle. Artist Noah, who created the work, entitled simply Dead Media, for the TCC Visual Arts Center in Portsmouth, Virginia, is well known for his love of skulls having created the popular Skull-A-Day blog which seeks out the human skeleton in art and everyday life. Dead Media was created especially for its venue and is on display until November 1, when it will be dismantled and used to create new artworks by the students of Tidewater Community College. Built in the style of the skull in Holbein's The Ambassadors, the piece was created with old tapes donated by friends and culled from Noah's personal collection.