Real materials 22:
Carved Wooden M. C. Escher Lizards and Butterflies

"Danger!Awesome" isn't a shouted threat from some weird guy on the subway. It's a new start-up woodshop in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. They have a brand new laser carver, & they're not afraid to use it. It sounds like the origin story of a superhero in a comic book, doesn't it. You'd kinda like it to involve radioactivity and a large unreasonable bad guy, though. Maybe Newt Gingrich is available as the large unreasonable radioactive bad guy. Do you know, is Newt radioactive? OK, so maaaaybe that's worth shouting about in a subway. I digress.

What you see on this page are reinterpretations of classic M. C. Escher lizard & butterfly designs. I say "reinterpretations" because you'll notice that they're slightly different from Escher's originals. These are designed to be truly interlocking-- to lock themselves together so they can't casually slide apart.

The best part is the price: anyone can afford these. 12 geckos or 18 butterflies run about USD $12 to $15 plus about USD $3 to $5 for shipping. That's all. (Radioactive newt not included.) You can easily buy these Escher pieces through Etsy.com: (Escher lizards, butterflies), or if you have your own design that you'd like to see burnt into wood, Danger!Awesome will entertain custom commissioned work through their website.

They're undecorated except for some simple shallow grooves on the butterflies, so consider getting some spray-on primer and a little paint so you can decorate them yourself. Or heck, trace them out on your kid's bedroom wall, break out the latex wallpaint, and make a fun frieze. (Kids: check with your parents first!!!! Parents: check with your kids first!!!!)

~~ Seth Bareiss June 13, 2012