Magnificent Obscessions

September 19, 2002 9:27 PM

Magnificent Obscessions II. In the original post, we had a blast exploring odd sites in which people displayed eccentric talents. MOs walk a thin line between genius and madness. These are people with "too much time on their hands." How I envy their crackpot devotion, energy and perfectionism. These are the True Geeks! (Fresh examples inside...)
posted by grumblebee (13 comments total)

Paul Bigot's (1870-1943) scale model of Rome: http://www.unicaen.fr/rome/anglais/maquette.html

School where kids build scale models of skyscrapers: http://www.fi.edu/fellows/fellow3/apr99/simcity2000/models.htm

Building a life-size Pteranodon (for a museum, so not quite a M.O.): http://www.magma.ca/~watsondn/pteranodon_frames.html?pteranodon.html

Henry Darger (1872-1972)"His landlord was cleaning out his room after his death and came across a startling discovery: alone in his room, Darger had created a beautiful and violent fantasy world, primarily embodied in a 15,000 page epic narrative, 'The Story of the Vivian Girls, in What is known as the Realms of the Unreal, of the Glandeco-Angelinnian War Storm, Caused by the Child Slave Rebellion.'

"Illustrated by several hundred large watercolors paintings as well as smaller drawings and collages, the Vivian Girls are seven preadolescent sisters, princesses, sometimes depicted as hermaphrodites, who fight against and ultimately prevail over evil deeds prepetrated by sadistic adults. They are aided in their battles by various Christian armies and also by Blengins, dragon-like animals, both fearsome and gentle, that are absolute protectors of children. The illustrations range from calm and pastoral to brutally violent." : http://www.saraayers.com/darger.htm
http://henrydarger.tripod.com/art.htm
http://users.rcn.com/outpost/darger/
http://www.artscope.net/VAREVIEWS/Darger1000.html
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2002/07/23/darger/print.html

Historic clothing for children: http://www.elizabethstewartclark.com/ElizabethStewartClark.htm


Reenactment of Michael Jackson's "THRILLER": http://216.239.53.100/search?q=cache:f4uOBHjRsjcC:www.talentsonline.com/others/triller.htm+reinactment&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

"I am building a replica Apollo spacesuit": http://users.bigpond.net.au/surfacesrendered/srspacesuit.html

Detailed virtual "Overlook Hotel" from Kubrick's "The Shining": http://www.arnettsound.com/theshining2/download.htm
http://www.arnettsound.com/theshining2/screenshots.htm
http://www.arnettsound.com/theshining2/compare3.jpg

Un-official "posters" for "Eyes Wide Shut": http://www.bsantini.com/showposter.asp?filmid=ews1

Someone's C3P0 replica: http://www.toysrgus.com/images-repli/c3po-ep1.html


Virginia Tech steam tunnel map: http://vtunderground.tripod.com/tunnelmap.htm

Beatle puppets: http://www.mrpuppet.com/beatles.html
posted by grumblebee at 9:33 PM on September 19, 2002

This is going to be fun! Thanks for all the links, grumblebee. Add y2karl's superb January 2002 thread to the Henry Darger links!
posted by MiguelCardoso at 10:18 PM on September 19, 2002

Seems to me like any number of these could have made fine front page posts on their own.
posted by toddshot at 10:21 PM on September 19, 2002

grumblebee: Would your about 20 comments to your own previous post count as an MO?
posted by semmi at 10:24 PM on September 19, 2002

I'm afraid so. I have a metaMO.
posted by grumblebee at 10:29 PM on September 19, 2002

Some magnificent obsessions are activity-based. Meet the charming Millette, Eva and Astrid. Stop by the messy galleries for some home cooking, Joanna style. Marvel at this intrepid gent's unusual adventures (geocities warning).

If your choice of M.O.s leans to collections over activities, you might try Ladies Memory. The site is mostly in Japanese but just click on the library, clearly marked in English.
posted by madamjujujive at 11:18 PM on September 19, 2002

I learnt of Faith Willinger's M.O. with Italian food (mainly ingredients) from Jeffrey Steingarten's article in this month's big, fat Vogue. It's full of love and knowledge. The website is a bit clunky but it's truly filled with riches.
posted by MiguelCardoso at 11:22 PM on September 19, 2002

This one still beats the hell out of me... though if I was gonna do it it, I'd take (yet) more time to make it run around the street :)
posted by PeteTheHair at 4:57 AM on September 20, 2002

World record of Minesweeper (with screenshots): http://www.math.uiuc.edu/~wichiram/games/minelist.html
posted by grumblebee at 5:08 AM on September 20, 2002

Check out this sandcastle: http://www.sandcastlecentral.com/records/jpgs/hndrsn1.jpg
Page: http://www.sandcastlecentral.com/records/
posted by grumblebee at 5:12 AM on September 20, 2002

altered barbies: http://www.dst.net.au/actstampartists/alteredphotos.htm
posted by grumblebee at 5:27 AM on September 20, 2002

Cool miniature castles: http://www.hirstarts.com/gallery/gallery.html
and: http://www.hirstarts.com/gallery/gallery2.html
posted by grumblebee at 5:41 AM on September 20, 2002

Grizzly-proof suit of armour.
posted by stbalbach at 6:51 AM on September 20, 2002