Wowwwww. Check out this amazing “Galaxy” gown created by CuteCircuit design duo Francesca Rosella and Ryan Genz. Illuminated by 24,000 tiny, lightweight LED lights, the dress is totally wearable and powered by iPod batteries. The circuits and Swarovski crystals are layered on silk “so the LED fabric can move like normal fabric with lightness and fluidity,” the designers report. And it’s eco-friendly, using as much electricity as two household light bulbs.

Finally, someone looks beyond the superficial value of manicures. Photographer Molly Sorno focuses her work on nail art, salons, and manicure culture. Her pictures make you realize that your nails say a lot about you—concentrate solely on them, and you start imagining the person neon airbrushed tips belong to. Sorno’s work is now on display at the Brooklyn, NY gallery Nefer/NFR along with other artists’ works that explore the concept of adornment. If you’re in the area, check it out! Otherwise, look to Sorno’s vision as proof that what you wear on the outside resonates culturally. (Just don’t go so far as to call yourself an artist when you’re getting dressed in the morning.) [Time Out NY and Nylonmag.com]

I’m thinking about buying this beautiful piece, Burden, by Brooklyn-based artist Samantha Hahn. The original was done in concentrated ink on watercolor paper, and the matte giclee print is a brilliant reproduction. As for the subject: a woman holding a tower of chairs on her back. The description of the piece reads, “Chairs are really meant for resting in, yet she carries them—indicating a juxtaposition of roles. Sometimes it seems that we create our own burdens in life.” The 11” x 14” piece is only $45, and 15 percent of the gross sales go to the Kids in Need Foundation, which provides schoolchildren in need with free school supplies. [Working Proof via NOTCOT]

Artist Mark McCloud has an unusual claim to fame: He owns the largest and most well-documented collection of printed or embossed LSD blotter papers in the world, aka the “Institute of Illegal Images.” Now, he wants you to “open your mind” and stuff, too. At Blotter Barn (classy name!) you can purchase large-scale, photographic digital prints of your favorite blotters signed by the man himself. There are modest 17"x22” prints for $120, or 35"x35” ones available for a mere $1,000. Man, these days that stuff sure costs more then it did in high school! (Kidding kids, don’t do drugs!) Seriously, though, the paper these cuties are printed on is 100 percent acid-free. [Blotter Barn]

As far as I was concerned when I was a little girl, there was only one proper use for my Barbie dolls—simulating sex acts. But Barbie and Ken humping (without privates mind you) got old after a while. Now I know that sex is not always a Barbie and Ken doin’ it missionary style event. That’s why I’m lovin’ BuzzFeed’s collection of alternative and lesbian Barbie art. Let’s give little girls some options for their future, puh-lease. Not everyone marries Ken, gets a pink Corvette, and lives in a Dream House. After the jump, some more of my favorite Barbies gone wild. [BuzzFeed]

I got my first period in the sixth grade. When my mom took me to the grocery store to buy pads, I remember glaring at every man that crossed our path, thinking, “You don’t know what it’s like to be controlled by your body! You’re walking around all nonchalant in your Dockers, not a care in the world.” I was immediately and irrevocably pissed off that I had to bleed out of my vagina once a month for most of the rest of my life. But I also felt solidarity, holding my mom’s hand and browsing the maxi pads. I guess that’s why I’m not surprised that the Guardian ran a story this week about women who’ve started a new breed of feminism called “menstrual activism.” Menstrual activist activities range from crafty to political to comedic to environmental. Since a woman uses about 11,400 tampons in her life, lots of menstrual activism involves championing products that aren’t treated with bleach or pesticides, and that can be reused. But you aren’t so interested in that—you want to hear about women dressing up as tampons and wearing period blood lipstick, right? Oh, OK.

The Dell Design Studio has just issued Product Red, a new line of laptop covers created by cool artists where part of the proceeds go to the Global Fund to help combat and eliminate AIDS in Africa. Photographer Ben Grieme created a series of beautiful ombre color gradations (like the one above), Klaus Haapaniemi designed whimsical wallpaper-like patterns based on the four seasons, and Takashi Kusui was inspired to create gorgeous abstract prints to “demonstrate the innate energy of the continent of Africa and Mother Earth.” Check out the entire collection here. If you’re in the market for a new computer and/or an art buyer, it’s a worthwhile add-on. [Full disclosure: Ben Grieme is a dear friend of mine and he’s rad. And yes, he paid me to write that last bit. Hollah!]

Forget the term “starving artist.” ArtPrize is a contest currently in full swing in Grand Rapids, Michigan, where any artist—famous or total nobody—can show work, individually or in groups, at a location of their choosing. Visitors to the festival will vote on their favorite pieces and the top 10 entries will receive cash prizes. The grand prize is lottery-sized at $250,000 smackeroos. So who are we rooting for in this art free-for-all? A group of ladies who call themselves W.H.A.T. Artists, which stands for “Women Heartfully [making] Art Together.” Their ArtPrize installation is called “The ABRAcada-BRA Project: A Show of Support for the Girls” and consists of oodles and oodles of bras. Twenty-five of them are works of art with titles like “Boulder Holder” and “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Surrounding these are hundreds of bras collected from around the world and hung from the walls and ceiling. If you’re in Grand Rapids, go check out the installation at the Riverview Center. And make sure to vote. [ArtPrize]

You may be familiar with the work of Jenny Holzer, whose word-based public artworks have become ubiquitous in our culture. One of her most famous projects, projected across the side of a building, features the phrase, “Protect me from what I want.” Her themes often tackle womanhood, war, and consumerism. Now, the Whitney Museum has taken Holzer’s truisms and turned them into temporary tattoos you can wear, and which, if applied, would, technically, make you a work of art. Choice sentiments range from “In a dream you saw a way to survive and you were full of joy” to “Turn soft and lovely anytime you have the chance.” [BuzzFeed]

A new book on hair, Hair’em Scare’em, showcases the hair on your head as a medium for artistic expression. While you may still be struggling with that updo, some artists are taking locks to a whole new creative level in photography, design, and illustration. It’s avant-garde art in which hair happens to be the material, from sculpture to jewelry to mustaches. For those fascinated by all things hirsute, a few sample pages after the jump. [Notcouture]

Will recreating classic fairy tales and children’s stories in photo shoots ever get old? Probably not. Photographer Elena Kalis took this amazing series of underwater photos in which her 10-year-old daughter plays out scenes from Alice in Wonderland in the clear, blue ocean surrounding the Bahamas, where they live. We’d like to take a trip down this saltwater-filled rabbit hole. [Elena Kalis via NOTCOT]

Sometimes it’s hard to remember that folks back in olden times (a) had a sense of humor and (b) had dirty minds just as bad as ours. But it’s true. An art restorer at the Louvre was tasked with restoring Nicolas Poussin’s 17th century painting “Hymenaios Disguised as a Woman During an Offering to Priapus,” which shows the god of marriage (Hymenaois) giving a gift to the god of fertility (Priapus). Underneath many layers of paint, she found that ... Priapus has an erect penis that’s, well, basically porn-star sized. The restoration team thinks that the peen was probably in the original work and that, years later, another artist covered it up after getting complaints from the Catholic Church. An alternate theory is that, back in the day, artists would paint their subjects nude and then paint clothes on top so as to make them as realistic as possible. Who knows which theory is right, but if you happen to be in Brazil next week, go check out the unveiling of the restored painting at the Museu de Arte de São Paulo. [The Art Newspaper]

At this point in my life, I have enough memorabilia from broken relationships to fill an entire museum. As a writer, I tend to heal after a breakup by writing about it—helps me understand what went wrong. But there aren’t always words to express how painful, sad, annoying, or existentially confusing a breakup can be. And what about the physical, tangible objects left behind—the ones that you come across every so often in the garage that make you laugh, cry, or both. So, after hearing about some of the awesome projects at the Museum of Broken Relationships, a conceptual art museum in Croatia that attempts to create a space of “secure memory” and a safe place to get rid of “controversial objects” that trigger momentarily “undesirable” emotions, I started rummaging through some of my old broken-relationship booty to see what kind of project I could make. Here are my top 10 items.

Think arts and crafts projects are all about camp activities and innocent fun? French artist Marianne Batlle causes us to think again. While her handmade beaded broaches are super crafty, they also channel the world of haute couture with portraits of cute Coco Chanels with signature pearls, cartoonish Karl Lagerfelds, and a flamboyant John Galliano.

Things get weirder with Batlle’s other objets d’art, which involve some equally crafty, um, crocheted penises. While she makes some tamer Christmas-themed sculptures (a fuzzy red penis with a green bow), on Batlle’s website there’s a whole animated fashion show of penis dolls conceived in different themes like Chanel, “Bora Bora” (blue with an exotic purple flower), and “How to Marry a Millionaire,” which is a gold and silver phallus. Who would buy these, you ask? No clue. But if you’re dying for a look, check after the jump for a picture of one of the concept pieces. [CoolHunting.com]

Admit it. From time to time, you browse Craigslist’s Missed Connections, secretly hoping that you’ll recognize a description and realize you are the “girl on the A train.” What could be more romantic than someone experiencing love at first sight? Artist Sophie Blackall brings these moments to life. Using striking “New York Missed Connections” posts, she creates whimsical and colorful illustrations based on the words and scenario. Some are poignant—in one, a waitress at a diner stares longingly at a boy drinking a strawberry milkshake along with the script, “I bought you that milkshake, you just didn’t realize it.” Others are hilarious, like the man looking for a hipster chick who passed gas: “You passed wind rather loudly and started chuckling. I’d like to see you again. The flatulence wasn’t a turn-off.” Check out the fun blog, or purchase a print on Etsy. You never know ... you might find something familiar. [Missed Connections]

Some artists choose to see life through rose-colored glasses. Then there are those who see gritty reality, and still try to make something pretty out of it. Take Tristan Zimmermann, a designer who created these bonsai planters (pretty) and incorporated the concept of what parks are really like (reality). The white porcelain pottery depicts disturbing scenes of what goes on after dark—two men having sex in a corner, a pervert flashing an unsuspecting lady. Then there are also the just-plain-sad scenarios of a man getting mugged or a lonely fellow who has lost his way. In a way, these pieces are a poignant metaphor—not even the youngest, most innocent sapling is immune to the dark realities of the world. Or they’re just totally hilarious. Depends how you see things. [$100, CharlesAndMarie.com]

No, that’s not the slang term for a hoarder, although it would totally fit. Junk monsters are the strange suits London-based photographer Danny Treacy crafts from items he finds in “lonely places,” like the woods, parking lots, and landfills. Once the junk monster suit is completed to Treacy’s satisfaction, he wears it in his life-size self-portraits for his ongoing series Them. The suits and series are described on his website as “nightmares of the catwalk, prowling around the outskirts of style’s dumb extravagance.” Although these found items morph into one collective piece, each garment has a story to tell on its own—“It seems that something that happened to its former owner emanates from each piece of fabric,” wrote photography blogger Isabelle on Cyana Trend Land.

Some, including myself until I took a second look, may argue that this isn’t art. But I’d advise them to look a little closer. Don’t you want to know the stories behind each piece of fabric? It’s a good thing Treacy doesn’t tell us what he knows because then our imaginations would be stunted. Plus, we can also try to figure out what his message is. I think the above junk monster is trying to warn us against the dangers of global warming. It’s saying no amount of protective clothing will ward off the inevitable body bag.

After the jump, two other junk monster photos.

Calling all artists and creative types—and those who just think they’re the next Da Vinci! Social Designer, a company that strives to get people thinking and creating differently, has started a colored pencils of the month club. Well, sort of. After you sign up, once a month you get a batch of 25 different colored pencils delivered to your door. So, just when you’re over the colors you’ve got, a new shipment arrives with loads more pigment possibilities! This so beats the mega box of Crayola crayons. [$33 per month for a 20-month subscription, 500 Pencils]