Medium rare
Think you've seen it all in art? Our series on unusual mediums might just change your mind
Hirst has his formaldehyde tanks, Paul McCarthy favours large inflatables.
The enormous range of mediums and techniques employed by today's artists is both fascinating and, in many cases, strongly defines their practice.
Of course, true originality is hard to achieve and whatever your schtick, there's a strong chance someone has beaten you to it. But artists constantly strive to widen the envelope of unconvential creativity through highly individual use of medium or method.
Whether the result is great art or simply rates high in the novelty stakes is something we're going to leave you to decide. But our peek at those who dare to be different attests to the ingenuity of artists, as well as the infinitely protean nature of art. Enjoy.
Ben Long
Scrawling on dirty vehicles isn't exactly uncommon, but young UK artist Ben Long has literally got it down to a fine art (left and below, right).
He's also a dab hand with scaffolding, transforming this unlikeliest of mediums into impressive large-scale sculptures (below, left).
Unsurprisingly, Long's work has been featured in a wide range of publications, and Londoners have had the chance to see the spectacular stag (shown page top) installed in the Elephant and Castle, an inner-city area currently undergoing massive regeneration.
His ability to turn the drabbest materials into something uplifting means we should probably add him to our survey of artists making the mundane marvellous - but for now he's taking a rightful place alongside those producing highly unusual art.
Tom Deininger
It's hard to believe that the homage to Monet shown above, or striking self-portrait (below), consist solely of cast-offs and rummage sale goodies, but toys, trash and a myriad of brightly coloured objects form the basis of 38-year-old Tom Deininger's fiendishly clever collages.
Perfectly colour-blended from a distance, up close there's plenty of fun to be had identifying the vast array of components in his works - and marvelling at how well doll limbs double as nostrils, or Muppets integrate into a bric-a-brac Old Master.
Deininger's most recent recyclable art moves in completely new directions via the re-processing of discarded cigarette butts into intriguing, albeit smelly, objects.
The adorable bunny shown below consists of the furry contents of hundreds of filters, and the artist has also created ciggy sculptures reminiscent of pieces by British artist Sarah Lucas.
Judging by the number of recent searches we've experienced for his work, Deininger is starting to attract definite attention, and we're certainly in favour of his ecological art-making. Just don't go snuggling those butt-end bunnies.
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