Stone Sculptor Completes Year-Long Project of Glowing TRON Identity Disc: Sculpture For Sale Through Auction With Proceeds Going to code.org

 

LIVINGSTON, NJ (July 2021) – Taking Disney’s TRON fandom to a whole new level, New Jersey artist Dan Saland announces the release of a hand-carved replica of the identity disc from the 1982 classic film. The one-of-a-kind sculpture is available for sale, via www.ebay.com/itm/313595711921, beginning on July 9: the 39^th Anniversary of the movie’s release. Proceeds from the sale will go to code.org, a nonprofit organization focused on increasing the participation in Computer Science by young women and students from other underrepresented groups.

 

TRON (1982) is a sci-fi action-adventure film about a rebel video game programmer (Jeff Bridges), who gets transported into a computer software world, where programs interact like people and circuits are like freeways, and losing a game can result in “deresolution.” The identity disc is the most critical piece of the equipment for programs on the GRID. It records everything a program does and its rings glow when in use. Saland’s sculpture, End of Line, is modeled after TRON’s disc. It holds information that will free the system from Master Control’s tyrannical rule and order. End of Linesits atop a custom-built, light-up base. It weighs approx. 40lbs and measures 16”x14”x14”. 

 

“I grew up on TRON and simply love the franchise,” stated Saland about this recent project. “I shared the experience with my son during those long, stay-at home, early days of the pandemic. We binge-watched the movies and the animated series on Disney+. Not only did my reacquaintance with the stories inspire the sculpture, but it also influenced my son’s interest in digital design and coding. This sculpture is sure to be a prized possession for any TRON fan out there. Also, we are supporting a great charity by helping educate tomorrow’s computer scientists.”   

 

To create the sculpture, Saland began the process in August of 2019, with a chunk of white, translucent, Italian alabaster. As if powered by the GRID itself, the rings he sculpted radiate from carefully inlaid, glow-in-the-dark, epoxy resin. End of Line symbolizes the moment when reality meets the GRID: a central concept within the film. Using nothing more than a few references from the movie, a vision for the piece, many different hand tools (e.g. hammers, chisels, rasps...) and bona fide imagination, Saland was able to create a genuine piece of art that, according to him, “is one of [his] most creative sculptures as of yet.”

 

Dan Saland is an award-winning stone sculptor and licensed clinical psychologist. What began as a mere hobby ten years ago quickly escalated into his work being featured in exhibitions and festivals, including the 2021 Rockland Arts Festival (for his sculptured piece called the Silverback Gorilla) and the 2019 Gaelen Gallery (for his sculptured piece called Big Red), where he won the Best in Sculpture Award.

 

To place a bid at the auction, please visit: www.ebay.com/itm/313595711921

Mark Hamill Pranks Star Wars Fans

To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, Omaze rounded up a bunch of superfans to act out iconic Star Wars scenes, but what they were not ready for was their surprise co-star: the REAL Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill)! 

Mark is encouraging fans to participate in the latest Star Wars: Force For Change campaign at omaze.com/StarWars which is running through May 11. Fans have the chance to be in the upcoming Han Solo movie, attend the premiere of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and spend the night at Skywalker Ranch! Mark also announces one more reward which is you could have lunch in LA with him and get 2 tickets to a pre-screening of The Last Jedi. The best part is that every donation supports UNICEF and Starlight Children’s Foundation - two incredible children charities.

Jinja The Soapstone Lion for Charity

Jake Manion who works at Aardman and his girlfriend will be doing a charity bike ride in November from Uganda to Kenya where they will be raising money for The Kenyan Orphan Project. To help them raise money, they have had a ton of help from Aardman and decided to design a vinyl toy. Instead of the toy being made out of vinyl, they are being hand-carved out of soapstone by Geoffrey in Kenya.

People who donate money will get one of these back. Only 30 of these will be made available as of right now as this is how many they can put in their luggage and take back. If the demand exceeds 30 they will figure something out.

This Thursday, October 30th, they will be auctioning 8 customs Jinja The Lion in resin by the following artists on ebay:

• Peter Lord (Aardman founder) • Rich Webber (Purple & Brown / DC Funnest) • Merlin Crossingham (Wallace & Gromit) • Gav Strange (Aardman / JamFactory) • Sarah Matthews (Aardman / BernysPlace) • Sam Hadley (Slumberbean) • Danny Capozzi (Aardman / Hero73*) • Peskimo Sam

You will also find below is a video of Sam Hadley Painting his custom Jinja.

All proceeds go direct to the Kenyan Orphan Project, who are a great charity based in Bristol, like Aardman. 

For more info on the Jinja Hand-Carved Soapstone Toys, please visit http://jinjalion.com to see how you can donate or to find more information regarding Jinja. 

We've never seen Soapstone Toys before. Looks interesting and something definitely unique.

ComiXology's Panels, Giveaways & a Party for Charity at NYCC!

October 6th, 2014 – New York, NY – Take comics further this New York Comic Con 2014 (NYCC) as comiXology – the revolutionary cloud-based digital comics platform – hosts an impressive line-up of panels loaded with special guests as well as Kindle Fire HDX and Fire 6 tablet giveaways. Also, don’t miss the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund (CBLDF) party Saturday, October 11th, proudly sponsored by comiXology and Dynamite Entertainment, where there will be free food, drinks and even more giveaways! NYCC 2014 runs from Thursday, October 9th through Sunday, October 12th at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City.

Super7's Brian Flynn x MOO Wall to Wail Ghostpapers Business Cards for MOO's The LUXE Project

Super7's Brian Flynn was selected to be this month's Designer for MOO's The LUXE Project. His Wall to Wail Ghostpapers business cards were inspired from Brian's best selling print "Haunted House". The patterns of these business cards are his interpretation of haunted house's custom wall paper. These are available in 4 different colors - Orange, Black, Blue & Green.

"The Luxe Project is a brand new initiative that teams brilliant creatives with new Luxe Business Cards - and helps good causes as well! For one full year we will be launching limited edition designs from well-known international designers exclusively for Luxe Business Cards. Their designs will be available for about one month and 100% of net proceeds will go to the designer's charity of choice.

Brian’s chosen charity is OneSight. He says, “When our first daughter was born, she needed glasses from a very early age. Our initial fear was that she would reject them as a nuisance. To the contrary, her glasses provided her with such a difference in how she perceived the world, that she never took them off. For many people, the simple act of seeing the world is not as easy as many of us think it is, so we chose OneSight as a way to help those in need.” OneSight, a Luxottica Foundation, is a family of vision care charities dedicated to providing healthy vision, eyewear and sun protection to those in need worldwide."