a load of old rubbish
– that’s the
only way we can think of to describe
this month’s cover. Now, before you
start to worry that we’re being
unnecessarily harsh on the rather
striking image of Usain Bolt, perhaps
we should explain.
Take a closer look and you’ll see
that it has been cleverly cobbled
together from a bunch of household
objects, consumer goods and, yes, some items of refuse.
The idea was that we wanted to build our own 3D portrait of
the world’s fastest man, using materials that represented
different aspects of his life – from iPods and headphones (Bolt
loves to DJ) to chicken nuggets, the food he famously ate during
the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
“I just went out on a
scavenger hunt,”
explains Jason Mecier,
the San Francisco-
based artist tasked with
the job of sourcing
everything and putting
it all together. “I found a
pair of fluorescent
yellow shoes for the
background, while for
his silver sweatshirt, I
found some silver
headphones, some
giant bolts and other
shiny things.”
Calling himself a
mosaic artist, Mecier is
famed for his quirky
celebrity portraits. His
work has been featured
in the
New York Times
,
Harper’s Bazaar
and
FREE TO TAKE HOME
THE MAKING OF
USAIN BOLT
WHAT IT TAKES TO BE THE FASTEST MAN ON THE PLANET
A MAGAZINE FOR PEOPLE WHO LIKE TO TRAVEL SMART
NOVEMBER 2013
{
WORLD’S GREATEST ISSUE
}
PLUS
THE WORLD’S BEST RESTAURANT
/
THE GREATEST SHOW ON EARTH
/
7 CITIES IN 24 HOURS–DID WE SET A NEW WORLD RECORD?
Trash talking
We reveal the rather unusual materials used to make this month’s Usain Bolt cover
Rolling Stone
among others, though his favourite commissions
are the ones where celebs mail him their junk personally, so
that he might make them something to hang up at home.
“Hugh Hefner has his up in his house,” reveals Mecier, who
says some jobs can take up to 50 hours to finish.
So how did ours compare? “Every job has its challenges,”
explains the artist. “I had to dry out the chicken nuggets for a
few weeks before I could cut them and I also used a Skil saw on
the shoes, which were both new experiences. But I’m very
happy with how it turned out.”
jasonmecier.com
M A K I N G O F
T H E C O V E R
01
03
04
02
ARTIST’S RETREAT
01
At work in his studio
02
Using a Skil saw was a
new experience
03
A glue gun is Mecier’s
preferred weapon
04
Kevin Bacon – made
from bacon, obviously
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