Check out these amazing pieces of typewriter art collated over 10 years of work.
James Cook from London, UK, celebrated 10 years of his unique art made entirely with typewriters.
Since 2014, James has created over 350 pieces of artwork and collected over 100 typewriters!
In that time, he created some iconic pieces, including portraits of celebrities, New York’s skyline and even inside the Albert Hall.
James said: “I’d started creating typewriter art as part of an A-level art project at Braintree Sixth Form, inspired by a desire to explore a nearly forgotten art form.
“It wasn’t until I graduated that I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue typewriter art as a full-time career.”
James first discovered his passion for typewriter art in 2014 whilst studying art at Sixth Form in Braintree, UK.
He planned to be an architect and went to University College London, UCL, to pursue this dream.
However, he kept working on his typewriter art to help earn a little extra cash at university.
Eventually, James had the breakthrough he was looking for with his art by sharing it online and it quickly garnered attention.
His unique approach to art and his typewriting method captivated audiences and he quickly became a sensation.
James saw his art explode in popularity and this led to him interacting with some amazing celebrities.
The artist sent one of his portrait creations to actor Tom Hanks who, being a typewriter fan himself, loved it and sent it back signed with a message that read: “To James Cook. This is super! Tom Hanks.”
This was quickly followed by James’ first major international exhibition hosted in Taiwan, showcasing some of his best pieces including his recreation of the Mona Lisa.
He quickly continued from there, he was commissioned to type the artists headlining Coachella, and this caught one of the artist’s attention.
Burna Boy, a Nigerian musical artist, saw his portrait online and shared it, exploding its popularity.
The artist has worked with the likes of Robbie Williams and projects such as the New York City Project, where he typed 1 million hand typed letters full of stories and statistics of the city.
Another of James’ popular creations was his live typing session on stage at the Royal Albert Hall, where he created a 70×70 portrait of the interior.
This took him over 300 hours and used more than 500,000 characters to create and has since become the most viewed video on the Hall’s account accumulating over 20 million views.
James spent over a decade creating his typewriter art but for him and his work it is much more than that.
His love for the artform stemmed not just from the way it looks, but also from the story each typewriter holds.
His work all contained intimate messages and stories hidden within the background just like the typewriters he loved so much.
This has been reflected in his work and his typewriter collection with him receiving one from the queen’s private secretary, that used to belong to BBC middle east correspondent in the 1960’s.
James’ decade of work has contained as many stories and individual details as his work and the typewriters he used to make it.
He said: “At the time, my goal was to become an architect, and I went on to study Architecture at UCL in London after sixth form.
“It wasn’t until I graduated that I decided to take a leap of faith and pursue typewriter art as a full-time career.”
James added: “Receiving a reply from [Tom] Hanks, one of the world’s most famous typewriter enthusiasts, had been a long-time ambition of mine.
“I was blown away when I got my print returned with his autograph and a short message.”
In addition, he explained his Albert Hall experience: “Creating the artwork on stage at the Royal Albert Hall was an unforgettable experience, the sound of the typewriter’s clink and the bell’s ding reverberating around the historic venue made it even more special.”