My fingers got THAT close on 11/28/2011, but I pulled them back. Boy did I want to actually touch and feel the tension that webs through the True F. Luck Gallery at the Visual Arts Center of Richmond.

Artist Jonathan Brilliant’s exhibition entitled “Stick Stack Show” features a massive three-dimensional undulating floor-to-ceiling construction of 70,000 wooden coffee stirrers held together only by tension and compression. And there are other stunning artworks that are made from coffee lids, sleeves, cups, and straws – all compelling and mesmerizing.

Your next visit to a coffee shop won’t be the same.