Pyros, prepare to drool all over your Zippos: Someone has built a sculpture that magically bursts into flames —all it takes is a wave of the hand.

We know, we know. It sounds totally nuts! But just watch the video. Things get good 'round about the 1:35 mark. Insanity, riiiiiiiight?! It's as if Minority Report mated with Dante's Inferno smack dab in the middle of the art gallery, with some Frankenstein sets thrown in.

The artist here is Slovenia's Sanela Jahic, and her sculpture looks a lot more complicated than it is: It's basically just a kerosene lab rigged to respond to gestural control. She calls it a "Fire Painting" and not by accident: Through subtle movements — a twist of the finger, say, or a flick of the wrist — she manipulates fire as a painter would his watercolors. Neat stuff. Though we'd hate to see this thing fall into the wrong hands.


Republished with permission from Co.Design/FastCompany.com. Authored by Suzanne LaBarre.