Man Designs Intricate Works of Art Using Excel Spreadsheets

Some people believe that spreadsheets are a necessary evil for calculating budgets, doing expense reports and organizing lists, but Japanese artist Tatsuo Horiuchi uses spreadsheets to create works of art. The 73-year-old uses AutoShapes in Excel to design traditional-looking Japanese art that is both beautiful to look at and intricately detailed.

Horiuchi began making his unique art using spreadsheets 10 years ago. Before retiring, he said he would see his co-workers in the office using Excel to make detailed graphs, and he thought to himself, "I could probably draw with that. Graphics software is expensive, but Excel comes pre-installed in most computers."

For those of you who are reading this right now and looking at Horiuchi's art and thinking, "No way! How in the world could someone create that kind of ornate artwork using Excel?" you can download a file yourself and take a look at how each individual cell appears.

People first began taking notice of Horiuchi's work in 2006 after he entered an Excel AutoShape Art Contest. His artwork far surpassed other people's entries, and the judges quickly realized that what Horiuchi was able to do was superior. He won first place in that competition.

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