Every now and then we like to expose you guys to a bit of culture.

Normally this means painful fail videos and chicks in lingerie, but today it means actual art. But this is not just any art. This is the kind of art that happens when hardcore metal design meets blazing inferno. Picture giant cauldrons of flame pumping out hefty BTUs at your next backyard barbecue, and you just about have it.

Artist John T Unger of Mancelona, Michigan is a true renaissance man, and his line of Artisanal Firebowls is nothing short of flame-fueled awesome. When I first laid eyes upon them, I pictured them lining the streets of ancient Pompeii casting their amber hue on the intricate frescoes outside the unassuming stone brothels. Yeah, they really are that good. And there is just something about seeing giant flames lapping at the sides of a primeval bowl of metal that really gets your inner cave man fired up.

Unger's works combine his mastery of metalworking and art with the functionality of sustainable materials to create works of art that are sculptural by day and dancing fire displays by night. Each firebowl is individually hand-cut so no two pieces are the same. And you can even fit them with natural gas or propane burners if "fire on command" is more your thing.

And their price tags don’t put them out of reach of the average Joe art collector/firebug. They start around $400 (some of the simpler ones even lower at around $129), so you can get your own massive mantle and become the envy of all of your buds the next time you light that bad boy up. You can also get some green points because they are made entirely of 100% recycled materials.

Head over to John’s website at www.johntunger.com to get cultured. While you’re there, you can purchase one of his bowls and check out his other projects. As Frank Zappa once said. “Art is making something out of nothing and selling it.” We'd like to add: "Then setting it on fire."