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A portrait created by hundreds of Rubik's Cubes. Rubik's Cube Art Rubik's Cube Art

Toronto Rubik's Cube champ helps make puzzle art

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CTV News Video

Canada AM: Eric Limeback, Rubik's speed cuber
The Canadian speedcuber explains how he turned his Rubik's cube hobby into a full-time job and has memorized 150 algorithms for a standard cube, while also showing off his speedy cube solving skills.
CTV National News: John Vennavally-Rao reports
A Toronto teenager, who is one of the fastest at solving the Rubik's Cube, can also rearrange them into works of art.

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A portrait created by hundreds of Rubik's Cubes. Rubik's Cube Art Rubik's Cube Art

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A portrait created by hundreds of Rubik's Cubes.

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Date: Wed. Aug. 25 2010 10:33 PM ET

A Toronto Rubik's Cube whiz has landed a job helping to spin the classic puzzle into artwork with five-digit price tags.

Eric Limeback can solve the Rubik's Cube in as little as 7.1 seconds.

He says he's good at math and good at recognizing patterns, which helps, and learned how to solve the 1980s-era puzzle from the Internet.

After three years of practice, he has become tough to beat -- even solving the puzzle blindfolded or using only his left hand.

So when Toronto-based graphic designer Josh Chalom was looking for people to assemble recreations of classic artworks featuring the likes of Marilyn Monroe and Mick Jagger -- using hundreds of specifically arranged Rubik's cubes -- Limeback fit the bill.

"It gets people talking. It's happy art -- people have to smile when they see it," Chalom said. "You have collectors that just love it."

Employees like Limeback arrange the colourful cubes using specifications from a computer-generated design. Clients can then spend tens of thousands of dollars purchasing the images that emerge.

Chalom's depiction of "The Last Supper," made up of 4,000 cubes, is now hanging in a Florida home.

Next, he's taking aim at a much larger, more iconic image.

"We're recreating 'The Sistine Chapel' using 250,000 cubes," Chalom said.

If that project comes together, Eric would have a lot more work ahead of him. But Chalom needs to find a Las Vegas hotel willing to buy his recreation, first.

The asking price? A whopping $2 million.

With a report from CTV's John Vennavally-Rao

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