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$Australia Out<br /> 28/11/2010 - Estonia<br /> WWII Mine Furniture<br /> One mans wartime lethal weapon of mass destruction is another mans explosive new line of furniture. Proving you cant sink a great idea, a famous modern artist is turning old WWII marine mines in to stunning steampunk style items for posh lounges. Like the fireplace complete with several of the sinister looking spikes intact on the Russian made munitions. It was contact with these protrusions that took down submarines during WWII. Touch a spike, and it was likely to be curtains for the vessel and all those on board. But now Mati Karmin, one of the best-known sculptors of Estonia, has launched Marine Mine Furniture. For 25 years, the 51-year-old has been one of the personalities in the Estonian sculpture. His career as an artist is characterised by an intense and remarkably versatile activity. \nHe explained where he finds the mines he uses in his furniture.\nMati said: The Naissaar Island is situated in the Gulf of Finland, 15 kilometres away from Tallinn. As a military object, Naissaar has always interested the rulers of Estonia, which is the reason why the inhabitants have often been forced to leave the island. The area of Naissaar is 18.6 km2. Naissaar used to be a favourite spot for pirates and smugglers during the earlier times. The first military object - a cannon battery - was erected on Naissaar by the Swedish rulers during the Great Northern War in 1705. After the end of the Great Northern War, when Estonia was included in the Russian Empire, Russia continued militarising the Naissaar Island: a defensive building with five bastions was erected in 1720. Russia started modernising the military objects of the Gulf of Finland at the beginning of the 20th century. The Naissaar and Mäkiluoto cannon batteries and a minefield connecting them were designed to be the priority in this system. The project was not completed due to the outbreak of WW I. When retreating from the Germans in 1918, the Russians blew up m$