Category Archives: Art

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Andrei Molodkin: Transformer No. V579

Light sculpture, Light installation, Lumen, London, Art Sensus, collabcubedLight sculpture, Light installation, Lumen, London, Art Sensus, collabcubedLight sculpture, Light installation, Lumen, London, Art Sensus, collabcubedClick to enlarge

Oh how I wish I were in London to see this!  Russian artist Andrei Molodkin has created a site-specific installation titled Transformer No. V579. The exhibit consists of three galleries: the first, a monumental corridor of transparent acrylic tubes filled with light and oil; the second gallery, shows a video with details of the installation’s construction; and the last, is a ‘laboratory’ of drawings and photographs that outline the project’s development.

Visitors are encouraged to interact and walk through the six cubed modules and corridors. The effect of the bleeding oil and its glowing white light counterpart is reminiscent of blood coursing through the human body.

From the gallery’s site:
While the oil and light represent simple dichotomies of life and death, purity and greed, the dissimilar substances unite to highlight the interchangeability of these labels. Oil is both a natural substance of an ancient earth and yet the fuel of urban, technological and unnatural power. It is Molodkin’s intention that visitors will directly experience an unlikely physiological affinity to this substance and will find themselves « true revolutionaries » upon exiting the installation, « capable of achieving a variety of mutually exclusive goals »

Hard not to be reminded of my last trip to London and one my favorite light exhibits ever.

Transformer No. V579 will be on view at Art Sensus in London through December 17, 2011.

via ArtSensus and Frame

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Rafaël Rozendaal: Internet Art

Interactive art, internet art, domain name art, collabcubedInteractive art, internet art, domain name art, collabcubedClick to enlarge.

Dutch-Brazilian, world-traveling artist Rafaël Rozendaal uses the internet as his canvas, in addition to the more traditional installations, drawings and writing. Much of his art, however, is in the form of websites. Mostly interactive, these sites are playful and many times simple in their execution; each with their own URL. As a result the URLs of Rozendaal’s art are for sale.

Rafaël Rozendaal is also the creator of Bring Your Own Beamer, an international series of one-night exhibitions where artists bring their own laptop and/or slide projector (beamer) to show their work. Anyone can make a BYOB exhibition, according to Rozendaal’s website: 1) find a space; 2) invite many artists; 3) ask them to bring their projectors. Upcoming BYOB cities includ Sao Paolo, Portland, Maine, Darwin, Australia, Milan and Melbourne. You can check the calendar here.

Above are stills from a few of Rozendaal’s websites. The individual names link to their respective URLs and are definitely worth checking out in their interactive mode.

From top to bottom and left to right:
Carnal Fury (x2); Color Flip; Tossing Turning (x2); Flaming Log; Paper Toilet; The Persistence of Sadness.

via +81

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Stéphane Malka: Urban Study Installations

Malka Architecture, installations, art, BoomBox, Fury, Ame-lotMalka Architecture, installations, art, BoomBox, Fury, Ame-lotMalka Architecture, installations, art, BoomBox, Fury, Ame-lotThis is where the line between art and architecture blurs. French architect Stéphane Malka started as a graffiti artist in his younger life. Through that experience Malka discovered the city and its untapped potential. He has a strong taste for ‘soft’ resistance and lives in continuous quest for abandoned spaces that offer the possibility for “creating new urban vitality.”

Consequently, Stephane Malka has amassed an impressive body of work, from installations and other completed projects, to elaborate studies and proposals for urban projects, to impressive competition entries. The similar theme throughout his work includes reuse and reappropriation of materials; recycling the existing without additional processing.

Above are his most recent projects.

From top to bottom: Boombox Space Invader, Moscow; Boombox-luz, Barcelona (with light projections); Ame-Lot On the Blind Walls, Paris (a study on housing and avoidance of deconstruction but rather superimposing interventions onto built buildings.);  The Temple of Fury for NYC, a study for an installation made of Reebok Fury Insta-Pumps. A criticism of today’s excessive consumption and desire over need.

via archdaily

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Ardan Özmenoglu: Multi-panel Sculptures

Contemporary sculpture, art installation, Istanbul, Turkis art, collabcubedContemporary sculpture, art installation, Istanbul, Turkis art, collabcubedTurkish artist Ardan Özmenoglu, whose Post-it Art we’ve featured before, focuses on the idea of repetition and its relation to the process of image consumption and permanence, to mass production and ritual.

In her multi-panel glass sculptures, she slices a flat image into its constituent parts in topographic map style. The image becomes abstract and changes depending on the angle from which it is viewed.

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Robert Wilson: 7 Electric Chairs for 7 Decades

Bob Wilson, neon, Kartell, 7 Electric Chairs..As You Like ItRobert Wilson, neon, Kartell, 7 Electric Chairs..As You Like ItClick to enlarge.

In celebration of his 70th birthday, artist/choreographer/stage designer (and more!) Robert Wilson has designed a set of seven polycarbonate and neon chairs produced by Kartell.

The seven chairs are titled 7 Electric Chairs…As You Like It, alluding to his seven decades, seven days of the week, as well as the seven ages of man in Shakespeare’s “As You Like It.” Each chair’s neon insertion expresses a different form and power.

The chairs are on view in the Teatro alla Scala in Milan through the end of September and will then be available to collectors through art galleries around the world. Perfect for lumen lovers.

Top photo: Lorenzo Nencioni for The New York Times

via NY Times and Domus. Thanks Eric!

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Kane Cali: Glass Ripples

glass sculpture, rippled layered glass, malta design weekglass sculpture, rippled layered glass, malta design weekglass sculpture, rippled layered glass, malta design weekClick to enlarge.

British artist Kane Cali has always been fascinated by nature, especially through the eyes of science. He embraces all that new technologies have to offer and creates with them as well as with more traditional methods. His most recent work utilizes 3d modeling and glass. Whether the effect of colliding droplets or ripples in milk, Cali translates these into impressive glass sculptural landscapes in rich color tones, some translucent and some opaque.

Check out his glass Dot Portraits as well.

via malta design week

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AnnMarie van Splunter: Rubbertree

Tire Installation, playground, Thailand, Tree sculpture, collabcubedTire Installation, playground, Thailand, Tree sculpture, refugeesHere’s an interesting concept for reuse of tires in a positive way. Rubbertree, designed by Dutch designer AnnMarie van Splunter, is a proposal for a school playground for refugee children in Thailand. By constructing an oversized sculpture of a rubber tree made of recycled rubber tires, the tires, in a sense, come full circle.

Imitating the long and expanding roots of a real rubber tree, this installation would be relatively easy to build requiring only local materials including motorbike tires, bamboo and rope. No metal parts are necessary. The frame would be made from the bamboo and the tires could safely hug the frame (see small illustration of tire and bamboo above.)

From the designer:
This tree with long and expanding roots offers an open and inviting landscape on different levels: spaces to roam and explore, for spontaneous play.
It provides shelter and shadow and places where children can sit in, on, under, or lean against and find a place where they can make a den and find privacy or can be alone with friends.

Nice!

via Open Architecture Network

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Yael Davids: Anatomical Performance Art

Performance art, body, humor, Israeli artist, Amsterdam, collabcubedPerformance art, body, humor, Israeli artist, Amsterdam, collabcubedArtist Yael Davids, born in Israel but based in Amsterdam, explores the human body and its different expressions within space, architecture and the object world in general. More often than not she will use performance as the means of exploration. Using boundaries such as walls and tables to function as masks, Davids creates sometimes humorous, other times slightly disturbing art installations with people/performers as her subjects, creating, in many cases, a sense of oppression. Though these works are labeled as performance art, they are almost static by nature.

From top to bottom:
Table © Yael Davids, Museum De Paviljoens; Head; A Line, a Word, a Sentence photos by Christian Fusco; Aquarium © Yael Davids; Thread © Yael Davids, Museum De Paviljoens

via atti democratici

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Keith Sonnier: Light Installations + Sculptures

Light sculptures, installations, lumen, architecture, collabcubedLight sculptures, installations, lumen, architecture, collabcubedLight sculptures, installations, lumen, architecture, collabcubedClick to enlarge.

Originally from Louisiana, Keith Sonnier has been working with fluorescent light bulbs and neon since the late 1960s. He has many series of light sculptures with different names such as ‘Ba-O-Ba’,  ‘Sel’, ‘Blatt’ and ‘Chandelier’ each with its own distinctive style and twist. Some more minimalist and geometric, while others busier and loopy.

In addition to his extensive sculptural work, Sonnier has created many installations over the years in public spaces including working with architects such as Morphosis on the Caltrans headquarters building in Los Angeles, an installation in the Lever House, and others in various airports.

Quite the body of beautiful work.

Photos courtesy of Keith Sonnier, Mary Boone Gallery,  National Gallery of Australia and the Ace Gallery. All of which are sites where you can see more of Sonnier’s work.
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Emily Floyd: Type as Art

Contemporary Art, Type, Australian, Anna Schwartz GalleryContemporary Art, Type, Australian, Anna Schwartz GalleryAs a designer and lover of type, I really enjoy when art and type are combined — I pretty much enjoy when type is combined with anything. So it’s not surprising that I enjoyed coming across Australian artist Emily Floyd’s work. Drawing inspiration from the text-based Conceptual Art of the 60s, Floyd thinks it’s important to find new ways of working with language. In her art, she likes to combine different texts and fragments of different narratives and have the viewer experience them. Themes in her work include politics, ecology, philosophy and fiction.

You can see more of Emily Floyd’s installations on the Anna Schwartz Gallery site.

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Polly Borland: Disturbingly Funny Photos

photography, contemporary art, creepy, smudge, Paul Kasminphotography, contemporary art, creepy, smudge, Paul Kasminphotography, contemporary art, creepy, smudge, Paul KasminAustralian-born, longtime-London-based, currently-residing-in-LA photographer Polly Borland dresses up her models in costumes, makeup and, sometimes, spandex to create her own personal visual language. Somewhat creepy yet humorous, Borland’s photos hardly go unnoticed. Having regularly photographed portraits for several UK and American magazines including The New York Times and The Independent, Borland decided to change gears and create her own subject matter by adding a humorously disturbing theatrical element.

An exhibit of Polly Borland’s photographs from her Smudge series will be shown at the Paul Kasmin Gallery, here in NYC, opening September 22nd.

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“Social Media” in Chelsea

Chelsea, Social Media, art installation, NYC, globeChelsea, Social Media, art installation, NYC, globeTonight, as the cold air blew into town (what’s up with that, anyway?) so too did the crowds into Chelsea. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen Chelsea so crowded. Part of the attraction was the opening of David Byrne’s installation, Tight Spot, the huge inflated globe squeezed in under the High Line. Byrne was there himself, looking tan and chipper, while we listened to his very deep, bass, pre-recorded distorted vocal sounds emanating from the globe.

Next door in the Pace gallery itself, was the opening of the show Social Media. Among the interesting pieces (in all honestly, it was a little too crowded to appreciate in its entirety) I really enjoyed Christopher Baker’s Murmur Study and Penelope Umbrico’s Sideways TVs.

The Murmur Study is instantly engaging and fun with all its ticker-tape spewing live Twitter status updates from twenty thermal printers attached to the gallery walls.

Sideways TVs by Penelope Umbrico made me chuckle. A large collection of miniature photos nicely hung separated from the wall and all displaying a collection of outdated TV monitors. Impressive how those things have trimmed down in the past few years.

There is plenty more to see at the Pace show and all the other galleries as well. Looks like the fall is here to stay and, just like that, another season of Chelsea art shows has begun.

Tight Spot will be on exhibit through October 1st, and Social Media runs through October 15th.

Top photo: Mustafah Abdulaziz for The Wall Street Journal
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Michelangelo Pistoletto: Serpentine Gallery

Installation, Mirror of Judgement, London, Contemporary ArtInstallation, Serpentine Gallery, London, Contemporary ArtInstallation, collabcubed, Contemporary Art, cardboard mazeA leading figure in conceptual art, Italian artist Michelangelo Pistoletto has combined several elements from previous works to create the site-specific installation The Mirror of Judgment at the Serpentine Gallery in London. In the labyrinth of corrugated cardboard one comes upon sculptures/objects that include a Trumpet of Judgement, a Buddha, and a prayer kneeler, to name a few. Pistoletto says the gallery is like a temple – in a spiritual sense, not religious – where we come up against the mirror and are meant to judge ourselves.

From the gallery’s website:
Pistoletto’s exhibition will draw visitors through the galleries, leading them via a winding maze to hidden installations and sculptures. Responding to the architecture of the Serpentine galleries and using an economy of materials, the exhibition will manipulate visitors’ perceptions of space, making them an integral part of the work itself.

The exhibit runs through Saturday, September 17th, so if you’re in London, rush on over and check it out!

via Serpentine Gallery

Photos courtesy of: Serpentine Gallery, Galleria Continua; Politicus; Sebastiano Pellion; Bertrand Huet; and Oak Taylor-Smith. ©2011 Michelangelo Pistoletto
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Sena Arcak: Scale Room

art installation, scale, weight, Istanbul, societal pressuresart installation, scale, weight, Istanbul, societal pressuresI had to smile when I came across Sena Arcak’s installation Scale Room/These Scales are Correct. I would imagine this would be many people’s worst nightmare.

The Istanbul based artist installed eighty-four bathroom scales on the floor of a 6-meter square room. The scales act as tiles making up the floor. Love it.

From the artist:
The idea of producing this project emerged as a reaction to the societal pressure that is induced by a constant flow of images of thin women in print and digital media. But more than that, I feel much more troubled by the competitive and judgmental pressure imposed on each other by women.

Also part of the Scale Series is Just, only (three bottom photos) displaying a pair of armless hands pressing down on a scale.

Photos courtesy of Sena Arcak.
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Ardan Özmenoglu: Post-it Art

Post-it art, silk screen, pop art, TurkeyPost-it art, silk screen, pop art, Turkey, Mona Lisa, Frida KahloIn recent years, there has been quite a bit of Post-it based art, taking advantage of its pixel-quality square shape. Turkish artist Ardan Ozmenoglu’s Post-it art seizes upon a different quality of the note: the transient nature, such as curling or falling over time as well as the disposable aspect. Whether using a grid of Post-its as her canvas, or printing on each individual Post-it and overlapping them en masse, Ozmenoglu counts on the changing quality of these notes as part of the work, creating an interesting result.

From the artist:
… I subject images to reproduction on that most ubiquitous yet disposable of modern conveniences, the Post-it. Social commentary enters into the experience as the images eventually curl and fall away like so many autumn leaves.

Check out more of her work here.