January 6, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

teamLab: Homogenizing & Transforming World

Click to enlarge

Tokyo-based teamLab is a group of ultra-technologists including programmers, user-interface engineers, mathematicians, CG animators, as well as architects, designers, artists and editors, who blur the boundaries of their respective fields to create and discover new ideas and push limitations. Presently, their interactive installation Homogenizing and Transforming World is part of the exhibition Distilling Senses: A Journey through Art and Technology in Asian Contemporary Art, at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. Individual balls floating within an enclosed space communicate to each other via wireless connection. They change color and emit different sounds when touched by visitors or bump into each other or other objects. The balls send color information to other balls which in turn spread the information to other balls, changing all the balls to the same color. The piece is a metaphor for the internet and globalization in general. People act as intermediaries for information which so quickly travels via the internet globally, transforming the world in an instant and unifying at the same time.

You can see the installation live through January 12, 2014 or in the video below anytime:

via gestalten

December 19, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Duke Riley: Homing Pigeon Performance Art

Click to enlarge

Brooklyn-based artist Duke Riley describes his work this way in his artist statement:

My work addresses the prospect of residual but forgotten unclaimed frontiers on the edge and inside overdeveloped urban areas, and their unsuspected autonomy. I am interested in the struggle of marginal peoples to sustain independent spaces within all-encompassing societies, the tension between individual and collective behavior, the conflict with institutional power. I pursue an alternative view of hidden borderlands and their inhabitants through drawing, printmaking, mosaic, sculpture, performative interventions, and video structured as complex multimedia installations.

His piece Trading with the Enemy seems to fit the bill perfectly. Riley trained 50 homing pigeons to travel from Havana to Key West, Fla. Half the flock were smugglers of Cuban cigars while the rest documented their travels on film. The cigar-laden pigeons were given names of notorious smugglers such as Pierre Lafitte, while the filmers were given names of famous film directors who have had run-ins with the law: i.e. Roman Polanski and Mel Gibson. I imagine there’s a certain thrill to subverting hi-tech drones with good old fashion homing pigeons. Riley’s connection to the birds goes back to his childhood, after rescuing one, letting it go free, and finding that it returned to him. Trading With the Enemy is part of an exhibit titled See You at the Finish Line currently at Magnan Metz in Chelsea. Two of the pigeons are for sale at the gallery along with the art. The show will run through January 11, 2014. For those who can’t make it in person, you can watch the video of the pigeons’ adventure, below.

Photos courtesy of MagnanMetz & The New York Times

via nytimes

December 18, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Janice Lee Kelly: Balloon Sculptures

Click to enlarge

Initially inspired by working with balloons in her retail business, architect/photographer/entrepreneur Janice Lee Kelly (originally from Kentucky) began developing the medium into her own personal art form, eventually creating her studio FLOAT. Creating gravity-defying, kinetic and ethereal sculptures, Kelly captures and records their interaction with the environment through photography and video. In addition, Kelly creates balloon pieces and installations for exhibits and event spaces that range from smaller private ones to Lincoln Center for the Big Apple Circus.

via risdxyz

December 13, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Hello Wood: 365-Sled Christmas Tree

Click to enlarge

Imagine 365 wooden sleds stacked in the form of a Christmas tree. Now imagine each of those sleds going to a child in need once the structure is dismantled. Nice, right? Well, that’s just what architecture/design studio Hello Wood (previously here) is doing at the Palace of Arts in Budapest. In the span of one week, they built an 11-meter tall tree that can be viewed from inside as well, giving the impression of being in the middle of a giant snowflake. The base is made of steel to keep things safe in case of strong winter winds. A tall wooden frame was built with the help of a crane and some welding, in which the sleds were fixed upon. Once the temporary installation comes down, Hello Wood will donate the sleds to the children at SOS Children’s Villages, keeping things reusable and charitable as the holidays should be.

Here’s a video of the installation process:

Photos: Daniel Dömölky

via architect

December 12, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

The Snails are Coming! The Snails are Coming!

Click to enlarge

Well, actually, they’re already here. These eight foot snails are part of the REgeneration Art Project and are made of recyclable plastic obtained from landfills. The snails are a creation of the Cracking Art Group (previously here) consisting of six international artists whose intention is to change art history through both a strong social and environmental commitment, and a revolutionary and innovative use of different recyclable plastic materials. The snails were “living” at Rumsey Field in Central Park up until last week before moving (okay, they were more moved/transported than moving themselves) to Columbus Circle last week. You’re gonna have to trust me, they’re there. That’s where I spotted them earlier today, but no time for photo-taking. Apparently there’s at least one at Eataly on 23rd Street as well. These snails seem to keep with the scavenger hunt street art theme that has descended upon our city since the fall, first with Banksy, then Invader, and now, in a smaller, yet at the same time larger, scale, the invasion of the red snails.

The snails will be up at Columbus Circle through January 6th, 2014, so if you happen to be in the neighborhood, do keep an eye out for them.

Photos: Timothy Clary/AFP; Captain Kidder; Silverscreen Productions; gigi_nyc;

December 11, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

George Ferrandi: It Felt Like I Knew You…

Click to enlarge

For some, regularly dozing in moving vehicles and inadvertently leaning against random strangers while doing so, is a common occurrence (ahem…Em), but in the case of Brooklyn-based artist George Ferrandi, it’s completely intentional. For her ongoing project It Felt Like I Knew You… Ferrandi rides the subway (her choice for these interventions because of its packed quality and the loneliness one can feel despite the physical intimacy) during rush hour and tests the limits of this shared confined area by reshaping the space between her body and a stranger’s sitting next to her.

I focus on the shape of the space between the person sitting next to me and myself. I attempt to mentally and emotionally re-sculpt that space. In my mind, I reshape it- from the stiff and guarded space between strangers to the soft and yielding space between friends. I direct all my energy to this space between us. When the space palpably changes, and I completely feel like the stranger sitting next to me is my friend, I rest my head on that person’s shoulder…

Ferrandi started the continuing project in 2012. The endearingly humorous results are documented by co-conspirator Angela Gilland on her phone. So, the next time you feel a woman’s head rest on your shoulder in the subway, it’s likely to be George Ferrandi…or, Em.

It Felt Like I Knew You can be seen at the Abrons Arts Center as part of the exhibit GUTS through the end of December.

via abrons arts center

December 9, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

12 Shoes for 12 Lovers: Errazuiz

Click to enlarge

NYC-based Chilean designer Sebastian Errazuriz (previously here and here) enjoys playing with the offbeat and wacky in his designs while pushing boundaries. His latest project, currently on exhibit at Miami Basel, is titled 12 Shoes for 12 Lovers. Consisting of twelve shoe sculptures, each representing the memory of twelve previous relationships, the project is an attempt to go through the reminiscence of former lovers who are the inspiration for each Shoe Sculpture. The shoes are accompanied by photos and stories in which Errazuriz reveals a glimpse of each relationship and in the process exposes himself to scrutiny and judgment. Some sculpture titles include: Cry Baby, Jetsetter, Gold Digger, The Virgin, GI Jane, and the Rock. You can see the rest of the set over here.

via core77

December 5, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Coloso: DOMA Collective

Click to enlarge

I’ve seen electrical towers disguised as unconvincing trees, but a colossal robot might be the more fun way to go. That’s just what Buenos Aires art collective Doma did for the Tecnopolis, a science and technology art fair in Villa Martelli, Argentina. The converted power tower was aptly named Coloso and its glowing neon hands, heart, and animated face add to the fun of the almost 148 ft tall artistic intervention. The luminous robot puts on quite a show at night highlighting its winking eyes and growing heart. Watch it in action below:

via graffitimundo

December 4, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Mana Morimoto: Fiber Art

Click to enlarge

Tokyo-based textile artists Mana Morimoto hand-stitches black and white photographs with colorful thread to create a unique, somewhat surreal effect. Her love of geometric shapes, embroidery, and weaving all come together in a self-described “creepy and funny” contemporary style. Morimoto enjoys the idea of combining digital and analog in her work. She converts all her images to black and white, prints them out, pokes holes through the image with a needle and proceeds to add the colorful threads, often emanating from the subjects’ eyes. There are many more pieces on her MNMRMT tumblr.

via étapes

December 2, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Gingerbread & Candy Art Museums

Click to enlarge

Sure, it’s that time of year when visions of sugar plums dance in your head, and gingerbread houses abound. But New Zealand-born artist/photographer Henry Hargreaves based in Brooklyn and stylist/chef Caitlin Levin took their holiday creations to new heights. The two have collaborated on several projects in the past (Deep Fried Gadgets being a largely recognizable one,) but their latest collaboration took the form of Gingerbread and Candy Art Museums & Galleries for ArtBasel/Miami. These amazing models of the iconic institutions were made using gingerbread, hard candy, chocolate, licorice, and many other tasty sweets. Hargreaves and Levin made tabletop-size replicas of the Louvre, Guggenheim, Maxxi, Tate Modern, Karuizawa Gallery, MAS, and Soumaya and then cleverly lit and photographed each one.

You can see more of the process here.

via grit and neatorama

November 26, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Benjamin Løzninger: C/Loud Project

Click to enlarge

French-born, and now Brooklyn-based, artist/designer/musician Benjamin Løzninger likes to merge digital storytelling with experimental branding. This past summer Løzninger’s C/Loud Project took to the streets of Paris and Brooklyn. With the idea of seeking refuge from some of life’s daily worries or the “dull bluntness of ocular reiteration,” the artist covered the sides of buildings, garage doors, billboards and more, with large digital prints of cloud-filled blue skies, subliminally suggesting a head-in-the-clouds effect. The hope is to provoke a smile, breath, or at a minimum a moment’s pause in the viewer’s day.

via musée

November 22, 2013 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Mike Hewson: Deconstruction

Click to enlarge

New Zealand artist Mike Hewson (previously here) is playing with people’s minds again. This time the trompe l’oeil specialist has has covered an elevated walkway in Christchurch, NZ over its main thoroughfare, Colombo Street, with anamorphic large-scale digital prints of the two buildings connected by the walkway. When standing at a particular vantage point on the street below, the art visually deletes the overpass. When viewed from other spots the work looks distorted. Hewson’s objective in this post-earthquake affected area is to paradoxically reconstruct the site through a process of deconstruction, reflecting Christchurch’s recovery process of adding new development through the “deletion” of crumbled buildings.

via inhabitat

November 21, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Sam Falls: Tuileries Colored Sculpture

Click to enlarge

Los Angeles artist Sam Falls created an Untitled sculpture for Hors les Murs, a public art event in Paris, made up of colored metal boxes. The exterior of these multi-color windowed pieces was coated in a UV-protected pigment. The inside of the same boxes were treated with an unprotected paint. Though each respective panel appears to be the same color on both sides, the sides facing inwards will all fade in the sun. The form that each sculpture takes is dictated by the shadows that fall on the inside of the sculpture and the gradient of sunlight is revealed over time, burned into the sculpture like a photograph. Unlike most outdoor sculptures usually designed to stand the test of time as well as the elements, Falls’ Untitled (Tuileries Colored Sculpture) is meant to age the way we do. But, there’s a final twist! Once the interior panels fade through their top coat, the bottom coat from the exterior will start to emerge, reversing the aging effect, and revealing the bright saturated color once again. Not so much what we as humans go through, though maybe if we exfoliate enough….

Photos: Courtesy Balice Hertling (Paris) et Eva Presenhuber (Zürich); FdN77’s twitter; Miami Herald; le banc moussu; and dalbera’s flickr.

via fiac

November 20, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Hot Tea: Banksy Tribute & More

Click to enlarge

Minneapolis-based street artist—and NYC frequenter—HOT TEA is known for his yarn-bombing typography, usually found on—but not limited to—chain link fences & telephone poles. Most often the words HOT TEA are geometrically spelled out, seemingly interlocked in three dimensions. I’ve run into several of his pieces over the past couple of years around NYC, one in Soho, another Nolita, and DUMBO as well. A couple of weeks ago, shortly after Banksy finished his month-long scavenger-hunt-like show Better Out Than In around the city, I came across a tribute to the reknowned street artist by, I assume, HOT TEA, though this speculation is based soley on style. The piece, which was on East 4th Street, was gone in less than 24 hours replaced with a real estate sign by the owners of the empty lot where the work stood. I’ve looked around to see if this Banksy tribute appeared anywhere online, including HOT TEA’s flickr, but so far nothing. Earlier in the fall, HOT TEA created his largest site specific piece to date with over 1600 knots and 800 pieces of yarn installed on the Williamsburg Bridge walkway. You can see the installation in the video below:

Top two photos: collabcubed. All others courtesy Hot Tea’s flickr.

November 19, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Lucas Simões: Desretratos

Click to enlarge

Brazilian artist Lucas Simões uses source materials such as maps, books, and photographs which he then folds, cuts, and deconstructs into new forms. In his series of portraits titled Desretatos (Disportraits) Simões invited friends to tell him a secret as he took their portrait. More than listen to the secret, Simões was interested in capturing their expression as they revealed it. He would also listen to a song selected by the subject as he photographed them, and asked them to give their secret a color as well. Combining all these elements as he worked, the artist would then select 10 different portraits from the photo shoot, layer them, cut, and overlap them. As you can see, the results are pretty wild. See more Desretratos here.

via fifty8

November 18, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Willie Cole: Shoe Sculptures, Masks & More

Click to enlarge

New Jersey-born and based artist Willie Cole creates many of his works by repurposing objects such as irons, hair dryers and, in this case, shoes. His shoe sculptures and masks communicate messages about African history. I happened upon the last day of Cole’s show If wishes were horses… at the Alexander and Bonin Gallery in Chelsea this past weekend which featured a large bronze sculpture in the center of the lower floor titled Sole Sitter. At first glance the seated figure appeared to be just that, but upon closer inspection the oversized stacked shoes became evident and just at that moment all the shoe masks on the walls came into focus as well. Super-cleverly done, these pieces have an African art feel to them. Cole is not new to creating with shoes. A few years back at the same gallery I saw his impressive shoe mandalas, but these more recent sculptures really take the use of shoes to a new dimension.

Top two photos courtesy of Alexander and Bonin; all others collabcubed.

November 15, 2013 by collabcubed - 5 Comments

Killy Kilford: Happy Signs

Click to enlarge

I’m all for things that surprise and delight, and that’s just what British artist Killy Kilford is up to since moving to NYC this past year. Feeling negativity from some of the city’s street signs, Kilford set out to create Happy Signs with upbeat messages and, with the help of volunteers, placed them under the official signs. “Honk Less, Love More” or “You Look Pretty Today” are just two examples of the many slogans aimed at getting a smile from his street audience. Kilford proposes that the city open a Dept of Well Being in addition to their standard agencies. He plans to use his project—currently 200 signs have been installed mostly around lower Manhattan and Williamsburg—to measure happiness using surveys and social media, with the ultimate goal of acting as a model for other cities to adopt a similar concept and their own department of well-being.

If you’re in New York City, keep your eyes peeled for the smile-inducing signage.

Photos courtesy of the artist and evgrieve

November 7, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Lauren Tickle Jewelry: Increasing Value

Click to enlarge

Dan and Em attended the RISD Entrepreneur Mindshare conference in Providence, RI a couple of weeks back and, among the many interesting presentations, they saw artist/jewelry designer Lauren Tickle speak about her work.

The Brooklyn-based RISD Alum has a series of jewelry pieces under the title Increasing Value. In these brooches, necklaces & earrings, Tickle takes US currency of a designated value and cuts it apart, then pieces these delicate and ornate elements together creating a new object of greater value: jewelry. This experiment questioning value, adornment, and materialism is meant to make the wearer reflect on these social constructs in today’s society.

A couple of Tickle’s works, such as the $16.50 Necklace which sells for 100x its original currency value, can be purchased at the MoMA Design Store.