March 1, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Will Ryman: Anyone and No One

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New York artist Will Ryman has taken a departure from his sculptures of giant roses that decorated the Park Avenue Malls in midtown last year here in NYC, and has now created two site-specific works: one a giant male figure, the other a giant bird. Presently, at both Paul Kasmin Galleries in Chelsea (the first artist to show in both at the same time) Ryman’s exhibit titled Anyone and No One consists of a 90-foot figure lying against the perimeter of the Tenth Avenue gallery walls, unclear whether he is sleeping or dying. The figure is made up of 250 pairs of shoes for the shirt and 30,000 bottle caps make up the arms, hands, and feet. The sculpture/installation, titled Everyman, seems to open up through the figure’s head into the next room where a labyrinth has been created out of 200,000 paintbrushes stacked on top of one another. I’m not sure if these organic structures are intended as a trip through the Everyman’s brain or not, but, in either case, this looks pretty amazing.

At the 27th Street gallery is Ryman’s Bird. This 12-foot high, 16-foot wide sculpture is made with 1500 actual and fabricated nails and weighs two tons. In the same way that the Everyman space becomes a box in which the huge man has been stuffed into, so, too, does the Bird’s gallery transform into its cage.

I think I’ll have to check this out in person soon. Both pieces will be up at both Paul Kasmin galleries through March 24th, 2012.

Photos courtesy of Paul Kasmin and Mark Rifkin’s flickr.

Thanks for the tip, Stephen!

March 1, 2012 by collabcubed - 3 Comments

Slinky Springs Bridge: Tobias Rehberger

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The Slinky Springs Bridge in Oberhausen, Germany, was completed this past summer. Designed by artist Tobias Rehberger, the inspiration for the bridge came from the iconic Slinky toy and the catchy phrase “Slinky Springs to Fame” which seems to be the way the bridge is referred to. Rehberger was able to recreate the light, wild and irregular quality of the toy in his vibrating spiraling bridge that almost looks thrown across the Rhine-Herne Canal. This was no easy feat, if I understand correctly from the not-always-easy-to-decipher google-translated German sites that I read. Apparently, the execution of artist Rehberger’s, (self-admittedly clueless about bridge design) vision was successfully accomplished through the collaboration with structural engineers Schlaich Bergermann and Partner. A bit of description from their website on the 406-meter-long bridge with 496 coils:

Following the design of the artist Tobias Rehberger, a colorful ribbon wrapped in a light, swinging spiral connects the two existing parks. The lightness of this design is due to the minimalist structural design of the stress ribbon bridge. Two steel ribbons made of high strength steel connect to the inclined supports across the canal. The resulting tension force is transferred into strong abutments through the outer vertical tension rods. The walkway consists of pre-cast concrete plates, bolted to the stress ribbon, to which the railing and spiral are attached. The springy synthetic pavement of the walkway as well as the colorful rhythmization of the concrete and coating amplifies the dynamic experience of the bridge.

The colorful pavement pathway was carefully selected by Rehberger who had very specific ideas on its look. Then the bottom of the bridge was made to exactly match the colors on top in a separate material. It’s great how the nighttime illumination really accentuates the colorfulness.

Seems to me that bouncing across the incredibly cool and unique Slinky Bridge could be a lot of fun, if maybe a little unsettling as well.

If you like this bridge then you’ll probably enjoy the Tiger & Turtle Walkable Rollercoaster and the Twist Bridge as well.

Photos: Dirk Jungholt’s flickr, Roman Mensing, Jens Stachowitz, and AP.

February 29, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Winter 1972: Post-it Installation

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Swiss design studio I Never Kissed A Dog created a winter wonderland in a living room using thousands of white Post-its as part of a photoshoot for the perfume Winter 1972. Designer Adrian Merz painstakingly covered the entire room and then photographed it using different light sources and effects to add to the image…as if a room covered in white paper from top to bottom isn’t impressive and surprising enough!

via urbanpeek

February 29, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Doug Aitken: Song 1 at the Hirshhorn Museum

After not thinking about the Hirshhorn Museum in years, right on the heels of finding out about the plans for a bubbled garden (see previous post) is now news of the upcoming Doug Aitken installation, turning the exterior of the circular museum into a 360-degree projection screen. The piece, titled “Song 1”, will consist of 11 high-definition projectors streaming multichannel yet-to-be-disclosed images in conjunction with the song “I Only Have Eyes for You” with covers created and performed by several artists including Beck, and James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem, specifically for Aitken’s work.

I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve seen by Doug Aitken, including his video installation Sleepwalkers at MoMA back in 2007 (where does the time go?!) which was also projected on the building’s façade (bottom photo). Based on past experience, this should be worth checking out. Maybe a trip to D.C. combining cherry blossoms and the Hirshhorn is in order this spring.

This impressive project will be on view from March 22nd to May 13th, 2012.

Renderings courtesy of the Doug Aitken Workshop. Bottom image courtesy of MoMA.

February 27, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Superflex: Copy Light Factory

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After going through Cindy Sherman’s (the queen of ‘selfies’) new retrospective at the MoMA this past Saturday—an interesting show in itself—I made a quick loop through their other major exhibit next door, Print/Out. Though met with mixed criticism, I have to say, it’s hard for me not to like rooms filled with colorful contemporary graphic prints, posters and books, much of which involve typography, so, I was pretty pleased. But one project that stood out was Danish design studio Superflex’s (coincidentally one of the collaborators on the previously mentioned Superkilen Park in Copenhagen) Copy Light Factory. In this workshop (I was there during non-workshop hours) lamps are created by copying images of well-known lamp designs onto translucent paper and then attaching them to wooden cubed frames. Here is how their website puts it:

Copy Light Factory is a workshop producing Copy Light – cube shaped lamps made of translucent paper with photocopied motifs of various well-known lamp designs. However, the owner is free to change the image to a lamp design of his/her own choosing. Thus Copy Light seeks the borders between the copy and the original. As a copy of a copy Copy Light turns into something new: an original lamp that communicates the problems of the current copyright system.

I loved this idea and will totally be making one for my next apartment.

You can visit Print/Out at the MoMA through May 14, 2012.

Table photo courtesy of Superflex; all others collabcubed.

February 24, 2012 by collabcubed - 3 Comments

Olga Diego: Interactive Inflatables

We certainly have posted our fair share of inflatable sculptures and installations, but somehow each one has its own personality and style. This exhibit, Aire (Air), a few months back at the Mustang Art Gallery, is an installation by Spanish artist Olga Diego. Working with plastic, both translucent and transparent, and plastic bags, along with electronic circuits that inflated and deflated each structure, Diego filled the gallery with six separate inflatable works that interact with each other and with those who viewed the show in its space. Some of the pieces allude to well-known images such as Duchamp’s The Bride Stripped Bare by her Bachelors, Even, and the hanging man to Christ. Some of her shapes are organic in form and complement the more figurative ones nicely.

The two bottom photos are from a previous exhibit by Olga Diego at Plataforma Petracos, Hábitos de Habitar (Habits of Inhabiting).

You can see the works in Aire being inflated in the video below, as well as their general movement and interactivity.

Photos by Álvaro Vicente and El Periodic.

via revista treintaycuatro via the multi-talented anA

February 24, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Dimitris Polychroniadis: Church Slogan Art

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Architect and set designer Dmitris Polychroniadis from Athens has recently completed a series of humorous sculptures inspired by church sign slogans and relevant to the struggles that his country (as well as much of the world) is presently experiencing. The series is titled The Miracle of Fluo Colours.

From Polychroniadis:
Religion often serves as an emotional ‘lender of last resort’ in times of crisis. The idea for this series of maquette sculptures, comes from Christian church signs and billboards in the US. By stripping these religious quotes away from their physical and emotive context, the ‘message’ becomes more absolute, almost surreal. To emphasize this further, the text size has been exagerated in scale (compared to the figurines) and colour. The project is somewhat ‘street’ influenced by large scale advertising and slogan graffiti. The title of the series generates a contrast: The notion of God-sent miracles as an integral part of religious faith, against the marvels of man-made, modern age, industrial technology and it’s products such as fluoerscent materials and colours.

You might enjoy some of Polychroniadis’ architecture work as well. I especially like his use of type in his restaurant and store designs.

Photos: Michalis Dalanikas & Dimitris Polychroniadis

February 23, 2012 by collabcubed - 4 Comments

Katya Malakhova: Russian Nesting Dolls

Russian graphic designer and photographer Katya Malakhova, clearly an industrial designer as well, has put a spin on the traditional Russian nesting doll (matroyshka) concept in many directions, all a lot of fun. From Batman to a dominatrix, anatomical versions and bling, they all made me chuckle. Oh, and Gene Mutation has a nice surprise at its core.

These have got kidrobot written all over them, don’t you think?

via redbubble

February 21, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

E1000: 3D Pedestal Street Art

Spanish street artist e1000 (previously here and here) has recently painted another of his 3D works. This one on Paseo de Santa María de la Cabeza in Madrid, gives the illusion (when seen from above street level) of a pedestal emanating from the street. Passersby, unknowingly, suddenly appear to be elevated in a statuesque manner. Fun!

via escrito en la pared

February 20, 2012 by collabcubed - 3 Comments

Hirshhorn Bubble: Diller Scofidio + Renfro

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This is such a clever and fun idea! Diller Scofidio + Renfro (fast becoming one of my favorite architects after the High Line, Alice Tully Hall and all the renovations at Lincoln Center, as well as the ICA in Boston, just to name a few…) have designed an inflatable temporary event space for the cylindrical courtyard of the Hirshhorn Museum in Washington, D.C. The thin translucent membrane of the pneumatic structure is meant to be squeezed into the void of Gordon Bunshaft‘s donut-shaped building, and ooze out the top as well as beneath the mass. The contrast of the soft and hard structures is great, and by roofing over the courtyard the museum gains 14,000 sq. feet of sheltered space in the spring and fall that will accommodate up to a 1000-person audience for performing arts events, films, lectures or even art installations.

The project was initially scheduled to open in Fall 2012, but due to lack of sufficient funding, the project may be delayed slightly. Hope not too long…

Images all courtesy of Diller Scofidio + Renfro.

via Architect Magazine

February 20, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

WC Line by Kontextür

Design company Kontextür has just come out with a new line of bathroom accessories called the WC Line designed by Josh Owen, the same designer responsible for the similar-in-feel, previously released tissue box cover. The WC Line consists of a plunger, toilet brush and waste bin, all made of silicone with wood handles and comes in five colors.

Also fun on the Kontextur site is the Duck Harry which functions as a toothbrush/toothpaste holder, or alternatively as a doorstop. I think it would be fun right by the bathtub as well; an updated rubber ducky.

All available here.

February 17, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Regina Silveira: Tracks and Shadows

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Brazilian artist Regina Silveira was so ahead of her time. She’s been creating installations using plotter cut black vinyl adhesive years before blik came into existence! Her large-scale installations play with perspective, shadows, and space in general. Her Track Series (Derrapagem which translates as skid marks) go from floor, to walls to the most unlikeliest of façades. Her exaggerated shadow pieces are humorous and clever, often tricking the eye.

Below is a video of a set design with Silveira’s signature skewed perspective that has your mind doing as many flips as the dancers.

Photos courtesy of the artist, Alexander Gray Gallery, Rainer Hosch, and xpuesto’s flickr

via The Aldrich Contemporary Museum

February 16, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Dancing Plague of 1518

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This tumblr by Niege Borges made me smile. In memory of Frau Toffea — the woman who was the first of 400 people in 1518 to be afflicted with dance mania in Strasbourg, France, dancing for days without rest resulting in some deaths — Borges is creating prints illustrating dance steps from sequences throughout the history of film. The tumblr/series is called Dancing Plague of 1518. She’s welcoming suggestions, so feel free to head on over and add yours.

If you’d like a print of one of the dances, they’re available here.

via free york

February 15, 2012 by collabcubed - 4 Comments

Superkilen and The Red Square in Copenhagen

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Superkilen, a multicultural section of Copenhagen in the northwest part of the city has recently finished its new Red Square; a park and playground that is actually painted all shades of red. To reflect the many cultures in the community, the park is furnished with elements such as benches, trees, signage, and other furnishings all imported from 57 different countries.

Designed by Superflex, BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) and TOPOTEK1, the urban park occupies a long stretch containing a green and a black area in addition to the red zone. Each section facilitates different activities.

Very cool and fun.

Photos courtesy of the architects, classiccopenhagen’s flickr, and Drumstik1’s flickr

via a+t magazine

February 15, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Lauren Smith: Doubt and Confusion

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New Jersey based artist Lauren Smith is a 2D/3D mixed media artist whose work is influenced by three years experience in historic preservation architecture. As Smith stated in an interview:

I try to create environments that make the viewer feel a sense of doubt and/or a moment of confusion.

Here, in two very different types of works, one an installation the other drawings, she does just that. Above, her installation titled Under the Bed is made with a wooden bed frame enclosing a ‘mattress’ of skewered marshmallows. Maybe not a lot of doubt here, but definitely some confusion.

Below, her ink drawings on typical architect canary-yellow tracing paper are part of a series titled NYC: An Honest Lie.

Typically, people associate architectural drawings with the documentation of truth and precise representation. My work challenges this association by using the vernacular of architectural drawings to create “lies” about buildings. I will slightly misrepresent buildings by either idealizing them and/or intentionally distorting them. I aim to provoke the audience to question not only the validity of what they are seeing, but also their own perspectives towards their external environment.

In addition, Smith uses varnish to mount the tracing paper drawings onto canvas, adding to the ‘lie’ by disguising them as paintings. I love all of this work. It’s smart, full of humor, plus, I’ve always found those canary-yellow rolls of tracing paper an odd choice for architects – the color, the curling aspect from being rolled – so the choice of that material alone makes me chuckle. If you look closely at the first two images below (one a detail, the other an installation view) the drawing is a detailed diagram titled 14th St./6th Ave Subway Gum Conditions Survey. Many of the other drawings are of buildings around Union Square, right here in NYC, so maybe my familiarity with the neighborhood adds to the appeal as well.

via 1Op Collective

February 13, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Giles Walker: Animated Sculptures

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For over the past twenty years English sculptor Giles Walker has been working with robots, creating kinetic sculptures from materials found in scrap yards. A member of the guerilla-art group The Mutoid Waste Company, Walker’s robots are a creative intervention into our throw-away capitalist culture as well as a commentary on the surveillance practices or our time.

All of these pieces are just great, but the DJ and Pole Dancers’ Peepshow with their surveillance-camera heads, in addition to excellent hip and pelvic movements, might be my favorites. The telephone-headed drunks are (at least in some cases) programmed to interact with the public using presence sensors.

Walker’s robots have been exhibited all over the world, most recently this past week at the RAW Art Fair, part of the Rotterdam Art Fair 2012.

Photos courtesy of the artist; LookforArt; Epicfu; maggie jones’ flickr; and de_buurman’s flickr.

February 10, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Three NYC Architectural Tidbits

Three different projects here in NYC have recently come to my attention, so rather than do three separate posts, I’ve decided to group them together in one. You can click on most of the images to see them larger.

First up, The Museum of Modern Art and MoMA PS1 have announced this year’s winner of the Young Architects Program. HWKN (HollwichKushner) will construct their entry for the annual outdoor summer installation in PS1’s courtyard in Queens this summer. The winning proposal, titled Wendy, will consist of a large scaffold containing an oversized blue nylon starburst-like structure that will clean the air while offering shade, wind, rain and music. Looks like quite a departure from the past couple of years in that it looks more self-contained. I’m really looking forward to seeing it built in June.

Images courtesy HWKN
via archdaily

Next, right now through February 29, 2012, there’s a 10-foot-tall BIG ❤ NYC sculpture/light installation in Times Square designed by BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group) Architects in honor of Valentine’s Day. The public art installation is located in Duffy Square at the foot of the TKTS steps/seats. Consisting of 400 transparent acrylic tubes (lit by LEDs) that form a cube around a suspended red heart whose beat and color intensity directly correlate to how many people touch the “Touch Me” heart pad on a circular stand close by.

Flatcut fabricated the rods, Silman Associates were the structural engineers and Zumtobel provided LED technology.

You might also want to check out BIG’s winning entry for Wave Pier in St. Petersburg which looks spectacular!

Photos courtesy Times Square Alliance

Lastly, this Greenwich Village townhouse has had us puzzled for the past couple of months on our daily walks past it. In the storefront of what used to be a hair salon now sit two mirrored benches; one a swing the other static. I imagined some sort of new age church or meeting house with funky pews, or some sort of cool, minimalist art gallery, but a few weeks ago I finally had the opportunity to ask a neighbor as she entered her building if she knew what the mirrored benches were all about. Turns out that it’s a private home and the mirrored room (floor, ceiling, walls as well as bench/swing) are all part of the playroom/guest room. This is not your childhood playroom. I’ve been sort of stalking the place (not really, but I do pass by often on my way to and from home) and was able to catch a glimpse of the open guest room, (with its orange mattresses), as well as the super-cool multicolor striped stairs that lead up to the rest of the house. The architects behind the project are Solomonoff Architecture Studio and professional photos of the entire project are due out in an undisclosed architecture periodical shortly, which should look a lot better than these (the reflective space is especially difficult to photograph.) I’m curious to see what the rest of the house looks like…

Photos: collabcubed

February 8, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Evergreen: Typographic Garden

VollaersWart is a Dutch design studio that focuses on the intersection of architecture with public and visual communication, thus creating many projects for exhibitions and festivals as well as sculptures and public art.

Evergreen is a permanent typographic sculptural installation that was designed for the new Twents Carmel College de Thij—a high school in Oldenzaal—to be used primarily as student seating and as a meeting place in a park-like setting. The large, multi-level letters spell out the word ‘Evergreen’ and are grouped in a way that makes the space resemble a labyrinth. The structure is covered with artificial turf and its circular shape echoes the shape of the school building itself.