January 30, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Jon Burgerman: Head Shots

The always-wacky usually-less-bloody Jon Burgerman (previously here) has a an ongoing series of interventions staged in front of film and television ad panels, photographing himself perfectly situated as the target of the pointed gun, arrow, or other weapon of choice in each poster. These Head Shots, as the series is called, are then digitally manipulated, adding splattered blood in a Tarantinoesque fashion. Definitely a departure from the cute characters he usually draws, but still, somehow, very Burgerman.

You might like his Korean Subway series, too.

January 29, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Michael Johansson: Model Kit Sculptures

Swedish artist Michael Johansson takes everyday objects apart and rejoins the pieces in a welded metal frame, coating them with a unifying layer of plastic, ultimately simulating the look of a snap-apart model kit, something Johansson is very familiar with having spent much of his childhood making toy models. There’s obvious humor in these, but the titles such as Toys’r’Us – Dingy Scale 1:1 and Engine Bought Separately leave it completely unambiguous.

And then there’s this aspect of his work…

via thetreemag

January 27, 2014 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Sally Hewett: Embroidered Body Parts

These sculptural embroidered works by British artist Sally Hewett are intriguing, if a tad disturbing. But that’s just her point. Hewett is interested in the social and political history of the craft of embroidery and stitching, but she is also interested in the ideas of beauty. She writes on her website: “My embroidery and stitching practice centres on bodies, beauty and ugliness and the conventions that determine which is seen as which…I am interested in how we see things, how we interpret what we see and how the connotations of needlework and embroidery as a medium affect how the content is seen – is it seen as ugly, beautiful or funny?” You decide.

These pieces are made using quilting hoops that vary in diameter from just a couple of inches up to almost 20″. Inserted in the hoops to create the large bellies, bottoms, breasts, lips and more, is everything from stretched velvet, lycra, or cotton, to foam padding, hair and, of course, stitching…lots of stitching.

Photos courtesy of the artist; bottom photo by Jane Burns.

via saatchi

January 21, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Upside Down House: Moscow

At the VVTs All-Russia Exhibition Center in Moscow last week, an upside down house had visitors in a tizzy. Similar in concept to Jean-François Fourtou’s Tombée du Ciel, this house (not sure who the artist/designer behind the project is) is larger and even includes a car hanging from the driveway. The multi-room structure was built upside down as a tourist attraction and was fully fitted with furnishings, kitchen, bath, and even food on the dining room table, all hanging from the ceiling, or, rather, floor…wait. It appears that at least in one of the rooms a video camera was inverted inside a cabinet (see third photo down) projecting the room live and right side up on a tv screen and, consequently, its visitors upside down. Confusing and fun.

via gizmodo

Thanks Ramon and Eugene. (GMS)

January 13, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Blaqk: Greg Papagrigoriou & Simek

Blaqk is a collaboration between Athens-based design duo Greg Papagrigoriou and Chris Tzaferos who goes by Simek. Their street art mixes geometric forms with typographic letterforms—much of which is calligraphy. Whether black on white or white on black, on gallery walls, building façades, or abandon lots, their graphic style definitely pops. You can see much more of their work on their site.

via IdN

January 10, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Plasti-Scenes: Movie Scenes in Plasticine

I came across a contest on Little White Lies magazine from a while back that made me smile. The creative brief asked that participants “recreate an iconic movie scene out of modelling clay” also known as plasticine, hence their title Plasti-Scene…yes, it’s clever. I’m not sure if the entries are exclusively from artists, or non-artists as well. Some of the entries were very slick and well done but, honestly, some of my favorites tend to be the less perfect ones. All the films and creators are identified next to their piece except the bottom two which are scenes from “Psycho” by Sarah Randell and “The Big Lebowski” by Gordon Shaw. These are just a sampling from the 60 entries. You can see the rest here and the winners here.

January 7, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Piston Head: Cars into Sculpture

Last month at Art Basel Miami, Venus Over Manhattan Gallery curated an exhibition titled Piston Head: Artists Engage the Automobile. Fourteen cars converted into sculptures by well-known contemporary artists since 1970 were on view at the spectacular open-air parking garage, 1111 Lincoln Road, designed by Herzog & deMeuron. The exhibit included works by Keith Haring (top), Damien Hirst (dotted Mini Cooper), Kenny Scharf (3rd from top), Ron Arad (pressed car), Bruce High Quality Foundation (VW Beetles), Franz West’s 1970 Rolls Royce, as well as eight more artists.

And here in an unrelated yet related (in that he’s drawing on a car) video is Jon Burgerman doing his thing on a zipcar:

Photos: HuffingtonPost and The Hundreds

via Venus Over Manhattan

January 6, 2014 by collabcubed - 0 comments

teamLab: Homogenizing & Transforming World

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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

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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

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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 17, 2013 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Pammy Pea by Pamella Lessero

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Our friend—as well as local NYC artist and lifelong vegetable lover—Pam Lessero just published a fun and friendly educational illustrated book for kids which focuses on the importance of eating healthy. The book’s protagonist (and Pamella’s alter ego?) Pammy Pea, “…wants to inspire and teach children everywhere to be healthy and eat all of their vegetables. When she is not dreaming of landing on your plate, you can find her happealy rolling around the garden with all her pea family and friends.” Pammy Pea is targeted at the 3 to 6-year-old set and can be purchased over here. Stickers are available too, and a plush toy of Pammy Pea herself will follow shortly. You can follow Pammy Pea on facebook for updates too.

December 12, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

The Snails are Coming! The Snails are Coming!

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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…

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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

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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

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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 2, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Gingerbread & Candy Art Museums

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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

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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 20, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Hot Tea: Banksy Tribute & More

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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: