November 20, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Enzo e Nio: Armed Women & Girls

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Enzo and Nio are New York based street artists whose work has been appearing throughout the city, as well as in Europe, and as far as New Zealand (see second photo from top.) They have several series and recurring themes in their work. The one above of saint-like women and girls armed with weapons (often accompanied by a Latin phrase) is one, but they also have fake “Pull in Case of Emergency” boxes as well as a series of monogrammed bombs with their own initials. In some cases there’s overlap, as in the top photo. They’ve collaborated with Olek and Jilly Ballistic as (see fourth photo from top) and their Cocksharks rarely go unnoticed.

Apparently, they don’t like discussing their work, leaving it to each person’s own interpretation…so interpret away.

Photos from Enzo and Nio’s facebook and tumblr pages; Toirock’s flickr; Dave Krugman; Modica-Way; Cinde Meade.

via buzz patrol

November 15, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Timothy Goodman: Writing on the Walls

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New York based Timothy Goodman is a designer, illustrator, art director and teacher. For the Ace Hotel in NYC, Goodman hand drew 99 picture frames creating a dense wall of ‘discovery’ about NYC for the common tourist staying in the room. Each frame contains a different fact/love/thing/tidbit/or place that the artist likes in the city. At roughly 120 feet, the art was drawn imprecisly to capture the spontaneity of the city, using markers and opaque black paint.

Just this past August, Goodman, in a similar style, created a wall mural for FlexFit Headwear at the Magic S.L.A.T.E. trade show in Las Vegas which he drew in real-time during the first day of the show. He came up with the idea of hand-lettering Tupac Shakur lyrics to Keep Ya Head Up on 500 sq. ft. of wall space, going round and round for about 9 hours. Apart from the great illustrated type, I’m amazed at how perfectly aligned he keeps it all. You can see a video of the FlexFit installation below:

November 8, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

LIGHT Lab 5.1: VAV Architects

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LIGHTlab 5.1 designed by VAV Architects was located this past summer in Helsinki, Finland. The pavilion/installation served a dual purpose: as a retreat from the sun’s overpowering intrusiveness — typical of the long summer days in the Nordic city — and a place where light and its impact are understood and respected. In addition, the exterior of the structure acted as a natural sundial, capturing and mapping the passage of the day.

You can experience it a little better in the video below:

via afasia

November 7, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Tempting Typography: Studio Airport

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Here’s a nice event that took place during the Graphic Design Festival in Breda, Netherlands. Design firm Studio AIRPORT held a three-day-long workshop called Tempting Typography based on window-typography.

Every participant worked with a shop on St.Annastraat to create a typographic window display/signage to the satisfaction of the retailer and with the idea of staying on the shop’s window for an extended period of time. The end result was a beautiful street with lovely handwritten window typography.

Photos: Studio Airport and Olga Mishyna

via studio airport

November 5, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Clet Abraham: Signage Sticker Street Art

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French street artist Clet Abraham, now living and working in Florence, humorously alters traffic signs throughout major cities in Europe by strategically pasting removable stickers on them. But it’s not all just to crack a smile on the faces of those who pass by. Clet is commenting on society’s standardization and the constricting effect that rules have on us, limiting individual expression and thought. It’s no coincidence that many of his images reference religion.

If you like Clet Abraham’s work, you might also enjoy Dan Witz’s Do Not Enter Project and Roman Tyc’s Semafory.

Photos courtesy of the artist; Paul nine-o; nijule; edoardo80; walls of milano; surreyblonde; metella merlo; kriebel; and lartefact.

via studio magazine

November 2, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Shelley Miller: Sand Sculpture Handbags

Sure, you’ve seen plenty of sand castles, but what about sand handbags? Shelley Miller (previously here) created a series of sand sculptures of designer bags, purses, and clutches during a residency in Brazil a few years back. Much in the way that her Icing Graffiti works disappear in less time than it took to make them, so too these accurate pocketbook replicas that wash away with the tide.

From Miller’s website:
The mirage-like nature of these objects, physical in form, yet never fully tangible, is a reference to the desirable objects one sees flipping through a fashion magazine while laying on the beach.

The photo documentation of these temporal sculptures were then used to produce the “Summer Collection” booklet, a mock fashion catalogue that returns these objects to their fashion industry inspiration.

If it were up to me, next year Miller would be one of the artists invited to participate in the Creative Time Sand Sculpture Competition in Rockaway.

October 29, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Shelley Miller: Cake Icing Graffiti

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The other night I attended a talk at the New Museum about the future of Nuit Blanche in NYC. One of the panelists was an organizer of the Nuit Blanche in Toronto and she spoke about an artist included in this year’s event that instantly intrigued me: Shelley Miller a street artist who creates her work with cake icing and presented an interactive piece titled Throw-Up.

Shelley Miller is a Montreal-based artist whose installations, sculptures and public works have been exhibited across Canada as well as India and Brazil. Much of her work is created using sugar and cake icing. Her murals and street art tags made with these cake-decorating techniques reference history and other cultures. Some examples are her murals depicting the history of sugar, linking the port of Montreal into the global network of sugar’s history and the slave trade that supported this industry. Miller’s graffiti tags, also made with icing, at closer look recall the decorative scrolls of arabesques and calligraphy from ancient mosques, temples and pottery spanning the history of decorative arts.

The ephemeral aspect of this work adds another interesting dimension when it begins to melt, causing a dripping effect. All around impressively done!

Photos courtesy of the artist.

October 25, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Umbrellas vs. Flash Mob

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October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and it seems that people have moved on from simply sporting a pink ribbon on their jacket lapel. Two, very different, creative approaches to raising awareness took place this past week, among many others I suspect. One, though bright pink and hard to miss, was a little more subdued and consisted of an installation created with 400 pink umbrellas forming a canopy over the street (much like an Ingo Maurer installation) in Sofia, Bulgaria. The other, a bit more of an in-your-face and slightly controversial approach, was a “bouncing boobie” flashmob in central London supporting the breast cancer charity Coppafeel!. From the mouths of Coppafeel!: “The whole point of Coppafeel! is that we go about awareness in different and engaging ways – we like causing a bit of a stir.” And cause a stir they did.

Photos: Reuters; Снимка © Булфото; Coppafeel!; National Pictures; Rex Features; Habermonitor.

via voa and onenews

October 24, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Cracking Art Group: REgeneration in Milan

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Cracking Art Group is a collective made up of 6 international artists that was formed in 1993. The group considers “cracking” the process which transforms the natural into artificial; organic into synthetic. Their interventions involve huge colored plastic animals invading spaces, usually as a cry for awareness. By selecting recycled plastic and adapting it to their own purpose, Cracking Art Group is attempting to hold back control of the process and turn it towards fulfilling the movement’s social and environmental commitment to reinstating humanity as part of nature, not apart from it.

Their most recent intervention titled REgeneration took place earlier this month (October 5th through 13th) in Milan at the Duomo. In collaboration with the cathedral and Opera d’Arte, Cracking Art Group created and placed 50 blue snail sculptures on the Duomo’s roof to call attention to the much-needed repairs and restoration. 100 smaller limited edition snails were also created and sold at the Glauco Cavaciuti Gallery with net proceeds going towards to the restoration of the cathedral.

via tribeart

October 23, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Leo Villareal: Hive, Cosmos, & Buckyball

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Well, artist Leo Villareal (previously here) has certainly been busy these past few months with two of his public art installations debuting in NYC and another one in upstate NY at Cornell University. Last month his Hive installation — a series of LED tubes that playfully reference games, in particular John Conway’s Game of Life, the best known cellular automata program — was unveiled at the Bleecker Street transfer station. Hanging from the ceiling, the illuminated hexagonal honeycomb has bright colored lights moving across the sculpture, exploring the brain’s compulsion to recognize patterns and make sense of them.

Up at Cornell University, Villareal’s installation titled Cosmos was just debuted last night at the I.M.Pei-designed Johnson Museum. The constantly changing work is composed of nearly 12,000 energy-efficient LEDs on a grid hanging from the ceiling of the museum’s Mallin Sculpture Court. Software designed by the artist and his team will generate new patterns throughout the life of the installation. The work was named Cosmos in honor of Carl Sagan whom Villareal admired and who spent a lot of time at Cornell.

Last, but certainly not least, the Buckyball, a Buckminster Fuller-inspired installation of a geodesic sphere within another geodesic sphere will light up Madison Square Park in NYC starting this Thursday, October 25th through February 1st, though some have already caught glimpses as the artist set up the work this past week. Part art, part science & technology, part structural engineering, all three installations are sure to appeal to most everyone.

Here’s a preview of the Buckyball in action as well as the Hive below that:

Photos: MTA; Lindsay France/Cornell; Madison Square Park Conservancy; artinfo; and inspir3d

October 23, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Blps Project! Richard Artschwager

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Here’s another fun art-around-town event happening in NYC starting this week. In conjunction with the Whitney Museum and their retrospective Richard Artschwager! which opens this Thursday, High Line Art is installing a series of blps in various locations on and around the High Line. The blps were introduced by Artschwager (who is now 88) in the late 60s; the name was coined by the artist and is pronounced “blip”. This is not the first time that blps will be adorning NYC, or any other urban landscape for that matter. Artschwager’s black and white caspule-shaped blps — ranging in size from 1 to 5 feet high — have been part of many public interventions over the decades with the purpose of highlighting and drawing people’s attention to architecture and surfaces that usually go unnoticed.

So far, High Line Art has installed a large blp on a smokestack (see top 5 photos), one of their glass elevators (6th photo from top), and one of the glass windows that overlook the street from the High Line (bottom), in addition to others at the Standard Hotel and at least one other uptown by the Whitney. Many more are planned to go up, so keep an eye out. Should be fun to find them all.

And if you’d like to own your own blp, you can purchase one here.

Photos courtesy of High Line Art; Whitney Museum; Steven Holl Architects; artnet; db-art; and baeditions.

via @HighLineArtnyc

October 22, 2012 by collabcubed - 4 Comments

Tania Mouraud: Typography Murals

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I wasn’t familiar with Parisian artist Tania Mouraud and her work, but she has been painting since the 1960s. It’s not surprising that Mouraud studied languages before her foray into the art world. Though her work ranges from painting to sculpture and, more recently, video, much of Mouraud’s art reflects her concern with the elusive nature of language. I especially like her typographic wall murals. I’ll confess to not being able to decipher them all on my own — or at least not without my eyes starting to criss-cross in all directions — but I like the fact that they appear to be abstract geometric paintings that upon closer look actually spell out phrases.

So, in case (like me) you need a little help, here are the names of the works from top to bottom, except for the 5th one down, which I couldn’t find or figure out:

WYSIWYG; HowCanYouSee?; I Haven’t Seen a Butterfly Here; Dieu Compte les Larmes des Femmes (God Counts the Tears of Women); ????; I Have a Dream; WYSIWYG; I Have a Dream; and I Had.

Photos courtesy of the artist; HuffingtonPost; and PerezArts

October 22, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Inflatable Trampoline Bridge in Paris: AZC

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This is already making the rounds and likely to be everywhere soon, but it’s just too fun not to post about, especially since we do like a unique bridge. Paris-based architecture firm Atelier Zündel Cristea (AZC) proposed the above bridge in response to a competition brief for A Bridge in Paris. With enough bridges already in existence over the river Seine to facilitate the flow of both vehicular and pedestrian traffic, AZC thought it would be fun to offer a more playful way to get from La Rive Gauche to La Rive Droite and vice versa: an inflatable bridge equipped with giant trampolines, allowing visitors to bounce across the river. Each section measures 30 meters in diameter with a trampoline mesh stretched in the center. Held together by cord and inflated with air, the bridge forms three subtle arches.

Though AZC’s design received third prize in the competition, I have a feeling that it will become a reality via someone, somewhere, even if only as a temporary structure. It’s just too great not to.

via designboom and cool hunter

October 18, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

The Journey of Sebastien Errazuriz

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Chilean born, New York based, Sebastien Errazuriz (previously here) is both artist and designer, often blurring the lines between the two. His work is always smart, innovative and humorous, as well as often political. It ranges from public urban art installations to sculpture and furniture/product design. He even has a few outrageous fashion items. His obsession with the dichotomies of life and death is expressed through his various series on death and religion, and his criticism of Wall Street comes into play in his street installations, amazing Drowning in Debt salt & pepper shakers as well as his Occupy Chairs.

There’s plenty more to see on his website and you can watch the interview below for even more. A book on his work was published last month by Gestalten and available here.

October 17, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Song Board: Central Saint Martins

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These 2940 yellow and black plastic spheres across a 35m-long wall made up the fun and engaging interactive pop-up installation at London’s King’s Cross station called Song Board. Designed by the students at Central Saint Martins University of the Arts in London, Song Board invited passers-by to rotate the matrix of spheres and create unique patterns, images, and messages. Some came prepared with pre-arranged displays to print on the board and others just rotated them relentlessly, listening to the sound the balls made when rotated.

Song Board was one of the many projects (see also Bus-Tops) put into place by the Mayor’s office throughout the city during the recent Olympic and Paralympic Games.

via eye magazine

October 9, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

In Transit: The Acre Collective

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The Acre Collective, a Canadian art and design group led by architects Stephen Kopp and Monica Adair, won a National Public Art Competition for their installation In Transit adding pizazz to a bus terminal in St. John, New Brunswick.

By cropping the recognizable symbols of transit signs and creating 85 unique aluminum panels, Acre added much-needed color to the long and bland concrete wall in front of the station. These panels were anchored to the concrete wall, resulting in a new landscape of semi-abstract color. 10 of the panels were sculpted into seats reminiscent of those found on buses in the simplicity of their form. Nice.

October 8, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Geraldo Zamproni: Pillow Talk

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Contemporary Brazilian artist Geraldo Zamproni graduated with a degree in Architecture/Urbanism and seems to be playing with both in his art. His large red inflatable pillows are perfect examples. These fun cushions have been squeezed under museum ramps and concrete slabs just to name a couple of examples. This week at least one of the pillows can be found “at large” on 14th Street in NYC as part of the Art in Odd Places event. I looked for the pillow on Saturday while roaming 14th St. trying to find the not-very-clearly-mapped-out works in the festival, but it seems to have been sitting all the way east between Avenues B and C as per the top photograph that I found.

Zamproni’s pillow installations (which have a similar fun surprise quality —as well as color — to the Red Ball Project) have appeared in museums throughout Brazil, from Brasilia to Curitiba, in Peru, Argentina, and Spain. I’m going to keep my eyes peeled (I’ve always found that expression a little disturbing) this week to see if the AiOP catalogue’s “at large” location description will include points on 14th Street closer to Union Square.

You can see Zamproni inflating one of his pillows in the video below. Interesting to see how he even enters it to smooth out the seams:

Top photo: Michele McVicar/EVG; bottom photo Eric Stoner; all others courtesy the artist.

October 5, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 10/5

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20+ free and cheap things to do this weekend (10/5 to 10/7) in NYC. Cultural events in art, music, dance, theater, food and general fun.

1. Art/Performance – Art in Odd Places: artists’ work & performances take over unexpected public spaces all along 14th Street. All weekend and through 10/15. Opening reception Fri 10/5, 5 to 8pm. See schedule. FREE

2. Film – Bushwick Film Festival at Paperbox. All weekend. $10/day; $25 for full 3-dayPass

3. Art – Affordable Art Fair at the Tunnel in Chelsea. All weekend. $12

4. Design/Typography – Get Out the Vote Poster Project exhibit (see post) at AIGA, 154 5th Ave. Fri 10/5, 11am to 5pm, through 11/30. FREE

5. Dance/Theater – Keith Hennessy/Circo Zero: Turbulence: an experimental hybrid of contemporary dance, improvised happening and political theater at NY Live Arts. Fri 10/5 & Sat 10/6 at 7:30pm. $15 and $20.

6. Art/Massage –The Massage Performances with Sergei Tcherepnin, premieres a new six-channel composition to be played through your body. Fri 10/5 at 6:30pm. The Issue Project Room, Brooklyn. FREE ($10 suggested donation)

Alternatively: Past Futures, Present Futures Exhibit opening at Storefront for Art & Architecture. 7 to 9pm. FREE.

7. Film – Haika Mutil & Miel de Naranjas by Imanol Uribe, Fri 10/5 at Instituto Cervantes 6pm to 8pm. FREE

8. Theater/Performance – Prelude NYC Theater & Performance. Multiple events at various venues. Fri 10/5. See schedule. FREE (first come first served)

9. Dance/Music –Rob List: Play By Ear features anti-conceptual movement, dance, and song. Fri 10/5 & Sat 10/6. 8pm at The Chocolate Factory, Long Island City. $15

10. Art/Music/Food – The Feast Pavilion: a modern day World’s Fair features immersive art installations, food trucks, music, and community booths that honor the work of today’s most remarkable innovators. Sat 10/6, 12 to 6pm. Followed by Dance Party 8pm to 1am. FREE

11. Music/Art – The Autumn Bowl: live music by various musicians paired with live visuals in a stunning, immersive environment. Sat 10/6 at 8pm. Greenpoint. $12 tickets.

12. Architecture/Tours –OHNY (Open House New York), Sat 10/6 & Sun 10/7. Various locations and times. Check site for details. FREE

13. Music – Restoration Rocks! Music Festival. A day-long music concert of some of the most dynamic emerging and established artists performing on the Brooklyn stage. Sat 10/6, 12 to 5pm. Fulton Street, Bed Stuy. FREE

14. Art/Talk/Reception – BEYONSENSE: An Evening with Dr. John Perry, Hosted by Slavs and Tatars at MoMA. Sat 10/6, 8 to 11pm. Admission includes conversation, exhibition viewing, and cocktail reception. Plus a limited-edition print. $14 in advance; $18 at door.

Alternatively: Brooklyn Museum’s Target First Saturdays. Sat 10/6 from 5 to 11pm. Various performances, music, talks. See site. FREE

15. Music – The Lisps: FUTURITY Album Release. Sat 10/6, 8:30 pm 92Y Tribeca Mainstage at 200 Hudson Street. $15.00 tickets

16. Performance/General Craziness – Electrified with David Blaine at Hudson River Park, Pier 54 (near 14th St). All weekend. FREE

17. Theater – Disgraced: a new play by Ayad Akhtar, directed by Kimberly Senior. Previews begin Sun 10/7 at 7pm. Claire Tow Theater. $20.

18. Stories/Performance – The Moth GrandSLAM Championship at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Sun 10/7. Doors 6:30; Show 7:30. $20.

UPDATES: Film – The New York Film Festival has Discounted Rush Tickets available for some of their screenings announced daily on their website and go on sale 1 hour before showtime. All weekend and through 10/14.

Art – First Fridays at the Noguchi Museum in LIC. Fri 10/5, 10am to 5pm. Pay-what-you-wish.

Music: The Vespers and The Deadly Gentlemen play in Madison Sq. Park, Sat 10/6, 3 to 5pm. FREE

Art: BYOB: Bring Your Own Beamer at Knockdown Center in Queens. Sat 10/6 at 8pm. Artists bring their projectors and project their art, initially an idea by Rafaël Rozendaal (see our post). FREE

Film – My Brooklyn with Kelly Anderson at UnionDocs in Williamsburg. Sun 10/7, 7:30pm. Thoughtful documentary on the issues of neighborhood gentrification. $9 suggested donation.

Film – Goodfellas at Habana Outpost‘s movie night in Brooklyn. Sun 10/7 at 8pm. FREE

Check back for updates and take a look at our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for some ongoing suggestions. Happy Fall weekend.