July 29, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Voice Tunnel by Rafael Lozano-Hemmer

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As part of this year’s Summer Streets in NYC — an annual celebration of the city’s most valuable public space: its streets! — for three consecutive Saturdays in August, nearly seven miles from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park are closed to traffic and opened for people to play, walk, bike, and enjoy. This year, as part of this event the Park Avenue Tunnel which runs from 33rd to 40th Streets, will be transformed into an interactive sound and light installation, Voice Tunnel, by Mexican artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer (previously here and here.) This rare opportunity to stroll the tunnel will invite participants to walk to a midpoint in the tunnel and deliver short messages into an intercom. The words/sounds will then reverberate out in waves of sound and arching light until they disappear. The intensity of the light will be determined by the pitch and volume of the person’s voice.

Voice Tunnel will be taken down after each of the three Saturdays before car traffic resumes, and will be set up again the following week. Other, smaller, interactive installations include Chat Travieso‘s CoolStop at Foley Square, a water mister that connects to fire hydrants made with recycled PVC piping. The 10′ installation resembles a large splash that participants will be able to stand under for a small reprieve from the heat. Also, The Course of Emotions: a mini-golf experience by Risa Puno, that translates everyday feelings into 9 holes of playable fun. Players putt through a range of emotional obstacles, like the seesaw platform of Insecurity and the par-40 Frustration maze.

Summer Streets will take place on the first three Saturdays of August (3rd, 10th & 17th) from 7am to 1pm.

Photos: Chang W. Lee/New York Times; & SummerStreets

July 29, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Food Typography: Danielle Evans

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Midwestern designer Danielle Evans of Marmalade Bleue combines savoir-faire with natural materials such as tea, spices, flour or coffee, to create an amazing typographic series titled Food Typography. In collaboration with Target for their Food for Thought social media campaign announcing the opening of their Canadian stores, Evans created designs of phrases in both French and English using a myriad of food groups. Evans enjoys the organic quality to the process and quickly sees the bezier curves in the powder-y substances as well as the ephemeral and imperfect aspects of the medium. You can hear and see more about the project in the video below.

via swissmiss

July 25, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Mark Jenkins: People on the Streets

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I was familiar with Mark Jenkins‘ work seeing the occasional “person” leaning, against a wall at Frieze or hugged by a bear at Volta, as well as his molded tape sculptures of babies, people and animals, but what I didn’t know was that these hyperealistic human sculptures—stuffed and dressed versions of the tape figures—also appear on city streets, making them that much more amazing. The Embed Series as these are called, have resulted in some people calling the police. You can see some humorous (yet understandable) reactions, in the video below.

via i-ref

July 25, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY

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It’s hard to be in the vicinity of Parsons School of Design this summer and not be lured toward its exhibit window. The expression on the person’s face in the second photo is probably similar to the one I had when I crossed the street a couple of weeks ago, catching a glimpse of these striking floating structures from the corner of my eye. Turns out, these digitally sculpted dancers, titled Les Danseurs du Tailor, are the work of one of this year’s Architectural League Prize winners, Brooklyn-based Marc Fornes & THEVERYMANY. Fornes is a leader in the development of computation applied to design and digital fabrication. He realizes geometrically complex and self-supporting structures for both artistic and commercial purposes, from pop-up stores (such as the Louis Vuitton Pop-up Store in London with Yayoi Kusama- 6th photo from top) to gallery installations and park pavilions. I don’t exactly understand the process, but Fornes digitally designs these skins—which are then produced either in carbon fiber, hand-riveted aluminum, or plastic—by analyzing and evaluating the algorithms and rules encoded in computational systems against the explicit forms, resulting in precise but unpredictable operations. Whatever the process, the results are show-stoppingly stunning.

Photos: Francois Lauginie; Guillaume Blanc; Stephane Muratet; and Moss Bureau

July 24, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Bence Bakonyi: Transform

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Hungarian photographer Bence Bakonyi camouflages others in his series of color-blocked photos titled Transform. From the artist:

How much is our environment forming our personality? How much can you prescind from its medium examining the individual? The photographs of Transform can be considered to be a straightforward commitment besides the inseparability of the individual and the environment. The impersonalized forms of the pictures are almost assimilating and fading into their backgrounds. These works are demonstrating this as an intentional conformism and not as an unconscious progress because only the external marks of the forms shaped consciously, i.e clothes are fading into the homogenous environment. The pieces of the series are describing the ability of people to fit in; they are demonstrating the phenomenon, by which the individual can identify himself/herself with the physical or mental medium. It takes and puts on the features of its environment, as a consequence of this it becomes a part of it.

Nice! If you like these you might also enjoy Liu Bolin’s photographs,

via cosascool

July 24, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Llyn Foulkes: One-Man Band

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Not only did we enjoy Hollie Chastain‘s collages on Saturday, but right before that we went to the New Museum and saw Llyn Foulke’s collage-like work. I was not familiar with Foulke’s art and was surprised to find out that the Los Angeles based artist is a contemporary of John Baldessari, Robert Irwin and Ed Ruscha. Though his work is quite varied in style, there’s a consistency in his portraits (our favorites) that makes it hard to differentiate between the ones created in the 1970s and those completed just a couple of years ago. Foulkes’ portraits are fabulous. Some are a little gruesome à la Francis Bacon, but feel more like anti-corporate commentary (it’s funny that Foulkes is LA-based and much of his work gives it to Disney hard) than tortured souls. Many of these works have a wonderful 3D quality, with arms or ties protruding from the frames. Foulkes has always been a bit eclectic ranging in style from Pop to Dadaist as well as being a performance artist with his own one-man band playing “The Machine” which he created himself.

You can see Llyn Foulkes’ work at the New Museum through September 1, 2013.

Photos courtesy of the artist and the New Museum.

July 23, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Hollie Chastain: Book Cover Collage

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We stopped by the hole here in NYC over the weekend to see their Summer Reading group show—an exhibit that combines a reading room atmosphere interspersed with book-related art—and became enamored with Hollie Chastain’s book cover collages. The Tennessee-based artist has worked in multiple mediums but collage stole her heart at an early age. Chastain uses found materials including old book covers, and lets the scribbles, labels, and aging quality dictate the direction of the piece. These charming and detailed works combine the archival with colorful geometric shapes and patterns, making them antique-y and contemporary at the same time. Lovely. Lucky for me, and anyone else who enjoys these as much, Chastain has an etsy shop where she sells some original works and limited edition prints.

July 23, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Gus Petro: Merge

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Swiss photographer Gus Petro was impressed by NYC’s density and popularity as well as by the extreme emptiness and uninhabitable space of the Grand Canyon and Death Valley on his travels to the U.S. He took a series of photographs of New York titled Dense, another series titled Empty of the Grand Canyon, and then, to complete the trilogy, Petro merged the two in his aptly named series Merge. Exploring the polar opposites was interesting enough, but seeing what NYC would look like placed in the Grand Canyon is a surreal experience.

via mug

July 19, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Ian Strange: Suburban

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New York based Australian artist Ian Strange (aka Kid Zoom) has created a multifaceted photography, installation, and film project titled Suburban.

“… Since 2011 Strange worked with a film crew and volunteers in Ohio, Detroit, Alabama, New Jersey, New York and New Hampshire to create, photograph and film seven site specific interventions incorporating suburban homes. The recording of these interventions through film and photographic documentation forms the basis of this new body of work.”

SUBURBAN will premier in a solo exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, Australia on July 26, 2013.

Photos & video courtesy of the artist.

via junkculture & designboom

July 18, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Philip Haas: Four Seasons

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If you’ve ever been intrigued by Renaissance painter Giuseppe Arcimboldo’s monstrous portraits of composite heads made entirely of fruits, vegetables, flowers, and other objects, then American artist/director Philip Haas’ Four Seasons is for you. Haas has reimagined the 16th century painter’s series Four Seasons as four large-scale sculptures standing over 15 feet high, one representing Spring, another Summer, Autumn, and lastly, Winter. The three-dimensional interpretations are created with intricately detailed fiberglass made to look like flowers, bark, vegetables and leaves.

The Four Seasons sculptures have been traveling from London to Phoenix and now, since May and through October, they are at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx.

Photos courtesy of the artist and NY Botanical Garden

Thanks Ramon!

July 17, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Royal William Yard Staircase: Gillespie Yunnie

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The Royal William Yard in Plymouth, UK has always been a dead end due to its naturally defensive nature and peninsular location. Gillespie Yunnie Architects have recently completed the dramatic staircase that links the far end of the Yard with the open green space above it, a key part of the regeneration masterplan, allowing residents to access the park and historic battlements at the top of the high retaining wall. The staircase, with its striking lighting with changing hues, and stark black exterior, offers that impressive, yet complementary, contrast of old and new against the old stone wall. Plus, the beautifully framed water at the landing, highlighted by the colored lights, makes for a spectacular view.

Photos by Richard Downer

via urdesign

July 16, 2013 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Image 3D: Custom View-Master Reels

This is such a fun gift idea! Make-your-own view-master reels. Want to share your vacation photos in a more unique way? Or maybe a bunch of shots of you and your significant other in one reel complete with view-master would make a nice birthday or Valentine’s gift. Or, for all you designers/artists/architects out there… what a fun way to promote your work to potential clients. The first set (one reel, one viewer, all in a glossy white box) is $30 and it goes down from there per piece if you order more. Founded by Rich Dubnow, lead photographer at View-Master for twenty years, Image3D clearly should be the masters of view-masters.

via bblinks

July 16, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Noriko Yamaguchi: Peppermint Girl/Mother

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Japanese artist Noriko Yamaguchi works in video animation, photography, illustration and performance art. Her art, rigorous in its form and composition, stems from intimate experiences, thoughts, and references to personal memories and cultural encounters. It concentrates on the human body and its relation to nature, tradition, social environment and technology. In her photographs and claymation video titled Peppermint Girls and Peppermint Mother, Yamaguchi’s imaginary characters are creatures borne from chewing gum. Her video, below, shows numerous living gumsticks moving around and covering every part of Yamaguchi’s body. All her works are self-portraits with the idea of transmutation of the human body.

via artnet

July 15, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Sarah Rosado: Dirty Little Secrets

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Inspired by the many images created using food, New York based photographer/illustrator Sarah Rosado decided to create images using dirt. Accessorizing the dirt illustrations with actual objects gives them a bit of a 3D quality that Rosado was going for. The series is cleverly titled Dirty Little Secrets. You can see the rest of the series on her website.

July 15, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Every Subway Station in Manhattan

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Everything about this one-day project by college students James Doernberg and Kai Jordan is super cute and fun. A few months back Doernberg was thinking of ways to make commuting fun/useful and it occurred to him that taking photos (“selfies”) of himself and girlfriend Jordan at every subway station in Manhattan would be one solution. So, on July 10th, after mapping out their route, the two set about the task. Mostly jumping out at each stop, snapping a photo with the subway station sign, and hopping back on the train before the doors closed, Doernberg and Jordan were able to photograph themselves at all 118 stations on the island in a total of nine hours. Certain subway lines as well as rush hour proved to be a little trickier with crowded platforms, so in those cases they sometimes ended up having to wait for the next train. It’s impressive how they were able to vary the shots quite a bit, considering the time restraints. You can see all 133 photos here, and read an interview with them here.

via gothamist

July 12, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

40 Days of Dating: Walsh & Goodman

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Part graphic-designer-online-reality-show, part experiment, part sociological/psychological art project, part super-clever-promo-piece, or whatever else you’d like to call it, Jessica Walsh (of Sagmeister & Walsh) and Timothy Goodman’s (previously here) 40 Days of Dating has Daniela and me completely hooked. Launched a few days ago (today is Day 5, so there’s not much catching up involved) the two good friends have opposite relationship problems—one an incurable romantic, the other has commitment issues—and are growing tired of the NYC dating life. Both single, they decided to embark on an adventure/experiment wherein they date each other exclusively (complying to a list of rules) for 40 days, answering a daily questionnaire that is revealed on the website, day by day. In addition, they enlisted an impressive slew of designers from their professional and personal circles to contribute daily typographic designs, beautifully illustrating the themes of the day.

It doesn’t hurt that both Walsh and Goodman are incredibly cute, talented, and appealing (plus we’re longtime fans) making the project that much more compelling, but there’s no doubt that under all it’s designy-ness and fun, 40 Days of Dating is a voyeuristic fest, complete with some cringe-inducing moments. Nonetheless, we’ve been totally drawn in, finding ourselves in daily discussions and speculating on what direction things will take. We’ve even piqued Em’s curiosity, so I’m sure she’ll be following soon.

They’ve also made a series of related videos that you can see here, and the behind-the-scenes one is below.

via coolhunting

July 11, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Brad Downey: Hacking the City

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These are a lot of fun. As part of the Public Art Horsens event in Denmark at the end of last month, American artist Brad Downey created several clever and witty urban interventions. Downey specializes in the element of surprise, making the viewer do a double-take by disrupting their visual perception. You can see the other four works here. The Horsens event was co-curated by Henrik Haven and Simon Caspersen and included other public works by the likes of Escif (Spain), Sam3 (Spain), Pøbel (Norway), Thomas Dambo (Denmark), and more.

Photos by Henrik Haven

via junk culture via fecal face

July 10, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Through Hollow Lands: Lilienthal|Zamora

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LILIENTHAL|ZAMORA is a collaboration between Etta Lilienthal and Ben Zamora, both performance designers who together have worked on many striking stage sets (I especially love last year’s Underbelly) as well as the labyrinthic installation Through Hollow Lands at the Frye Art Museum in Seattle. Made with 200 suspended fluorescent tubes, the bright and geometric piece has a great futuristic look to it. Beautiful.