October 3, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Jean-François Fourtou: Tombée du Ciel

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French artist Jean-François Fourtou has always wanted to be an architect. Through a series of experiments in his studio in Madrid, Fourtou played with dimension and proportion, mostly distorting them, and applying these experiments to a decade-long project of installations on his property in Morocco. Tombée du Ciel (Fallen from the Sky), the upside down house inspired by his grandparents’ home in France, reproduced to scale and plopped on its roof with its entrance via window, is one of these works. Reminiscent of scenes from books such as Alice in Wonderland or Gulliver’s Travels, the experience of walking on the ceilings (or, if you’re Lionel Richie, perhaps dancing) must evoke both a disorienting and funny feeling. Can’t help thinking of Stray Light Grey a little bit.

Currently, Fourtou is exhibiting a version of his Tombée du Ciel as part of the Festival Lille3000 Fantastic 2012 in Belgium.

Photos courtesy of the artist; aeroplastics gallery; and AFP

via voanews

October 3, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

AIGA: Get Out the Vote Project

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AIGA’s (American Institute of Graphic Arts) Get Out the Vote project invites designers to create nonpartisan posters and videos that inspire the American public to participate in the electoral process and vote in the 2012 general election.

AIGA is hosting an exhibition in New York City from October 3–November 30, 2012 featuring the 2012 Get Out the Vote project, at the AIGA National Design Center. But have no fear, if you can’t make the show you can see the complete virtual gallery here.

October 2, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Bus-Tops in London

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This is such a great public art project. From January 2012 up until just yesterday, a set of 30 red and black LED screens were installed on the roofs of bus shelters throughout the many boroughs of London. The project, sponsored by the Arts Council of England and the Olympics, was titled Bus-Tops and projected images up to those traveling on the upper level of London’s double-decker buses. If that concept alone isn’t nice enough, the added interactive aspect allowing anyone, of any age, to draw and submit their own artwork on the Bus-Tops site, with a chance for it to be projected on one of the many screens, is just genius. Taking a look at all the works (and there are hundreds of them ranging from typographic to illustrative, abstract to realist) showcased on the project’s website, some of the kid submissions are equally charming to those of their more sophisticated and slicker counterparts.

It’s a shame these couldn’t continue indefinitely. It would be great to see similar ideas executed in other cities as well.

Here is a video that explains the project in detail and shows some of the animated works.

via demagazine

October 1, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Anarchy Dance Theater & UltraCombos

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Interactive designers UltraCombos collaborated with Taiwanese dance company Anarchy Dance Theater, on their performance piece titled Seventh Sense which made its European debut recently at the TodaysArt Festival in The Hague. This viewer-centered performance detects all movements including those of the dancers and audience, allowing them to interact through visual effects. The audience becomes not just the viewer, but an active participant via the interactive projection mapping. Very cool.

For those of you in Spain, this Seventh Sense performance will be coming to Centro Parraga in Murcia, October 19 and 20, 2012, so you might want to catch it if you can.

Photos: Top three by Ed Jansen. Bottom three courtesy of Anarchy Dance Theater.

September 28, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/28

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Ay yay yay! So many free and cheap things to do in NYC this weekend and so little time. Here are over a dozen free and/or affordable cultural events in art, music, dance, theater, food and general fun for the weekend of 9/28/2012 to 9/30/2012.

1. Art/Design/Classes – From Photoshop and Dreamweaver to Economics. Trade School a self-organized learning space that runs on barter. Opens Friday 9/28 through 10/28. FREE (with barter items or services) Sign up here.

2. Art – Dev Harlan Untitled (Wave) at Christopher Henry Gallery All weekend. 11am to 6pm. 127 Elizabeth St. FREE

3. Theater/Installation – Habit (see post) directed by David Levine. All weekend, continuously loops from 1 to 9pm, FREE.

4. Design/Typography – Concrete Poetry to Feed My Mind, post-World War II experiments in literature that looked beyond the simple signification of words and meanings to a new mode of visual and linguistic communication. At NYU Open House Gallery, 528 LaGuardia Pl., All weekend, 1pm to 4pm. FREE

5. Art/Design/Books – NY Art Book Fair, at PS1. World’s premier event for international artists’ books, catalogs, monographs, periodicals, and zines. All weekend, see website for hours and listing of events. FREE

6. Theater – Gilbert & Sullivan Players I’ve Got a Little Twist at Calhoun Theater, Friday 9/28, 7pm. $10 adults; $5 students & seniors.

7. Art – Saga Sites exhibit, Landscapes of the Icelandic Sagas. Saturday 9/29 and Sunday, 9/30 at Scandinavia Housethrough 1/12/2013. FREE

8. Art/Fun/Food/Music – Dumbo Arts Festival, All weekend starting Friday 9/28 night with Immersive Surfaces projection mapping show from 6pm to 9pm, continuing with vast number of events All weekend. Check site for event listings. FREE

9. Film – 5th Russian Documentary Film Festival, at Tribeca Cinemas. All weekend. Check site for schedule. $14.

10. Art/Performance – SkowheganPERFORMS at Socrates Sculpture Park, Saturday, 9/29, 1:30–5:00pm. FREE

11. Food/Fun – 10th Annual Oyster Frenzy at the Oyster Bar in Grand Central Terminal. Includes Oyster-eating contest and Oyster-shucking contest. A variety of oysters, shooters and more. Saturday 9/29, 12 to 6pm. FREE entry. (Oysters are a la carte.)

12. Conference/Speakers/Art/Music – RUCKUS NYC is a one-day conference and concert on art and the web. Saturday 9/29 at Cooper Union, 10am to 6pm, (Registration starts at 9:30). $65 (Hey, that’s cheap for a conference.) $25 for just evening concert.

13. Food/Fun/Fair – Chile Pepper Fiesta, at the Brooklyn Botanical Gardens, Saturday 9/29, 11am to 6pm. 20th anniversary with a full roster of sizzling music and dance from spice-loving regions around the world. Sample dozens of award-winning hot sauces, spicy pickles, salsas and chile-chocolates. $15 adults; $10 Students over 12 and Seniors.

14. Food/Music/Fun – The Atlantic Antic Street Festival, Atlantic Avenue, Brooklyn. Sunday 9/30, 12 to 6pm. FREE

Alternatively: DayLife Festival, Sunday 9/30. Orchard Street in full effect as a 3-block special event with food, fashion, a full line-up of top-tier DJs, and games such as Twister, badminton and urban croquet. FREE

15. Film – Two awe-inspiring, informative, and entertaining documentaries, What’s For Dinner? and Vegucated, Saturday 9/29, 1-4pm at Anthology Film Archives. Part of Climate Week NYC. FREE with eticket.

16. Art/Classes – Figure Drawing classes at Brooklyn Art Space. Saturdays & Sundays, 3-hour sessions open to all. $12. See site for times.

17. Music – Global Festival Central Park Great Lawn w/ Neil Young, Foo Fighters, The Black Keys, Band of Horses, K’Naan, Saturday 9/29 at 5pm. All ages. FREE, register.

18. Music – Get tickets for Of Monsters and Men at Terminal 5, November 21, 2012. $25. (Oops! Sorry, sold out)

UPDATES:

Art – Museum Day! Saturday 9/29, Free entry to a list of Smithsonian-affiliated museums (see map): includes Morgan Library, Museo del Barrio, Museum of Folk Art, The Asia Society, Studio Museum in Harlem and many, many more nationwide. Sign up for a pass for two. FREE.

Art – Lucas Samaras: XYZ opens at Pace (W. 25th St) Friday 9/28 and Saturday 9/29 through 10/27. FREE

Fun/Music/Performance – Bushwig! Festival of Drag at Special Project Robot in Bushwick. Saturday 9/29, 3 to 11pm. FREE.

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

September 27, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Chair Wear: Bernotat & Co.

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This is a fun way to ‘dress up’ your old chairs. Dutch designers Anke Bernotat and Jan Jacob Borstlap, along with their team, look to “heighten the contrast between the mundane and surprising.” Their challenge is to recombine the old with the new. Their Chair Wear line is the solution. From pockets to turtlenecks, these old, classic chairs, come to life with their new outfits. Very clever.

September 26, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Karyn Olivier: Sculptural Play

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I vote Karyn Olivier to design the next playground in town. Originally from Trinidad and Tobago, Olivier studied undergrad and graduate school in the U.S. Her work includes sculpture, photography, videos, and drawings, but here I’ve just included some of her sculptures. These pieces, at first glance, are humorous and playful, but the artist speaks of nostalgia, betrayal, dysfunction, danger, and isolation in her work. Maybe not the best words to associate with a real playground. Nonetheless, these are quirky and appealing sculptures that seem to call out to be played with.

via Skowhegan Art

September 25, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Clara Lieu: Falling Series

Visual artist Clara Lieu (also Daniela’s freshman drawing teacher at RISD last year) has created an interesting (and creepy) series of sculptures as part of her Falling project. A visualization of her personal experience with depression and anxiety, as well as the sense of loss of control, Lieu worked with actress and model Marianna Bassham, to recreate these emotions and expressions.

From the artist:
These fine art prints titled “HidingI – XIII”, depict a human face emerging out of darkness. I sculpted a relief sculpture of a face out of ceramic clay, created a silicone mold, and cast the sculpture in beeswax. The sculpture was then lit with dramatic lighting, photographed digitally, and then manipulated in Photoshop.

Lieu works in many mediums including printmaking, illustration, sculpture, and painting. You can see much more of her work on her website, and buy some of her work in her etsy shop. And here is an interesting interview where she goes into detail about her work.

September 24, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Numen/For Use: Field

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The Croatian-Austrian collective Numen/For Use (previously here) created a fun installation for the D-Day Festival in their own city of Zagreb. The suspended Field, executed in a former slaughterhouse, underwent the entire vegetative cycle from sprouting to disintegration. The grass field was grown on a floating piece of fabric, converting the designers into urban farmers and making them aware of the fragility and power of life. The growing field was not tied down to the ground, contradicting the usual assumptions that earth is an immobile mass of infinite weight and a two dimensional surface. I especially like the fact that people could wander under, as well as above, the installation, peering up through the holes in Whac-a-Mole style.

This might be a nice addition/substitute for the proposed Lowline project. Just a thought…

via frame

September 24, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

JR in Hong Kong

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French street artist JR (previously here and here) is at it again! This time in Hong Kong. The immensely appealing photographer has pasted 16 large-scale portraits of Hong Kong city dwellers looking up, along Connaught Road footbridge in the center of the city. And, if that isn’t fun enough, he’s got an exhibit of his first sculptures titled Pattern at Galerie Perrotin through November 10th, 2012.

All photos courtesy of the Inside Out Project and Galerie Perrotin.

September 21, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/21

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This weekend’s picks for free and cheap things to do in New York. Affordable cultural events in art, music, dance, theater, food and general fun for the weekend of 9/21/2012 to 9/23/2012.

1. Art/Architecture- Tatzu Nishi’s very fun installation: Discovering Columbus (see post), an elevated living room surrounding the statue in Columbus Circle. All weekend and through 11/18. FREE with reserved timed pass.

2. Art–Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artists, Fifty Years at the Met. All weekend and through 12/31. Pay what you will or suggested admission.

3. Film – The Coney Island Film Festival, All weekend. Screenings and parties range from $7 to $12.

4. Art/Design – Process 01:Joy, at the new P! Gallery in Chinatown, 334 Broome St. Friday 9/21 and Saturday 9/22, FREE. Also related: Saturday, 9/22 from 3 to 5pm the artists Carrion-Murayari, Conaty, and Martens in Conversation at Projects Projects (161 Bowery 2nd Floor) FREE with RSVP

5. Theater – Shuffle performed by the Elevator Repair Service in the stacks of the Brooklyn Public Library. Friday 9/21 and Saturday 9/22, 7 to 9pm. Use code BROK for 20% off tickets.

6. TV/Film/Book– Actress Penny Marshall chats and signs her new memoir at the Strand, Friday 9/21, 7 to 8pm. Purchase of book or $10 Strand Gift Card required.

7. Film – Williamsburg International Film Festival, All weekend, different locations. Check schedule. $5 to $10.

8. Food – Le Grand Fooding Brooklyn, Saturday 9/22 and Sunday 9/23, Brunch in Williamsburg $20, Lunch in Ft. Greene $15. Get tickets and details.

9. Music/Performance/Art/Food – Fourth Arts Block (FAB), will take over East 4th Street for its annual arts extravaganza. An afternoon of free performances by local artists, with multiple indoor and outdoor stages showcasing dance, theater, & music, local artisans and gourmet food vendors, art installations, Saturday 9/22, 1 to 5pm FREE

10. Music – Heritage Blues Trio at 3pm followed by Rory Block singing the blues at 4pm. Saturday 9/22 in Madison Square Park. FREE

11. Film/Documentary – Detropia at IFC. A lyrical and exquisitely shot meditation on abandonment, decay and unexpected renewal of Detroit. All weekend. Co-director Rachel Grady will be at the 6:10 show Saturday 9/22 for a Q&A. $13.50

12. Books –Brooklyn Book Festival at Borough Hall, Sunday 9/23, 10am to 6pm. FREE

13. Music– Rupa & The April Fishes at Le Poisson Rouge, Sunday 9/23 . Doors 10pm. $15

14. Theater – The Exonerated with Stockard Channing & Brian Dennehy at Culture Project. 1/2 off Sundays. Sunday 9/23 . Tickets from $15.

Also in Theater – Get $15 tickets now to Sorry by Richard Nelson at the Public Theater 10/30 to 11/18 before they sell out.

15. Food – Get 1/2 price tickets now for next Sunday’s (9/30) Pickle Palooza above Bowlmore on University Place. $15.

UPDATES:

Performance/Food – 10th Autumn Moon Festival, Sunday 9/23, 11am to 5pm. FREE

TV/Fun – Emmy Screening Party, at Brooklyn Winery, Sunday 9/23, 7 to 11pm. FREE 21+

Art/Music/Party – Animamus Art Salon Tube Party at Low Brow Artique, Sunday 9/23 at 7pm. $10

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

September 20, 2012 by collabcubed - 4 Comments

Discovering Columbus: Follow Up

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This is it! The day New York art lovers have been waiting for. Tatzu Nishi’s Discovering Columbus (previously here for background) opens to the public and I’ve got my free pass to stop over later, however, I couldn’t resist the sneak peek from the VIP listers. The large elevated living room is just as described: built around the famous Columbus Circle statue, that stands tall on the coffee table in the center of the room. The wallpaper print is made up of iconic ~~New York City~~ American images ranging from the Empire State Building to a mustard-slathered hot dog, Elvis and Mickey Mouse. There’s even a TV. Totally nutty and fun. I, for one, am really looking forward to this.

Discovering Columbus will be up through November 18, 2012. Visit the Public Art Fund’s website to reserve your timed free pass.

Photos: AP/wsbtv; Sam Horine/gothamist; vidiot’s flickr; and nymayorsoffice’s flickr.

September 19, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Vik Muniz: iPhone Photos

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Brazilian artist Vik Muniz—known for his photographs of his creations ranging from portraits made with melted chocolate, a Medusa in a plate of spaghetti, to his enormous portraits of local favela garbage workers in Rio made from the recycled garbage they collect—shot a series of iPhone photos using a Schneider iPro Lens attachment, leading to some interesting shots. The top one, in particular, is pretty amazing.

via Musée

September 18, 2012 by collabcubed - 5 Comments

Caitlind Brown: Cloud

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How fun is this? I love it! Calgary-based artist and filmmaker Caitlind Brown created this wonderful large-scale light installation/sculpture titled Cloud, exhibited a few nights ago at this year’s Nuit Blanche in Calgary. Made with more than 5,000 reappropriated domestic light bulbs (only one in every six bulbs actually needs to glow), in addition to compact fluorescent bulbs and chain pull strings, Cloud invites viewers to wander through a rain of pull strings switching lights on and off. When audiences activate the Cloud‘s inner sphere of light bulbs it creates the illusion of lightning on the cloud’s surface. Too clever!

Photos courtesy of James Tworow, Lori.Jane, and Posilucky’s flickrs.

via inspired

September 18, 2012 by collabcubed - 3 Comments

Phone Booth Aquariums: Kingyobu

So, last week we saw phone booths being converted into lending libraries and now, this week, aquariums. The Japanese art collective Kingyobu (Goldfish club) have been turning phone booths into goldfish aquariums throughout Osaka as part of the city’s Canvas Project art festival. Kinda crazy. Kinda fun.

via laughing squid/spoon & tamago

September 17, 2012 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

S.Alt City Project

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A mural for downtown Syracuse, designed by architects Cheng+Snyder, celebrates both Syracuse’s industrial past and its current status as an artistic hub, apparently. At first glance, the image is historical, depicting a pump house and brine distribution center. On closer inspection, viewers realize the image is a mosaic composed of dozens of unique QR code tile, each linking to a contemporary arts organization in the greater Syracuse region.

Between this mural and the Russian Pavilion at the Venice Architecture Biennial, it looks like people are starting to find interesting uses, as well as engaging ones, for the ubiquitous codes that never seemed, at least to me, to get people scanning.

Thanks David!

September 14, 2012 by collabcubed - 0 comments

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/14

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This weekend’s picks for free and cheap things to do in New York. Affordable cultural events in art, music, dance, theater, food and general fun.

1. Art/Photography/Talks- Momenta Art presents Occupy Your BFF.Occupy Museums (Occupy Wall Street) will use the gallery’s resources to activate critical dialogue about the relationship between art and the market. Opening Reception, Friday 9/14, 6pm to 9pm. Exhibit runs through 10/28. FREE

2. Art– Randy Polumbo: Love Stream at Steven Kasher Gallery. Fun light sculpture exhibit partly in an Airstream trailer. Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15. Through September 29th. FREE

Also in Art: Johan Freeman and Justin Lowe’s Stray Light Grey multi-room installation at Marlborough Gallery. (See post) Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15. Through October 27th. FREE

3. Art/Performance – Steven & William Ladd: Shaboygen at The Invisible Dog Art Center, Brooklyn. Opening Reception, Saturday 9/15, 6pm to 10pm. Performances 7 & 9pm. Through November 3rd. FREE

4. Film – Solar Powered Film Series, at Stuyvesant Cove Park. Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15, 7pm to 10:30pm. FREE

5. Music – FIAF Opening Concert with Bill Frisell, guitarist at FIAF Florence Gould Hall Friday 9/14, 8pm. Advanced $30. At door $35.

6. Fashion/Performance– Williamsburg Fashion Weekend at Windmill Studios, Williamsburg. Friday 9/14 and Saturday 9/15 Doors: 8pm, Show: 9pm. $15 in advance. $20 at door.

7. Art Installation/Party – House Party: Andrew Ohanesian at The Boiler. Faithfully creating a spatially accurate, quintessentially American suburban home, which he displaces from its native suburban landscape by reconstructing it within the walls of the Boiler, a repurposed urban-industrial space currently functioning as a contemporary art gallery. Opening reception (House Party) Friday 9/14 7pm to 10pm. The Boiler, 191 N. 14th St. Brooklyn. Exhibit up through 11/18. FREE

8. Music/Light Show – The Joshua Light Show. live, colorful, psychedelic projections behind various musicians and bands including John Zorn and Lou Reed, at NYU Skirball Center. All weekend. Check listing for showtimes and bands. Tickets start at $20.

9. Architecture Walking Tour – Lost Streams of NYC, with photographer/historian Steve Duncan (see post). 2- to 3-hour tour (above ground). Saturday 9/15, 2pm to 5pm. $25

10. Architecture Talk – Andrew Moore: Images of Governors Island The renowned photographer gives an illustrated talk on the abandoned buildings of Governors Island. Saturday 9/15. 2pm to 3pm. FREE (the event is sold out, but it has been our experience with other talks, that not everyone who signs up, shows up.)

11. Architecture – Imagining the Lowline at the Essex Street Warehouse. A first glimpse at what the park might look like (see post). Starting Saturday 9/15 and Sunday 9/16 12pm to 6pm. Through September 27th. FREE

12. Music –Jim Lauderdale & The Honeycutters at Madison Square Park. Saturday 9/15, 3-5pm. FREE

13. Contest/Food– Chef One Dumpling Eating Contest, at Williamsburg Smorgasburg. Saturday 9/15 at 1 to 4pm. FREE

14. Food – Pig Roast at The Farm on Adderley in Prospect Park South, Brooklyn. Saturday 9/15 . 2pm to 8pm. $25/plate (including sides).

15. Dance – DanceNow at Joe’s Pub. Featuring the Top Ten Works from the 2012 DANCENOW Festival. Saturday 9/15, 7pm. $15 in advance; $20 at the door.

**UPDATES: Film – LCD Soundsystem’s Shut Up and Play the Hits at The Well, Brooklyn. Saturday 9/15, 7-11pm, 18+ to enter. FREE

Food – Unsold Supper in Union Square. Farmers contribute unsold produce that gets cooked and shared in exchange for creating a gift for the farmers. Barter of craft for food. Saturday 9/15, 4 to 6pm. FREE

Fun – NerdNYC’s RECESS a day full of tabletop games, from cards to Trivia and more at 440 Lafayette St. 18+ with ID. Saturday 9/15, 11am to 10:30pm. $20.

Check back for possible updates and take a look at our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for additional ideas. Enjoy!

September 13, 2012 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Rock Chair by Fredrik Färg

I love this contemporary rocking chair. Designed by Swedish designer Fredrik Färg, The Rock Chair (I even like the name) combines the classic rocking chair with modern design. The chair comes in 5 easy-to-fit-together pieces, packed flat that, when assembled, reveal all aspects of how the chair holds together. The circular cushions add that circle-in-the-trapezoid geometric quality that’s just great. Simple, elegant, and clever!