September 3, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Cloudscapes: Tetsuo Kondo & Transsolar

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Ever wish you could walk through a cloud? Japanese architecture studio Tetsuo Kondo Architects and environmental engineers Transsolar, create Cloudscapes where visitors can experience a real cloud from below, within, and above. First, three years ago at the Venice Architecture Biennale 2010 their cloud installation floated within the center of the Arsenal and, more recently they exhibited a Cloudscape encased inside a transparent two-storey cube at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tokyo (MOT). These installations are formed by pumping three layers of air into a contained space: cold air at the bottom; hot humid air in the middle; and hot dry air at the top. The pathways offered to visitors exploring the Cloudscape includes a staircase allowing them to experience the cloud from all angles, including walking through it.

via idporn & mymodernmet

September 3, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Oded Hirsch: 50 Blue

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Any time I’ve gone onto NYFA’s (New York Foundation for the Arts) website in the past month, I’ve been mesmerized by the looping 10-second video playing at the top of the page. In part it’s the visuals that are immediately intriguing; a man in a wheelchair being lifted via pulley up high over the water. Add to that the squeaky noise of the pulley, and it’s just hard not to be drawn in for several loops-worth of viewing. Turns out this is a shortened version of Israeli video artist Oded Hirsch’s 10-minute piece titled 50 Blue. After googling around I discovered through the New York Times that in the longer version, ”a young man struggles to push an older man in a wheelchair through a swampy landscape and down to the water’s edge. There, helpers in yellow slickers hoist the wheelchair up to an elevated platform. No one says a word, leaving us to wonder whether the view is worth the strenuous, muck-filled journey. Learning that the young man is Mr. Hirsch’s brother, and that the older one is his father, and that the site is the Sea of Galilee makes the whole thing seem like a parable.” So now, not only are the visuals and sounds captivating, but the story itself adds an equally engaging third dimension. You can see the video here.

via nyfa

August 6, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

From the CollabCubed Archives

We’re taking a little summer blogging break this month. To keep you entertained, we’ve put together easy access links to some of our more popular posts in the past months but, of course, feel free to peruse instead by category using the drop-down menu in the right sidebar, or click on the ‘random post’ icon also in the sidebar. There’s always our facebook page, as well, with links to all of our posts. And for those of you in NYC, please check out our recently launched site Culture on the Cheap offering daily suggestions of free and cheap events in New York City.

Enjoy and we’ll be back in a few weeks!

August 2, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

Gemis Luciani: Phone Book Sculptures & More

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Berlin-based Italian artist Gemis Luciani upcycles phone books, magazines, brochures, and other similar objects into sculpture. By manipulating, de-composing and re-assembling the books and pages he reconfigures them into newly built systems of shapes and surfaces. His collages and spatial, large scale installations are meticulously created, and rely on a strong minimalist aesthetic. You can see more of Luciani’s work on his website here.

Photos: courtesy of the artist; premioterna; and artribune.

August 1, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Rosh: Splashes of Colors on Streets of Madrid

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After spotting a photo on instagram of Spanish street artist Rosh‘s multi-colored sprayed corners, Guillermo de la Madrid took to the streets of Madrid to find more, and more he did find. These pastel-y splashes of colors adorn the street corners of the city, as well as other urban objects such as electrical switch boxes, pipes, and street signs. Surprising and subtle enough to almost be confused as unintentional, these colorful splotches especially appeal to those in the know.

Photos: Guillermo de la Madrid

via escrito en la pared

August 1, 2013 by collabcubed - 0 comments

Paprika: Memory Gaps

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Montreal-based graphic design and strategic marketing firm Paprika (previously here) never disappoints. Checking in to their site for a boost of inspiration I came across their currently exhibited art installation for Aires Libres—an artistic event on St. Catherine Street in Montreal. Trous de mémoire (Memory Gaps) invites visitors to take a walk down memory lane, but there are tricks and humorous discoveries to be made, indicating that what is forgotten is not always lost. By day or by night, pedestrians can slip between the panels and uncover their secrets from up close or from a distance, deciphering them from all angles and even climb through them.

For those of us not near Montreal, the experience is nicely captured in the videos below, the second one being a timelapse version of the installation process (with a lovely song by Black Water.)

Memory Gaps (Trous de mémoire) is on view through September 2, 2013.

July 31, 2013 by collabcubed - 2 Comments

Tham & Videgård: Lagnö Summer House

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Swedish architects Bolle Tham and Martin Videgård designed this summer house in the town of Lagnö, part of the Stockholm archipelago. What sets this house apart from the more classic rustic timber cabins found in the landscape, is its pleated façade made up of a series of concrete gable roofs. The exposed concrete and its angular shape, was a deliberate choice by the architects to connect the house to its environment, specifically the archipelago’s granite bedrock. The pitched ceilings make for dramatic interior heights and room shapes, while the large expanses of glass offer spectacular views of the forest and bay.

Photos by Lindman Photography

via ar

July 30, 2013 by collabcubed - 1 Comment

3PTPOP: Victor-John Villanueva

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I’ve mentioned our personal appreciation/fascination for perler bead fashion accessories before and 3PTPop‘s range of portrait neckware is no exception. New York City based graphic designer Victor-John Villanueva (aka Victor Pump) is inspired by pop culture and the figures that shape it. With his label Three Point Pop he merges art and fashion. The collection features pop culture icons and immortalizes their images in fusible beads and resin. From Andy Warhol & Anna Wintour to Pharell Williams and even Bill Cunningham, Villanueva is able to render their faces in an unmistakeable way. Even the business cards are made using the fused beads. You can purchase these works as necklaces or as framed works here and you can follow the latest designs on his blog here.

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

Paul Marti: Matchstick Architecture

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Artist Paul Marti of Englewood, Colorado builds elaborate architectural constructions such as cathedrals and castles using only matchsticks. These intricately designed pieces are not replicas, but rather original artworks conceived by Marti in his head, from their rounded towers and elaborate arches, to their painted stained glass. He solves the construction problems the way an artist does, by envisioning something beautiful first, then executing it. The detail on these is impressive. The “brick” facades are created by stacking cut matchsticks, and even the gravel is made with chopped and painted matches.