Caitlind Brown: Cloud

Nuit Blanche Calgary, Cloud installation made of lightbulbs and pull strings, light sculpture, interactive, cool installationNuit Blanche Calgary, Cloud installation made of lightbulbs and pull strings, light sculpture, interactive, cool installationNuit Blanche Calgary, Cloud installation made of lightbulbs and pull strings, light sculpture, interactive, cool installationClick to enlarge

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

S.Alt City Project

Interactive QR code Mural in Syracuse, S.Alt city, street art mural, Irene Cheng & BrettSnyderInteractive QR code Mural in Syracuse, S.Alt city, street art mural, Irene Cheng & BrettSnyderInteractive QR code Mural in Syracuse, S.Alt city, street art mural, Irene Cheng & BrettSnyderInteractive QR code Mural in Syracuse, S.Alt city, street art mural, Irene Cheng & BrettSnyderClick to enlarge

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!

Sing! Karaoke Kiosk

design, karaoke kiosk, international diverse music collection, portable karaoke kiosk, Vancouver, Urban Republic Arts Societydesign, karaoke kiosk, international diverse music collection, portable karaoke kiosk, Vancouver, Urban Republic Arts Societydesign, karaoke kiosk, international diverse music collection, portable karaoke kiosk, Vancouver, Urban Republic Arts SocietyClick to enlarge

The Sing! Karaoke Kiosk is an interactive multilingual installation designed by the Urban Republic Arts Society in Vancouver to encourage more interaction between the various culturally distinct communities within the city. The outdoor booth allows users to choose songs from a touch screen display and sing on the red carpet to the public. The custom player offers thousands of songs in Vancouver’s most widely spoken languages: Cantonese, English, Filipino, French, Japanese, Hindi, Mandarin and Spanish. Karaoke’s cross-cultural popularity makes it a perfect choice to get everyone interacting, or at least laughing.

via Canadian Architect

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/14

Free and Cheap things to do in NYC weekend of 9/14, 9/15, Free and Cheap events in New York city in art, architecture, music, dance, theater, tours, performance, food, funClick to enlarge

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. ArtRandy 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/PerformanceSteven & 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. MusicFIAF 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/PartyHouse 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 TourLost 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. MusicJim Lauderdale & The Honeycutters at Madison Square Park. Saturday 9/15, 3-5pm. FREE

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

14. FoodPig 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!

Rock Chair by Fredrik Färg

Rock Chair, contemporary Swedish Designed rocking chair, assembles and disassembles, Fredrik FargRock Chair, contemporary Swedish Designed rocking chair, assembles and disassembles, Fredrik FargRock Chair, contemporary Swedish Designed rocking chair, assembles and disassembles, Fredrik FargI 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!

via A/N

Stray Light Grey: Freeman & Lowe

Construction/destruction installation. OTB room, NYC in the 90s, Stray Light Grey installation at Marlborough Gallery, Freeman and LoweConstruction/destruction installation. OTB room, NYC in the 90s, Stray Light Grey installation at Marlborough Gallery, Freeman and LoweConstruction/destruction installation. OTB room, NYC in the 90s, Stray Light Grey installation at Marlborough Gallery, Freeman and LoweClick to enlarge

Jonah Freeman and Justin Lowe have collaborated on a few all-immersive abandoned room installations in the past years. The last show they had in NYC was in 2009 at Deitch Projects titled Black Acid Co-op which featured an exploded crystal meth lab among other things. Today, their latest exhibit opens at the Marlborough Gallery in Chelsea. Stray Light Grey, as the new show is called, conjures up the old OTB (Off Track Betting) facilities of the city’s past in its multi-roomed installation. They have converted the Chelsea gallery into what the neighborhood and its occupants were probably like back in the 90s—such as an OTB gambling parlor—shaping it into their own world. Upon first entering the gallery, visitors experience a smaller version of the usual gallery, but as they proceed other, stranger, rooms are revealed, some through holes in walls. The farther in one goes, apparently, the weirder things get. From a storage room to bathroom under construction and ripped out walls, continuing on to other rooms including the OTB-styled parlor and a plastic-surgery center. Artifacts, artworks and videos are dispersed throughout alluding to what is yet to come. And yet, one can never really be sure what to expect.

Stray Light Grey opens today and runs through October 27th, at the Marlborough Gallery.

via NY Magazine and Bomb

Cyrus Kabiru: CStunners

Crazy glasses made from junk and found objects, Contemporary African Art, Cyrus Kabiru at Istanbul Design Biennial 2012Crazy glasses made from junk and found objects, Contemporary African Art, Cyrus Kabiru at Istanbul Design Biennial 2012Crazy glasses made from junk and found objects, Contemporary African Art, Cyrus Kabiru at Istanbul Design Biennial 2012Click to enlarge

Not sure I’ll be picking any of these when I finally take the plunge and get a pair of much-needed glasses, but they certainly are fun. Nairobi artist Cyrus Kabiru has been into making frames from a very young age, grabbing some scrap copper wire and making his own set, having been inspired by a playmate’s real ones. Kabiru is a painter and a sculptor and started making his CStunners just for fun out of found objects, wire, mesh, pierced copper and steel, as well as other unused, leftover scrap. From fun to the Istanbul Design Biennial, where Kabiru’s specs will be featured next month; not bad! I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if these start cropping up on the fashion runways very soon, if they haven’t already.

Photos by SylviaPhotos courtesy of the artist.

via NYTimes

Hiroshi Fuji: Kaeru

Hiroshi Fuji, Toy Saurus, Sculpture made from recycled toys, interactive exhibit, Japanese Contemporary ArtHiroshi Fuji, Toy Saurus, Sculpture made from recycled toys, interactive exhibit, Japanese Contemporary ArtHiroshi Fuji, Toy Saurus, Sculpture made from recycled toys, interactive exhibit, Japanese Contemporary ArtClick to enlarge

Japanese artist Hiroshi Fuji’s art revolves around “ways of transforming existences that are not valued by society into special existences.” One of the ways he does this is by using recycled materials in his art and inviting others—kids, artists, the public in general—to participate in its creation. He started a toy exchange system called “Kaekko” 13 years ago with over 5000 events having taken place in over 1000 locations across Japan and other countries as well. In his Central Kaeru Station – Where have all these toys come from? (Kaeru meaning to change, return, exchange) exhibit, which just closed in Tokyo last weekend, Fuji brought together over 50,000 toys collected over the years in the “Kaekko” project and created an installation that included works (such as this Toy Sauruses) made from the recycled toys, and the opportunity to bid on some of the works, along with interactive workshops for the community.

Photos: Reuters; Vancouver Sun; Amazing World Pictures; and 331

via voanews

Julian Hoeber: Demon Hill & DH#2

cool installation, tilted box installation hard to stand in, dizzying, DH#2, Harris Lieberman Gallerycool installation, tilted box installation hard to stand in, dizzying, Demon Hill and DH#2 by Julian Hoeber, Harris Lieberman Gallerycool installation with funhouse effect, gravity-defying installation, Demon Hill, DH#2 Julian HoeberClick to enlarge

My friend Eric and I strolled over to Chelsea on Saturday between tornado warnings. We stopped by numerous recently-opened exhibits, but the most memorable show perhaps, at least for me, was Julian Hoeber at Harris Lieberman Gallery. Actually, more specifically, it was the centerpiece of the exhibit, DH#2, that was most memorable. This tilted wooden box held together with metal studs, beckons to you through its door. Inside is a steeply inclined room that is amazingly difficult to stand in and makes your head (and stomach) do somersaults…even just looking at these photos again is bringing back that queasy feeling. But it’s definitely fun and incredibly surprising. Makes for some laughs (and a little nausea.) DH#2 is, apparently, a variation on the Los Angeles artist’s previous work Demon Hill (the latter pictured in the top and bottom photos.)

These free-standing structures are based on the architecture of “gravitational mystery spots” that are often found in fun houses. Mystery spots claim to be sites of supernatural power to explain the severe effect of disorientation and vertigo that the visitor experiences, when in reality it’s the result of an architectural trick. Hoeber’s installations reveal the device behind the trickery, while retaining the same effect.

Here’s a video of the original Demon Hill:

Julian Hoeber’s exhibit will be up at Harris Lieberman Gallery through October 6th, 2012.

Photos: Art in America; soggydan; fiac; and the rest Eric and myself.

Typography Bird Houses: Living Typography

Birdhouses in the shape of letters, Typography in industrial design, signage and bird houseBirdhouses in the shape of letters, Typography in industrial design, signage and bird houseBirdhouses in the shape of letters, Typography in industrial design, signage and bird houseTypographic objects, Bird houses in the shape of letters, Bird house alphabet, fun typography objectsClick to enlarge.

Typography and industrial design combine in these fun typographic bird houses. Designer Nishant Jethi of Mumbai created these hollow wooden 3D letters (the complete alphabet) that double as bird houses. Living Typography, as the project is titled, can be used as nameplates and/or house numbers while providing shelter to the many sparrows that have lost their homes with the recent construction of new high-rises and malls. If those sparrows enjoy type even half as much as I do, they’ll be happy to call one of these letters or numbers their home!

via behance

Hu Jieming: 100 Years in 1 Minute

multimedia installation, video installation, contemporary Chinese art, cool art installation, 100 Years in 1 Minute, Hu Jiemingmultimedia installation, video installation, contemporary Chinese art, cool art installation, 100 Years in 1 Minute, Hu Jiemingmultimedia installation, video installation, contemporary Chinese art, cool art installation, 100 Years in 1 Minute, Hu JiemingClick to enlarge.

Shanghai-based multimedia artist Hu Jieming created this large-scale video piece titled 100 Years in 1 Minute. His goal was not to offer a panoramic view of history but, instead, to explore the possibilities of multiple combinations of the past century’s visual memory within one minute.

Using hundreds of, what look like, shoe storage bags to frame his videos, 10 high definition projectors, and 120 loudspeakers, Jieming compressed 100 years into 1100 artworks, creating 1100 1-minute videos that deconstruct many a masterpiece of modern times. The effect is noisy, wild and humorous. Jieming sees these purely as experiments; not as art or historical criticism.

Here is a video of the installation:

Photos: artnews, bjartlab’s flickr; shanghart; and echinaart.

via shangart

Pay Phone Lending Libraries: John Locke

Pay Phone Lending libraries, converting underused NYC Pay Phones into bookshelves, John H. Locke, DUB, Street Art, Repurposing, recycling, smart urban designPay Phone Lending libraries, converting underused NYC Pay Phones into bookshelves, John H. Locke, DUB, Street Art, Repurposing, recycling, smart urban designPay Phone Lending libraries, converting underused NYC Pay Phones into bookshelves, John H. Locke, DUB, Street Art, Repurposing, recycling, smart urban designClick to enlarge

Architect John H. Locke, who lives and works in NYC, has come up with a clever idea for repurposing the underused pay phone booths that adorn the streets of the city. Locke designed a set of lightweight bookshelves, made of milled plywood,to fit inside a standard booth. Hooks on the shelves allow the units to be easily and quickly snapped into place without the use of hardware. Locke has so far installed four of these shelves on the Upper West Side, and finds the reactions interesting. In some cases the shelves (and books) have lasted merely a few hours, in others a few days.

It’s a great, forward-thinking concept that makes for fun street art as well. Presently, John Locke’s project is being featured as part of the U.S.’s contribution to the Venice Architectural Biennale.

You can see Locke speak about the project here. Some of his other interesting projects here. And here’s a link to the class he teaches at Columbia: Hacking the Urban Experience.

via The New York Times

NYC Culture on the Cheap: Weekend 9/7

Free and Cheap things to do in NYC 9/7, 9/8, and 9/9/12, Affordable Cultural Events in New York City, Free and Cheap Art, Music, Food, Theater, Film, Architectural events in NYC weekend of September 7, 2012Click to enlarge

This weekend’s picks for free and cheap things to do in New York. From art exhibits, to music, dance, theater, food festivals and more, free or affordable September 7, 8, and 9, 2012.)

1. Theater- 20at20 Beginning Tuesday, September 4th, and running through Sunday, September 23rd, tickets for all 20at20 shows are only $20, 20 minutes before the Off-Broadway shows. Check listing. All weekend

2. Spectator Sport/Food/ArtUS Open Live 2012 at Madison Square Park. Sit back, lounge, and watch biggest names in tennis on the big-screen, live as it happens. Food & Beverages will be available and this is the last weekend to check out Charles Long’s drippy Pet Sound sculptures. All weekend. FREE

3. Art – Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s exhibit Voice Array at Bitforms Gallery, 529 W. 20th. Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8. FREE

4. Art/Experience/Tour – Chance Procedures in Motion, with Maria Chavez. Friday 9/7, 6:30pm to 8:30pm. Maria Chavez invites participants to join her in navigating the city by chasing subways in available directions. $20.

5. DanceEclipse Dance by Jonah Bokaer x Anthony McCall at the new Fischer BAM. All weekend (check for times & tickets). Friday 9/7 performance has a Pre-show talk with choreographer and artist. $20.

6. Music– Rafiq Bhatia, PEPEPIANO, & icewater at Cameo Gallery, 93 North 6th Street, Williamsburg. Ages 21+ Friday 9/7, 8pm. $8.

Free and Cheap things to do in NYC 9/7, 9/8, and 9/9/12, Affordable Cultural Events in New York City, Free and Cheap Art, Music, Food, Theater, Film, Architectural events in NYC weekend of September 7, 2012

7. Animation/FilmSaturday Morning Cartoons with Augenblick Studios. WEIRDO CARTOONS from the past 100 years. At Bellweather, 594 Union Ave., Williamsburg. Saturday 9/8. Noon to 2pm. $10 includes homemade cereal, milk and mimosa or modelo.

8. Performance Art Flux Factory’s Public Trust. Series of art and performance art events. Two events on Saturday 9/8, Physical Audit and Le Grand Slam Guignol. Check listing for details. FREE

9. Art/DesignStephen Powers Murals: A Word is Worth A Thousand Pictures. Joshua Liner Gallery, 548 W. 28th St., Friday 9/7 and Saturday 9/8, 11am to 6pm. Through 9/29. FREE

10. Art/Music/FoodArtOnBrighton at the NY Aquarium in Coney Island/Brighton Beach. Art installations, Music, and Eats celebrating the creative post-Soviet Immigrants of Brighton Beach and beyond. Saturday 9/8, Doors at 7pm. $10 advance, $15 at the door.

11. Art Chris Ware exhibit: Building Stories at Adam Baumgold Gallery Saturday 9/8. FREE (through October 27th)

12. Art/Music/FoodSculptureCenter’s LIC Block Party. Artist Market, Food Court, Stage with Live Music. Jackson Ave & 43rd Ave, LIC. Saturday 9/8, 12-5pm. FREE

Free and Cheap things to do in NYC 9/7, 9/8, and 9/9/12, Affordable Cultural Events in New York City, Free and Cheap Art, Music, Food, Theater, Film, Architectural events in NYC weekend of September 7, 201213. StreetArt/Art/Salon Party– Pearly’s Beauty Shop Pop-Up, Exhibition Space, 25-25 44th Drive LIC. The artist Swoon hosts a pop-up salon/party of ecstatic aesthetic embellishments to support the creation of a community activated arts center. Saturday 9/8 at 7pm $20 entry. $5 and Up for Salon services.

14. Music/Literature/ComedyJohn Wesley Harding’s Cabinet of Wonders at City Winery. A night of music, readings, and laughs with an array of guests. Saturday 9/8 . Doors 6pm. Show: 8pm. $25 to $35.

15. Theater The Zebra Shirt of Lonely Children (part of the Fringe Encores Series, best of the Fringe Festival) at the Huron Club, 15 Vandam St., Saturday 9/8, 8pm. $18.

16. Art/Crafts/FoodUrbanSpace Meatpacking. Arts and Crafts and food Marketplace. Under the High Line across from the Standard Hotel. All weekend. FREE

17. Dance Fall for Dance tickets go on sale Sunday 9/9, 11am  for performances between Sep 27 to Oct 13. All tickets $15 but they go fast!

18. Talks/Design/Film The Public Open offers tickets to FREE events such as talks by Interactive Artist Ben Rubin (see our post) and Pentagram Partner Paula Scher on their contributions to the new Public Theater, and films of some of the Public’s previous shows. Events are in October but you must RSVP for tickets and they are available now.

UPDATES:

Art: GO: Brooklyn Community-Curated Open Studio ProjectSaturday 9/8 and Sunday 9/9, 11am to 7pm. FREE

Dance: DANCENOW Festival at Joe’s Pub tonight, Saturday 9/8. Doors open at 6pm; Show 7pm. $15 in advance; $20 at door.

Food: Smorgasburg Sundays starting Sunday 9/9 at the cool Tobacco Factory in Dumbo near Brooklyn Bridge Park. Over 75 food vendors. 11am to 6pm through 11/18. FREE

Check back in over the weekend for possible updates or check our previous Culture on the Cheap posts for additional ideas. Most of all, have a great weekend!

Roland Schimmel: After-Image Murals

Het Oog (The Eye), The Innocent Eye at Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Optical effect paintings and murals by Roland SchimmelHet Oog (The Eye), The Innocent Eye at Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Optical effect paintings and murals by Roland SchimmelHet Oog (The Eye), The Innocent Eye at Van Abbemuseum, Eindhoven, Optical effect paintings and murals by Roland SchimmelClick to enlarge

Dutch painter Roland Schimmel is fascinated by the eye and the uncontrollable in our perception. His paintings and murals, as well as computer animations, create visual after-images similar to those one experiences after staring at a light for a while and then looking away or closing their eyes. These abstract works created by airbrushing really play with your vision and have names such as Psychoscope and Blind Spot.

Sophie Tates and Andreas Broeckmann wrote about Schimmel’s work:
The body of work is an exploration of the dividing line between reality and appearance. If you look at his work, close your eyes and see the complementary colors appear on your retina, you also gain a sudden insight into the unrealized possibilities underlying every word, action, choice: the complementary forms of what actually exists.

Presently, Schimmel has a large-scale mural titled The Innocent Eye in the space of Het Oog (The Eye!) at the Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven. So, if you’re in the area you might want to stop by before the end of the month when the mural will be coming down.

Photos courtesy of the artist and Van Abbemuseum.

Anouk Vogel: Paper Garden

Folding for Peace, Paper Garden, Origami Garden by Anouk Vogel for Japanese Gardening World CupFolding for Peace, Paper Garden, Origami Garden by Anouk Vogel for Japanese Gardening World CupFolding for Peace, Paper Garden, Origami Garden by Anouk Vogel for Japanese Gardening World CupClick to enlarge

Swiss landscape architect Anouk Vogel lives and works in the Netherlands. Her Paper Garden titled Folding for Peace, was commissioned by the Gardening World Cup (who knew?) in Nakasaki, Japan, last year. Inspired by an ancient Japanese legend which promises that anyone who folds a thousand origami cranes will be granted a wish, such as long life or recovery from illness, Vogel folded thousands of paper flowers and plants with the wish for world peace.

Photos: Jeroen Musch

via tribeart

NEON: La materia luminosa dell’arte

Neon: La materia luminosa dell’arte at MACRO, Museum of Contemporary art of Rome, Neon retrospectiveNeon: La materia luminosa dell’arte at MACRO, Museum of Contemporary art of Rome, Neon retrospectiveNeon: La materia luminosa dell’arte at MACRO, Museum of Contemporary art of Rome, Neon retrospectiveNeon: La materia luminosa dell’arte at MACRO, Museum of Contemporary art of Rome, Neon retrospectiveClick to enlarge

Oh, I certainly hope someone brings this exhibit to New York. Neon: La materia luminosa dell’arte, currently at MACRO (Museo d’arte contemporanea Roma) includes works of more than fifty international artists who have made this simple artificial light source (neon)—typically used for signage—into the contemporary luminous art matter that it has become. Some of the artists represented are: Stefan Brüggemann, Bruce Nauman, Maurizio Cattelan, Dan Flavin, Claire Fontane, and, of course, at least forty-five more spanning almost sixty years, from the 1960s to the present.

The exhibit will be on view in Rome through November 11, 2012.

Photos courtesy of MACRO, artribune, and esoarte.

Steve Duncan: Undercity

Photographs of sewers and undercity infrastructure, Steve Duncan, UndercityPhotographs of sewers and undercity infrastructure, Steve Duncan, UndercityPhotographs of sewers and undercity infrastructure, Steve Duncan, UndercityClick to enlarge

Steve Duncan is an urban historian, explorer and photographer of the urban underground. He has photographed sewers and underground rivers in cities from Antwerp to Yangon, with particular focus on the underground hydrological and wastewater infrastructure of New York City, Los Angeles, Paris, and London.

Through his photography, historical research, public talks and tours, Duncan seeks to communicate his profound enthusiasm for these underground marvels, focussing on how hydrological and wastewater technologies conform to their natural environments and relate to broader histories of design, ecology, public health and public works.
In so doing, he illuminates infrastructures that we take for granted and reminds us that contemporary challenges of wastewater are much more than a technical policy issue. They connect us to our past, and just might motivate us to demand comprehensive, long-term infrastructure planning in the future. Plus, they are beautiful places to visit.
All photos by Steve Duncan

via urban omnibus