Sometimes walking into an art gallery is anything but inviting. We enter into a space often as quiet as a library (or quieter), find expensive art with little or no clue to its meaning… and all of it has a strict “no touching” policy. That’s one of the many charms behind Edinburgh based Bec Wonders’ recent exhibition – as its name perfectly expresses, viewers were invited to “Step Inside” the artwork itself. [Read more...]
If you live in almost any city around the world for very long, you’re bound to see a new skyscraper fill the skyline, slowly rising to impressive heights by the methodical assembly of cranes perched on its peak. Architectural firms are now so adept at creating these massive structures that even complex examples like London’s new Shard can seem to spring up overnight, surprising you one day as you round a familiar corner and glance skyward. In a way, our modern world isn’t that far from the towering worlds we have here, imagined by the Belgian master of comic art, François Schuiten. [Read more...]
It’s a huge structure, but it weighs only a small fraction of most things its size. That’s because the floating tube featured here is built out of 8,000 sheets of rice paper, 800 shafts of bamboo, and cotton. Chinese abstract artist Zhu Jinshi installed the 12-meter long hanging structure, called Boat, last month at Art13 London, a new international art fair where the highly experiential piece featured as the centerpiece for the show. [Read more...]
The work of Eyvind Earle is truly timeless, looking so current it could have been painted yesterday by a mature artist we’d flock to gallery openings for… but Earle passed away almost 13 years ago. His lifetime of work continues to inspire with its imaginative, dreamlike scenery; confetti-like array of colors across the canvas; and for the many influential film works he helped create. If these landscape paintings look familiar, we’ll tell you why. [Read more...]
The US has been waging war in the middle east for over 10 years now, making the combination of conflicts in the region the second longest war in our history. This is due, in part, to something new to our war making stategy: drone attacks. These non-manned flying machines allow the government to wage war without the risk of losing American military, while at the same time lowering the financial cost to wage such a conflict due to fewer deployed soldiers. Their are hidden costs to these tactics however, as this shockingly affective interactive graphic from Pitch Interactive makes abundantly clear. [Read more...]
James Rieck has made a name for himself over the past years by drawing us in to explore his hyper-real portraits – images that at once seem like snapshots of real people and simultaneously make us questions our presumptions with their too perfect colors and tones. It’s like those moments after a convincing dream when you have to think: “did that really happen?” Now Rieck has released new works based on a recent uprooting from his long-time residence and studio in Baltimore, Maryland and his subsequent move to expansive and seemingly infinite Los Angeles, California. As he puts it, his new paintings are themed around “self-imposed dislocation.” [Read more...]
Without a doubt, one of the challenges facing our world population is the need for sustainable energy sources. With the converging issues of pollution, dwindling fossil fuel supplies and a rising population, it’s high time we work on smart solutions. Now Nautical Torque Technologies is proposing a way of generating electricity that eliminates many of the problems with previous technologies and does it using a readily available energy source: docked ships and tides. [Read more...]
Korean artist Seung Mo Park uses an unusual medium to create his fantastically detailed portraits: wire. The process is one of painstaking addition and subtraction, cutting wires away from his layered mats to reveal a figure or face. To create the works, Park superimposes pieces of square wire mesh or layers of individual wires, later cutting and bending them to release the image he sees hidden inside. It’s a process much like stippling in reverse, and translated to a highly unusual format. [Read more...]
Dog and cat owners already know this, but dressing your pet up in fashionable clothes is perhaps the best entertainment you’ll have. Yago Partal takes a cue from these pet owners and transfers it to something a little more exotic, the zoo. His recent series Zoo Portraits, sees creatures from giraffes to wolves getting spiffed up in trendy clothes; from suits to Hawaiian shirts. It’s one ridiculously fashionable menagerie. [Read more...]
In the wet and cold countryside of the far north reside hardy people with stories to tell. Ambling across the verdant pastures, clad in the plants of the region, senior citizens model in the wilderness of south and eastern Finland. In our modern, often youth-centered world, the photographs are a beautiful and arresting look at unique and interesting characters in strange circumstances. [Read more...]
