I find something really beautiful about this project. It is a music box that uses the movement of the musical mechanism to cause the stalks of barley (painted gold) to gently sway.
More here, in Dezeen.
I find something really beautiful about this project. It is a music box that uses the movement of the musical mechanism to cause the stalks of barley (painted gold) to gently sway.
More here, in Dezeen.
These videos by Dvein from 8deagosto for Xcentric, an organisation that promotes experimental cinema in Barcelona, remind me a lot of the BBH Labs-Glue London collaborative work for Google Chrome in Europe. Both feature a short set of films that are very visual and arresting. Dvein’s work is poetic: the videos will serve as headers for different sections of an exhibition of Spanish film being curated by Xcentric, while the BBH Labs’ work seems much more handmade (or maybe that’s just me – one video features knitting, for example), despite being commercial.
I know that the BBH Labs work did not involve any special effects (probably a reason I feel the videos are ‘handmade’ – because they literally are!), whereas the Dvein work I’m pretty sure is a combination of real video and special effects. They’re both awesome.
Here are examples of both (more of Dvein’s work here).
Google Chrome:
I chanced upon the work of Christopher Baker via Computerlove. He’s involved in a range of interesting projects, but my favourite without doubt is Hello World! Or How I Learned To Stop Listening And Love The Noise, a video installation that takes 5000 personal videos from YouTube to create a massive wall where they all play simultaneously. It will show in Gijon, Spain from 23rd October 2009 to 5th April 2010. He explains the concept behind it very well, and I really wish I could see it:
On one hand, new media technologies like YouTube have enabled new speakers at an alarming rate. On the other hand, no new technologies have emerged that allow us to listen to all of these new public speakers. Each video consists of a single lone individual speaking candidly to a (potentially massive) imagined audience from a private space such as a bedroom, kitchen, or dorm room. The multi-channel sound composition glides between individuals and the group, allowing viewers to listen in on unique speakers or become immersed in the cacophony. Viewers are encouraged to dwell in the space.
There is some SERIOUS detail in this piece by Shepard Fairey. It’s easy to think that there isn’t in a lot of modern art, and then I see a video like this and I remember that it’s all in the details. The video is part of Arkitip’s Issue #51, which celebrates Fairey’s work in the light of his famous Obama ‘Hope’ portrait, and his talent at remixing. (As an aside, I didn’t know ‘Hope’ hung in the National Portrait Gallery in the Smithsonian. Neat.)
Shepard Fairey from Arkitip on Vimeo.
Isn’t this a lovely image? An Umbrella Tree in bloom!
I think it’s a bit weird I chanced upon this image today, the day Bush ceded his post to Barack Obama, America’s 44th President.
Many people ask me what I see in some of the abstract modern artists of today. I am never able to articulate to them what I actually want to say, which in some way, is this:
“My painting is visible images which conceal nothing… they evoke mystery and indeed when one sees one of my pictures, one asks oneself this simple question ‘What does that mean’? It does not mean anything, because mystery means nothing either, it is unknowable.”
The Roundel, which I just found out is the name of the symbol used to denote the London Underground, celebrates a 100 years of its existence this year, and to recognise that the London Transport Museum has partnered with 100 artists for their interpretation of it as an art subject. Various artists have chosen to interpret the roundel in different forms – words, photos, graphic images, community projects, to name a few. I’ve been noticing some of these displayed in some tube stations over the last few months, and like much modern art, some of it didn’t make sense – like some of Anna Barriball’s short pithy posters, which seem a little more meaningful now that I’ve learnt the rationale behind it. However, the forthcoming exhibition and related talks in Shoreditch, titled ‘100 Years, 100 Artists, 100 Works of Art‘ promise to be genuinely interesting.
I spent an educational afternoon at the Houldsworth Gallery in London today, where I went to view an exhibition titled ‘Learned Helplessness’ by the Royal Art Lodge. Each piece of art there is tiny – a small square of 2×2 inches, but has a message that comes out if you take the time to take in all that it is trying to say. I especially liked ones like ‘Kleenex Animism’ and ‘6’1-5’3′ which are among those pictured above (click on it to see a larger version). The latter, which shows a headless man, is a bit gory, but it is well-portrayed, in my opinion. The whole exhibition gives you a lot to think about, in terms of messages. For those who don’t really get it from looking at the images above, you have to BE there.