22 posts tagged “art”
Subway ads are a fact of life in New York. At the very least they're something to look at while your train is running late.
However, there is a unknown artist "Poster Boy" who is shaking things up a little bit underground with mashups like the awesome one here, combining ads for Star Wars on TV, Murakami's art exhibit, and what I think might be Taco Bell. When new ads are posted, they are often simply pasted over the old ones. If you cut through or peel the away at it, you get weird juxtapositions. Part of his art seems to be these cutaways. Others are simple cut and paste jobs from other posters in the ads.
His "gallery" is here. A lot of the ads are not that special - elaborately executed but somewhat empty toilet humor, but the ones that are good are very good indeed. Particularly the Star Wars pieces.
However, there is a unknown artist "Poster Boy" who is shaking things up a little bit underground with mashups like the awesome one here, combining ads for Star Wars on TV, Murakami's art exhibit, and what I think might be Taco Bell. When new ads are posted, they are often simply pasted over the old ones. If you cut through or peel the away at it, you get weird juxtapositions. Part of his art seems to be these cutaways. Others are simple cut and paste jobs from other posters in the ads.
His "gallery" is here. A lot of the ads are not that special - elaborately executed but somewhat empty toilet humor, but the ones that are good are very good indeed. Particularly the Star Wars pieces.
This weekend I visited a delightful art installation beneath the Brooklyn Bridge called the Telectroscope. It's a giant steampunk "machine" ostensibly using a series of optics (or is it fiber optics?) to link New York and London. You can stand in front of the lens and wave to people across the pond. You can send a short message using a whiteboard.
When I was there, a girl had arranged to meet up with her boyfriend who was in London. It was pretty neat that they could see each other.
The art project is the work of Paul St. George and brought to life by Artichoke who also created the 42-ton Sultan's Elephant, a ginormous sculpture and theater project that they had lumber down the streets of London and around the world. Mr. St. George claims that there is an actual tunnel and the images are conveyed via a long series of mirrors. He's concocted an elaborate Victorian history for his creation.
The term telectroscope does date from the Victorian period and it did refer to either fictional or seriously proposed long-distance optical devices or television-like devices that were never realized.....until now!
While the unimaginative will claim this is just an oversized webcam and frankly old technology, this unexpected window onto another slice of the world and even limited access and interaction with distant strangers is strangely exciting and satisfying.
If you're near the Brooklyn Bridge or Tower Bridge in the next few weeks, definitely check it out - it's up until June 15.
When I was there, a girl had arranged to meet up with her boyfriend who was in London. It was pretty neat that they could see each other.
The art project is the work of Paul St. George and brought to life by Artichoke who also created the 42-ton Sultan's Elephant, a ginormous sculpture and theater project that they had lumber down the streets of London and around the world. Mr. St. George claims that there is an actual tunnel and the images are conveyed via a long series of mirrors. He's concocted an elaborate Victorian history for his creation.
The term telectroscope does date from the Victorian period and it did refer to either fictional or seriously proposed long-distance optical devices or television-like devices that were never realized.....until now!
While the unimaginative will claim this is just an oversized webcam and frankly old technology, this unexpected window onto another slice of the world and even limited access and interaction with distant strangers is strangely exciting and satisfying.
If you're near the Brooklyn Bridge or Tower Bridge in the next few weeks, definitely check it out - it's up until June 15.
This delightful little guerilla art installation was discovered by someone on Manhattan's Lower East Side. Pixels of water shooting out of an exhaust pipe. It was ironically tagged with graffiti and subsequently removed.
Heady analysis here.
Also delightful was the recent subway grate animal made of trash bags. When trains pass underneath, hot air rushes up through the grates and hopefully you are not wearing a skirt. Artist Joshua Allen Harris captured this air to create this animal that inflates when a train passes by. Sweet!
Video at Core77.
Heady analysis here.
Also delightful was the recent subway grate animal made of trash bags. When trains pass underneath, hot air rushes up through the grates and hopefully you are not wearing a skirt. Artist Joshua Allen Harris captured this air to create this animal that inflates when a train passes by. Sweet!
This is Richard Box's 2006 art installation called Shake Pole.
It's a field of fluorescent light tubes illuminated wirelessly using the energy field given off by the power lines overhead.
Ordinary materials used to extraordinary, otherworldly effect.
It's a field of fluorescent light tubes illuminated wirelessly using the energy field given off by the power lines overhead.
Ordinary materials used to extraordinary, otherworldly effect.
Art smuggled from the earth to the moon? It's [possibly] true - this iridium-plated ceramic wafer includes miniature works by six artists including a somewhat not-safe-for-work image by Andy Warhol.
Originally this art idea was proposed through official channels, but when it was denied, an engineer at Grumman installed the art in a secret hatch of the landing module of Apollo 12.
Other "art" smuggled aboard Apollo 12 includes Playboy centerfolds secretly inserted in sleeve-mounted checklists. These were only discovered part way into a moonwalk.
Stay classy, NASA!
Originally this art idea was proposed through official channels, but when it was denied, an engineer at Grumman installed the art in a secret hatch of the landing module of Apollo 12.
Other "art" smuggled aboard Apollo 12 includes Playboy centerfolds secretly inserted in sleeve-mounted checklists. These were only discovered part way into a moonwalk.
Stay classy, NASA!
This is part of a piece by Chu Enoki - a futuristic cityscape made of metal, mostly discarded junk, nuts and bolts, CDs and drill bits.
Beautiful!
Beautiful!
Art Brut is not just a rock band, it means Raw or Rough Art and referred specifically to art created by the mentally unstable in institutions. Interest in their artworks arose in the 1920s.
Outsider Art is the English term, although it encompasses non-institutionalized artists as well - it is that which is created by people outside the high art culture. It can include folk art, art resulting from spiritual visions, and other marginal artworks.
For me, even more fascinating than Outsider Art is Outsider Architecture because it requires such singular vision, time commitment, and an innate understanding not only of the art but the science of building structures. This site has a fantastic list of several "spontaneous" architectural works, created by dedicated individuals for a variety of reasons ranging from mental illness to promises made to God.
Pictured here is the Junker House by Karl Junker of Germany. Although a trained architect, he had severe schizophrenia, and this house is his only completed work. It is a reflection of both his talents and his illness.
Outsider Art is the English term, although it encompasses non-institutionalized artists as well - it is that which is created by people outside the high art culture. It can include folk art, art resulting from spiritual visions, and other marginal artworks.
For me, even more fascinating than Outsider Art is Outsider Architecture because it requires such singular vision, time commitment, and an innate understanding not only of the art but the science of building structures. This site has a fantastic list of several "spontaneous" architectural works, created by dedicated individuals for a variety of reasons ranging from mental illness to promises made to God.
Pictured here is the Junker House by Karl Junker of Germany. Although a trained architect, he had severe schizophrenia, and this house is his only completed work. It is a reflection of both his talents and his illness.
This is a spiffy looking art installation, but if you look closely, it's made entirely of blue plastic toy train tracks.
These artists created wonderfully organic-looking pieces out of the least organic materials possible.
PingMag has an interview in English with the art duo ParaModel (Yasuhiko Hayashi and Yusuke Nagano) and more pics of other their art installations.
These artists created wonderfully organic-looking pieces out of the least organic materials possible.
PingMag has an interview in English with the art duo ParaModel (Yasuhiko Hayashi and Yusuke Nagano) and more pics of other their art installations.
This is a Canadian girls' hockey team from 1916.
Swastikas have gotten a bad rap, since they used to be primarily associated with peace, good luck, eternity, spiritual harmony, and even the creation and evolution of the cosmos.
This symbol can be found prominently in almost every ancient culture, from the early Americas, to India, Scandinavia, Korea with good meanings in every case. The Celts, Vikings, and South American indigenous people also used it. Additionally it can be found as a positive religious symbol in all the major world faiths including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity, and even Judaism. It often symbolizes the sun or comets, and can mean eternity and balance. It is also a typical motif in Greek keys, a form of Western geometric architectural decoration.
Hitler of course appropriated the swastika as a sign of his political party in the beginning of the 20th century. This was in keeping with his positive view of the Aryans (who were ancient invaders of India, not Germanic blue-eyed blonds) - as the swastika is a common symbol used in India.
Today in Western culture, the swastika has become a virtually taboo symbol. It has been removed from buildings where it features as an architectural motif, although in every case the sign dates to pre-Nazi appropriation of the swastika. Germany's strict anti-Nazi laws prevent the mark from being used, even on historical model airplanes. Even groups that show a crossed-out swastika as an anti-fascist statement have been investigated. Religious use of the swastika is permitted in Germany.
A few years ago, Microsoft released an emergency patch which was later determined to simply delete a swastika-like sign from one of the dingbat-like fonts. It came under fire not for deleting the symbol, but for releasing the correction as a "critical" update (i.e. one that will prevent computer security problems). Just recently, the US Air Force has agreed to spend quite a bit of money on camouflaging a set of barracks unintentionally laid out in a swastika shape. This was probably discovered because of the wide availability of satellite images.
Swastikas do remain in several places such as the floor of Amiens Cathedral in France, and the very strange Raelian cult's symbol is a swastika/Star of David hybrid. And of course, many of India's religions continue to use the symbol as a spiritual sign as well as Falun Gong, a Chinese group. Although this can cause confusion when these groups use the symbols in communities in the West, usually the matter is settled, and they are allowed continued use of the swastika as in Germany and Brazil. Swastika is also a town in Ontario, Canada that refuses to change its name, claiming that the name predates Nazi co-option of the word - the name was bestowed as a good luck symbol when gold was found there. The name of the mine? Lucky Cross.
This site seems really weird, but they have a good gallery of swastika images that are not related to Nazism as well as some that are. For example, World War I pilots carried swastika-shaped good luck charms and painted them on their planes, and even Coca Cola released a branded good luck charm. Not all the images are safe for kids and work.
Swastikas have gotten a bad rap, since they used to be primarily associated with peace, good luck, eternity, spiritual harmony, and even the creation and evolution of the cosmos.
This symbol can be found prominently in almost every ancient culture, from the early Americas, to India, Scandinavia, Korea with good meanings in every case. The Celts, Vikings, and South American indigenous people also used it. Additionally it can be found as a positive religious symbol in all the major world faiths including Buddhism, Hinduism, Jainism, Islam, Christianity, and even Judaism. It often symbolizes the sun or comets, and can mean eternity and balance. It is also a typical motif in Greek keys, a form of Western geometric architectural decoration.
Hitler of course appropriated the swastika as a sign of his political party in the beginning of the 20th century. This was in keeping with his positive view of the Aryans (who were ancient invaders of India, not Germanic blue-eyed blonds) - as the swastika is a common symbol used in India.
Today in Western culture, the swastika has become a virtually taboo symbol. It has been removed from buildings where it features as an architectural motif, although in every case the sign dates to pre-Nazi appropriation of the swastika. Germany's strict anti-Nazi laws prevent the mark from being used, even on historical model airplanes. Even groups that show a crossed-out swastika as an anti-fascist statement have been investigated. Religious use of the swastika is permitted in Germany.
A few years ago, Microsoft released an emergency patch which was later determined to simply delete a swastika-like sign from one of the dingbat-like fonts. It came under fire not for deleting the symbol, but for releasing the correction as a "critical" update (i.e. one that will prevent computer security problems). Just recently, the US Air Force has agreed to spend quite a bit of money on camouflaging a set of barracks unintentionally laid out in a swastika shape. This was probably discovered because of the wide availability of satellite images.
Swastikas do remain in several places such as the floor of Amiens Cathedral in France, and the very strange Raelian cult's symbol is a swastika/Star of David hybrid. And of course, many of India's religions continue to use the symbol as a spiritual sign as well as Falun Gong, a Chinese group. Although this can cause confusion when these groups use the symbols in communities in the West, usually the matter is settled, and they are allowed continued use of the swastika as in Germany and Brazil. Swastika is also a town in Ontario, Canada that refuses to change its name, claiming that the name predates Nazi co-option of the word - the name was bestowed as a good luck symbol when gold was found there. The name of the mine? Lucky Cross.
This site seems really weird, but they have a good gallery of swastika images that are not related to Nazism as well as some that are. For example, World War I pilots carried swastika-shaped good luck charms and painted them on their planes, and even Coca Cola released a branded good luck charm. Not all the images are safe for kids and work.
