Beautiful Sounds

Let's face it - 3D printing is the technology of tomorrow. And, like any technology, there's a place for it as a tool for the artist. In the past few days I've been struck by the beauty of some 3D printed musical instruments that will be on display at the 3D Print Design Show in New York City in April. Just look at these beautiful shapes:

That's a two string piezoelectric violin designed by Associate Professor of Architecture at FIU Eric Goldemberg, and his MONAD Studio partner Veronica Zalcberg. Isn't it gorgeous? Other instruments that will be on show include a 3D printed Monobarasitar, a Cello, a small didgeridoo and a Hornucopia (a large didgeridoo). At the event — which is run by MecklerMedia and takes place at the Javits Convention Center — there will be three performers playing these five instruments to the amazement of thousands of onlookers.

Some more wonderful MONAD designs can be found on their website here.

The Useless Objects of Katerina Kamprani

Katerina Kamprani is an Athens-based architect whose design project, The Uncomfortable, intentionally evokes feelings of extreme discomfort and frustration. Described on Kamprani's Facebook page as 'a collection of deliberately inconvenient everyday objects with no meaningful purpose.'

It's suggested that 'Part of the discomfort comes from trying to imagine using these projects. It sheds some light on the connections between motor skill and the brain. Looking at these objects feels like an error message has been delivered to the nervous system: it creates the most delicious malaise and disquiet.'

Hmm. Not so sure about that. But I love the playful inventiveness of it.

Found here at APlus.

The Wildlife Landscape Sculptures of Wang Ruilin

This is beautiful work - Wang Ruilin's 'Dreams' series of sculptures show powerful animals carrying little worlds on their backs, a staple of many mythologies.

The sculpts, some life-sized (not the whales obviously) are all made of copper.

See more at his website here.

The Wooden People of Bruno Walpoth

As I've said before on this blog, I'm not a huge fan of hyper-realistic art. I can't see the point of it. It seems to me that hyper-realism gets people focusing on the technique rather than the artwork and that, for me, means that what we're applauding is physical skill rather than human expression. However, I love art that is almost realistic; art where you can see the brush strokes and the chisel marks. That adds a textural element to the work and also shows me something of the artist and what was in their head. For that reason, I can't help but be wowed by the life-sized wooden sculptures of Bruno Walpoth.

I love the use of semi-transparent paints and glazes that let the wood grain and the imperfections shine through. Each sculpture seems very warm and alive.

More of his work on his website here.

The Gigantic Plywood Art of Henrique Oliveira

Take some old plywood strips and stain them with wood stain. Then start sticking them together. Eventually you might end up with artwork as awesome as this.

Brazilian artist Henrique Oliveira uses salvaged wood collected from the streets of São Paulo to create massive scale, site-specific installations with dense layers that twist, curve, bend, and split. Oliveira uses tapumes - which in Portuguese can mean fencing, boarding, or enclosure - as a title for many of his large-scale installations. Henrique's breakthrough occurred when he was a student at the University of São Paulo, where for two years the view from his studio window was a wooden construction fence. Over time Oliveira began to see the deterioration of the wood and its separation into multiple layers and colours. One week before the final student show opened, the construction was finished and the worn out plywood fence was discarded.

Discovered here.

Cameo, Cammeeeeee O. Cameo, Cammeeeeeee O.

I love the sheer inventiveness of Judith G Klausner's art. I also love the fact that it's made from stuff I like to eat like biscuits and gummi bears. Food and art. That's pretty much my whole world.

There are Oreo Cookie cameos...

Gummi bear stained glass panels ...

Embroidered eggs and mould ...

Condiment wallpaper (no, really - it's printed with sauces and quite lickable) ...

... and so much more.

Do visit her site here.

Epic Stuff

This is taxidermy on an unparalleled scale. Cai Guo-Qiang’s Falling Back to Earth, on display at the Queensland Art Gallery, features installations of 99 replicas of animals drinking from a pristine lake; 99 wolves leaping en masse and colliding with a glass wall and a suspended 31-metre eucalyptus tree, creating a space for contemplation. It's mad. But amazing.

Cai Guo-Qiang said the exhibition title Falling Back to Earth was inspired by fourth-century poet Tao Yuanming's well-known prose poem, 'Ah, homeward bound I go!': 'The text captures the concept behind the exhibition, and expresses the idea of going home, returning to the harmonious relationship between man and nature, and re-embracing the tranquillity in the landscape,' he said.

 

 

The exhibition is on until 11th May 2014

Content taken from The Culture Trip

Cai Guo-Qiang's website here.

Motorcycle Gorgeousness - the sculpture of Edouard Martinet

Many artists create art exploring the interplay of the natural and mechanical worlds, and some do so using found objects — but we’ve not come across any who combine the two to create such striking and innovative animal sculptures.

Edouard Martinet has created a menagerie of sculptures including birds, fish, insects and even a frog from found car and bike parts that are remarkably accurate representations. A dragonfly’s wings are made from sections of a wire fence while a red ant has marbles for eyes and an abdomen made from a motorcycle headlamp.

 

 

Martinet does not shy away from the scrapyard origins of his creations, even going so far as to place brand logos on to his sculptures. This nod to the manufactured origins of his work only further prove the skill in piecing together such individualised pieces.

 

A personal favourite is an oversized wasp climbing into a giant glass. It takes a long hard stare to recognise the antennae are arms from a pair of spectacles, the eyes are old watch cases and the legs are made from bicycle chains.

The insects are his strongest works here largely because of the intricate nature of their construction and their scale. Martinet’s sculptures are remarkable works of art and need to be seen up close to recognise just how impressive they are.

Words by Tabish Khan at the Londonist

Edouard Martinet website here

The Recycled Wonderland of Blair Somerville

I'm a great fan of automata. And I'm a great fan of art made from found and recycled objects. So what a delight to find someone who does both.

In a remote corner of New Zealand’s South Island, tucked away among the last remaining tracts of native forest, lies a little-known place of wonder. It is the life’s work and extraordinary creation of inventor, artist and self-confessed tinkerer, Blair Somerville.

 

For over ten years Blair has single-handedly owned, operated and ceaselessly expanded the Lost Gypsy Gallery, his wonderland of home-grown wizardry and a playground for kids and adults alike. He even opens it to the public during the Summer months.

Using only recycled materials, Blair takes DIY to artistic extremes. His creations are ingenious, interactive, and often hilariously impractical. They take many shapes and forms and share an uncanny ability to amaze, entertain and inspire.

‘Lost & Found’ invites you to take a peek into Blair's bizarre and beautiful world.

Fun isn't it? He made an organ too ...



Previous blogposts about recycled art can be read here, here, here, here, here, here and here. And there are many more.

Glasgow in a Day - Part 2

As promised, here are some thoughts on GOMA in Glasgow.

I have to say that it's a curious building; it looks huge from the outside but feels quite small inside like an inverted TARDIS. And while I'm the last person to want to stereotype people, much less nationalities, much of the artwork on display does have a ... well ... 'dour' quality to it. For example, here are a few I snapped:

Children's Books Don't Count (2013) Lotte Gertz

Dr Strangelove (2013) Andrew Kerr

Representational Error (2013) Tony Swain

See what I mean? That's not to say I didn't like a lot of it. But it was all rather dun coloured. Or bleak. Another piece consisted entirely of plaster heads in baskets as if freshly guillotined. However, the mood changes completely when you get to the fourth floor and discover the Eric and Jean Cass gift of sculptures and other art by the late Niki de Saint Phalle. Immediately you see her work, the world is a better place. With her brightly-coloured chubby figures, her dragons, cows and devils, and her dancing couples all around you, you can't help but smile. It's the complete opposite of most of the other art I saw.

 

Isn't it great? Catherine Marie-Agnes Fal de Saint Phalle was born in 1930 near Paris to a sexually abusive aristocratic banker father and American mother. The family lost a fortune during the Great Depression and relocated to New York where Niki, as she preferred to call herself, gained a reputation as something of a 'problem child' among her teachers. She was eventually expelled from her convent school for painting the fig leaves on the building's statues red.

 

 

She became a model but developed an interest in sculpture and architecture - particularly the work of Gaudi and Le Facteur Cheval. Whilst in hospital recovering from a serious nervous breakdown, she started making collages from pebbles, leaves and found materials and began to develop her own style through the combination of painting and assemblage. She began producing her first paintings in 1950. This led to assemblages in plaster and her 'shooting paintings'. These pictures were plaster with containers of paint beneath the surface which would explode when she shot them. More sculptural work followed and in 1965, she created her first 'Nana'. These large, voluptuous and brightly painted female figures were made originally from chicken wire and wool or fabric and later in polyester. She also designed stage sets and costumes, created movies, furniture and large-scale sculptures, fountains and parks including the Stravinsky Fountain in Paris, Golem in Jerusalem, Queen Califia’s Magical Circle in California and Grotto in the Royal Gardens in Hannover. Her most ambitious project was the Tarot Garden near Tuscany which took 20 years to complete. Her highly original form of self-expression helped her to overcome her personal crisis and health problems, and throughout her life, art became her means of coming to terms with feelings, emotions, dreams and nightmares. You can see the nightmare aspect in some of her darker works which, frankly, sometimes look like the work of another artist. Here's her Great Devil and the truly odd Altar to a Dead Cat, also both at GOMA.

Goodness knows what her state of mind was like when she did Autel du Chat Mort in 1963. I guess it wasn't too healthy, but it's encouraging to see that the happy, colourful work she excels in came later in her career indicating that things might have got better for her. She had a very successful career and died of emphysema in California in 2002 at the age of 72.

If you like what you see, do google her name and look at more of her stuff. I love this piece, for example, the L'Ange Protecteur in the hall of the Zürich Hauptbahnhof.

I was so taken with her work, I even invested in a couple of prints. I wish I'd had the money to buy the giant inflatable 'nana'.

 

 

So there you go. Hope you enjoyed your little tour around GOMA with me. One thing that was a delight to see was how many parties of school children there were on site. Nice also to see them using new technology to enhance the experience. They were being asked by their teachers to find a piece they particularly liked and then do a short video - using iPads - to introduce the artwork and the artist and then explain what they liked and why. What a great idea.