Thank you, Street Anatomy for pointing me toward Beth Cavener Stitcher’s Four Humors sculpture series. I had admired her work in the past, but was rather intrigued by these representations of Hippocratic medicine.
Sanguine – Too much blood – passionate, bold, impulsive
Choleric – Too much yellow bile – irritable, hostile, bitter
Melancholic – Too much black bile – depressed, anxious, moody
Phlegmatic – Too much phlegm – passive, introverted, rational
This must have been a powerful exhibit to see in person.
From the website: Please Smile is an exhibit involving five robotic skeleton arms that change their gestures depending on a viewer’s facial expressions. It consists of a microcontroller, a camera, a computer, five external power supplies, and five plastic skeleton arms, each with four motors. It incorporated elements from mechanical engineering, computer vision perception to serve artistic expression with a robot.
Audiences interact with “Please smile” in three different ways. When no human falls within the view of the camera, the five robotic skeleton arms choose the default position, which is bending their elbows and wrists near the wall. When a human steps within the view of the camera, the arms point at the human and follow his/her movements. Then when someone smiles in front of it, the five arms wave their hands. Through artwork such as “Please smile,” I would like to foster positive audience behaviors.
I have a tendency to wish that sculptures, installations and other fictional artistic creations were real. Case in point: this cabin.
Using a nineteenth-century architectural style and vintage building materials, the structure is both homage to the romantic spirit of the Western Myth and a commentary on the arrogance of Westward expansion.
Although this is just an installation, I think it’s a fantastic guest house idea. I do understand the commentary imbedded in such a structure, but I happen to like it aesthetically in its own right.
Raul Lemesoff converted a 1979 Ford Falcon into an awesome open-air tank bookmobile. He drives around Buenos Aires offering books to anyone who wants them. The Weapon of Mass Instruction, as Lemesoff calls it, promotes “peace through literature.” Lemesoff has already driven it to remote regions of Argentina and hopes to expand the project into other nations.
I’ve seen scattered images from Troels Carlsen around the web and just managed to track down the name behind the work. I’m rather partial to his series of skeleton installations.
These skeletons are always emerging…breaking through…enjoying miniature moments of personal triumph. They are curious and worldly little things.