Tag: installations

Watarou Itou

July 5th, 2009

I’ve seen in it posted in more than one place, so my “don’t regurgitate” instincts perked up. But this installation is just so darn gorgeous that I can’t help posting it. I look at a lot of paper craft, and this may be the finest castle I’ve ever seen.

Watarou Itou is a young Tokyo art student who clearly has a bright future in the art world! The installation is entitled Umi no Ue no Oshiro (A Castle On the Ocean).

It took over four years for Itou to complete the project. It is intricately electrically wired for a variety of lighting options (it also features a ferris wheel and train).

More large images at the Source. The different angles and lighting schemes are really worth a look.
Laura Adel Johnson

June 22nd, 2009

Laura Adel Johnson is a multimedia artist who constructs portraits out of miniature lights.

Two years ago, she found herself inspired by gaudy yet strangely beautiful holiday displays. She began using this medium primarily to depict catalog models, feeling the artificiality of the lights was a fitting representation for the subject matter.

I love the way the illuminated tears spill to the ground and run together in glowing pools. The idea of “crying light” is somehow beautiful to me.

See a few more at the source.
Portia Munson

June 12th, 2009

I saved the entire image collection from Portia Munson’s Pink Project.

In this installation, Munson collects and assembles thousands of inexpensive, mass produced pink items. The result is an overwhelming barrage of kitsch that really drives home the cultural significance of the color.

Tables, piles, cabinets, rooms…overflowing with saccharine plastic sweetness…

I’m so used to seeing these items spread out on store shelves that I rarely step back to think about the sheer proliferation of them.

You can see the rest of the images and read the artist statement here.

In a similar vein, Green Piece; Lawn collects environmental objects.

“It is interesting to see what is mass produced in green plastic and how, once again, color is used as a marketing tool. Almost anything you can imagine that has a relationship to nature, good or bad, can probably be found in green plastic.”

The Garden centers on the plastic procreation of nature; visions of artificial fertility and beauty.

Munson has quite a talent for crafting dense landscapes of cultural suffocation. Not a bad thing to immerse oneself in for the sake of a little consumerist perspective every now and then.

See more (plus some very cool paintings) on her site.
Samara Golden

June 4th, 2009

I think one of the reasons I enjoy Samara Golden’s work so much is that I’m never sure what’s going on upon first glance.

She composes installations out of mixed media, found objects and video projection. The result is a kind of sensory barrage that makes the observer wonder where one object ends and another begins (I admit there are a few rooms in my house that probably evoke the same response).

What is a reflection, a projection, an object?

See more intriguing installations here.
Wim Delvoye

May 9th, 2009

Wim Delvoye’s “Marble Floor” series is not actually edible despite its meaty appearance.

I’d almost be afraid to walk on it, as if my shoes would slip on grease and tear into the delicate slices that make up the design.

I commend him on the intricate, painstaking work that went into tiling these pieces.

Suddenly I find myself craving all sorts of salted, cured meats.

Artist site
Robot Spider

April 24th, 2009

I’m rather jealous of Japan’s giant robot proliferation. I just posted about the Fire Spitting Robot Baby, and now Yokohama has been graced with giant robot spiders!

These beauties, bound to thrill the steampunk culture, are the work of theatrical machine makers La Machine, created for the Y150 Expo later this month.

Here is a video of the sculpture in action:

I wonder if La Machine took inspiration from Louise Bourgeois’s incredible spider sculpture:

Source
Aleksandra Stratimirovic

April 23rd, 2009

I’ve often wondered about the types of art one could make with surplus medical supplies. Alexsandra Stratimirovic had the ingenious idea of using glass, liquid and light to create an image.

Sunny Day is an installation made of 4464 small medical glass vials filled with different colored liquids, in a sterile laboratory framework with a fluorescent backlight.

When taking a couple of steps back the vivid image of a girl appears, standing at a lakeside, with summery blue sky above.

Brilliant! I’m curious as to how the natural properties of the medium would cause the image to change over time. In 50 years, what colors would shine through the glass? How would the liquid levels be affected?

Artist site.
Fire Spitting Robot Baby

April 5th, 2009

Wouldn’t you love to see a giant robot infant spitting fire on a street corner? Yanobe Kenji has made it a reality in Tokyo’s Roppongi district.

This 24 ft. mechanical baby dances, sings and spits fire (as any decent infant should).

More pictures at the source.

Artist site
South Park Quality Meats

March 24th, 2009

I’ve made plush meat products before; bacon strips, a T-bone steak, ham, and of course…the Turducken. But this life sized meat project trumps anything I’ve undertaken.

The South Park Quality Meats installation in San Diego includes salami, different cuts of meat, sausages, frankfurters, ham, a leg of lamb, a tongue, tripe, one goat and two pigs heads, and a side of beef.

All pieces are made from thrift/recycled fabric, and recycled polyfil stuffing.

Check out the store front! Signs were made by a seven year old boy and a nine year old girl.

See a few more pictures here.
A Device to Root Out Evil

March 22nd, 2009

What better way to end Christian Covers Theme Week than with a controversial building entitled A Device to Root Out Evil.

This upside-down church by Dennis Oppenheim couldn’t find a permanent home in New York, San Francisco or Vancouver without encountering protest.

Here’s the story if you want to know more.

Source