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      Speckled with Light, Glowing Glass Sculptures React to Viewers with Shifts in Brightness

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      Art

      #glass
      #light
      #sculpture
      #sun
      #weather

      March 30, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Detail of “Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile” (2019), glass, phosphorescent material, broad-spectrum UV lights, motion detector, 3,353 x 4,267 x 3,658 millimeters as installation. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa, 33rd Rakow Commission, courtesy of The Corning Museum of Glass. All images © Rui Sasaki, shared with permission
      Approach the delicate glass artworks by Rui Sasaki, and witness the unpredictable patterns of the weather through a subtle glow of blue light. The Japanese artist’s experiential body of work translates varying forecasts into speckled sculptures that radiate once encountered, an intimate process that Sasaki describes as a way to “visualize subtle sunshine, record today’s weather, and transfer it from here to there/from there to here.”
      At their brightest, the phosphorescent crystals are tinged green before fading to blue. “Visitors will doubtless be surprised to find that even if they cannot see anything on first entering the gallery, stay long enough and their eyes will become accustomed to the dark, and the elements of the work will gradually become visible,” Sasaki writes. Because each encounter sparks a unique reaction in the embedded lights, no two experiences will be the same. She explains:
      The phosphorescent glass used stores light of a wavelength close to that of sunlight, with this stored light then glowing in the dark. That is to say, one is now seeing light accumulated in the past. If a viewer remains in the gallery for an extended period, the next viewer will see the work glowing weakly in the darkness. With longer viewing time, the light of the phosphorescent glass fades, moment by moment, until finally the gallery is plunged into darkness. This might occur a minute later, or a day later, depending on viewer movements.
      Many of the sculptures evoke organic elements in material, concept, and sometimes form, whether shaped into swollen raindrops or a sun-like orb. Others, though, are depicted through domestic scenes with dinnerware or a suspended chandelier, a juxtaposition that relates to Sasaki’s feeling she had lost her sense of home after moving to the U.S. for a few years. Now living in Kanazawa, the artist is using the weather and surrounding environment as a way “to recover from the reverse culture shock and rediscover my intimacy towards my home Japan little-by-little and day-by-day.”
      Sasaki’s sculptures are part of multiple group shows, including one at Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art & Design through April 4, another at Art Museum Riga Bourse that will re-open April 6, and an upcoming spring exhibition at Tainan Art Museum in Taiwan. She also has a solo exhibition at Tokyo’s Gallery DiEGO Omotesando slated for May. Watch this interview and studio visit for a glimpse into her process, and follow where her work is headed next on Instagram.

      “Weather Project” (2015), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, sunshine, 1,050 x 1,300 x 750 millimeters (as installation)
      “Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile” (2019), glass, phosphorescent material, broad-spectrum UV lights, motion detector, 3,353 x 4,267 x 3,658 millimeters as installation. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa, 33rd Rakow Commission, courtesy of The Corning Museum of Glass
      “Liquid Sunshine” (2016), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, solarium lights, motion detector, timer, 2,300 x 5,800 x 3,100 millimeters (as installation). Photo by Pal Hoff
      “Liquid Sunshine” (2016), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, solarium lights, motion detector, timer, 2,300 x 5,800 x 3,100 millimeters (as installation). Photo by Pal Hoff
      “Liquid Sunshine” (2016), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, solarium lights, motion detector, timer, 2,300 x 5,800 x 3,100 millimeters (as installation). Photo by Pal Hoff
      “Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile” (2019), glass, phosphorescent material, broad-spectrum UV lights, motion detector, 3,353 x 4,267 x 3,658 millimeters as installation. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa, 33rd Rakow Commission, courtesy of The Corning Museum of Glass
      “Remembering the weather” (2020), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, lights, motion sensor, plywood, 1,800 x 590 x 300 millimeters. Photo by Kichiro Okamura
      “Weather Chandelier” (2015), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, metal, timer, motion detector, solar panel, sunshine, 700 x 550 millimeters. Photo by Kichiro Okamura, collection of Glasmuseet Ebeltoft
      “Weather Mirror” (2021), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, mirror, foot switch. Photo by Kichiro Okamura

      #glass
      #light
      #sculpture
      #sun
      #weather

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      Life-Sized Wildlife Protrude from Ornate Rugs in Perspective-Bending Sculptures

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      Art

      #animals
      #carpets
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

      March 29, 2021
      Anna Marks

      “Persian Kangaroo.” All images © Debbie Lawson, shared with permission
      A new menagerie of polar bears, stags, and kangaroos resemble typical wildlife except for the fact that they’re literally swept under the carpet, their features hidden from view. These towering sculptural forms are by artist Debbie Lawson (previously), who crafts animals that are cloaked in sweeping Persian rugs. Rather than being camouflaged by a forest, jungle, or snow-covered Arctic, Lawson’s creatures boldly protrude from the fabric and loom over the viewer.
      In her process, Lawson sculpts the animals from a combination of chicken wire and masking tape. She then layers luscious carpets across them, creating the illusion that these animals are about to jump, walk, and prance out of the fabric. This method is derived from what Lawson describes as her ability to spot hidden images in floors, textured walls, and various patterns, an interest that’s mirrored in her perspective-altering sculptures that appear to leap out from the gallery’s walls.
      Peek inside Lawson’s studio and find a larger selection of her carpeted creatures on her site and Instagram.

      Lawson with “Polar Bear” in-progress
      “Bear Cartouche”
      Detail of “Persian Kangaroo”
      Detail of “Polar Bear” in-progress
      Left: “Blue Stag.” Right: “Red Boar”
      “Bear Cartouche”
      Detail of “Red Boar”

      #animals
      #carpets
      #rugs
      #sculpture
      #textiles

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      Explore the Louvre’s Entire Collection of 480,000 Artworks in a New Digital Database

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      Art

      #art history

      March 29, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Leonardo da Vinci’s “Portrait of Lisa Gherardini” known as La Joconde or Monna Lisa, the 1st quarter of the 16th century (1503-1518)
      The Louvre just launched a new online database compiling more than 480,000 artworks from its collections and those at the Musée National Eugène-Delacroix and The Tuileries Garden. Spanning Egyptian antiquities and medieval sculpture to Renaissance and modern decorative arts, the free digital catalog includes works on long-term loan and is complete with an interactive map to pursue each room of the French institution. Some pieces are grouped into albums, including one collating 2020’s acquisitions and another dedicated to the National Museums Recovery, a collection of works gathered after World War II that’s being held by the Louvre until they’re claimed by their rightful beneficiaries. Dive into the entire archive, which is updated daily, on the museum’s site.

      Brick panel from Achaemenid: Darius I (circa 510 BC) (-522 – -486), found in Susa apadana palace of Darius
      Marguerite Gérard’s “The interesting pupil,” created in the 4th quarter of the 18th century (around 1786)
      Tablet from Archaic Dynastic IIIB: Entemena (XXVth century), (-2420 – -2400), from Girsu
      Jacob de Littemont’s “Dais de Charles VII: two angels holding a crown” (1425-1450)
      Lion says “de Monzon”; Fountain mouth, 12th century; 13th century (1100 – 1300), found in Spain

      #art history

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      100,000 Cherry Blossoms Made of Salt Scatter Across the Floor of Setouchi City Art Museum

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      Art

      #cherry blossoms
      #installation
      #salt

      March 29, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Installation view of “Sakura Shibefuru” (2021), salt, at Setouchi City Art Museum. All images © Motoi Yamamoto, shared with permission
      Sprawling across a bright red floor at Setouchi City Art Museum is Motoi Yamamoto’s sweeping installation of 100,000 cherry blossoms. Using a small, petal stencil and poured salt, the Kanazawa-based artist meticulously laid a mass of mineral-based buds during the course of 55 hours and nine days. Constructed radially, “Sakura Shibefuru,” or “Falling Cherry Petals” mimics the natural patterns formed around trees after the blossoms drop and end their life cycle each spring, a process Yamamoto (previously) says informed much of the work:
      When the red-purple buds fall, for many people, this is also the time when they lose interest due to the flower season being over. However, this time can also be seen as a small nudge to think about the coming fresh greens of spring and midsummer…While thinking about the future of the buds, I created petals that had just fallen, piling the petals while contemplating the trees that produced these beautiful flowers with their thick trunks, supple branches, and powerful roots.
      Paired with the crystalline blossoms are two of Yamamoto’s sculptural works from 1995, which the artist considers the origin of his practice and which he created following his sister’s death from a brain tumor. “This was an attempt to engrave into my heart the moment when an important life ceased to exist,” he says. Creating painstaking salt-based pieces like “Sakura Shibefuru”—which Yamamoto shares is, in part, a response to his wife’s death a few years ago—is meditative and a way to work through grief and retain memories.
      “Sakura Shibefuru” is on view in Setouchi until May 5, and the artist currently is working on a large-scale project for Suzu’s Oku-Noto Triennale 2020+, which will be installed this fall in a former kindergarten building. Until then, watch Yamamoto’s works take shape on Instagram and YouTube, and shop originals, prints, and books in his store. (via designboom)

      #cherry blossoms
      #installation
      #salt

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      Kinetic Flowers Grow from a Deteriorated Landscape in an Otherworldly Installation by Casey Curran

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      Art

      #flowers
      #installation
      #kinetic sculpture
      #video

      March 26, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      [embedded content]
      In Parable of Gravity, artist Casey Curran (previously) assembles a vast garden of delicate kinetic blossoms amidst an expanse of deterioration. The sweeping landscape, which is on view at Seattle’s MadArt through April 17, positions Curran’s pulsing plant forms atop 20 towers of wooden scaffolding that line the gallery space. Coated in a thick layer of mud, the tallest structures scale eight feet at the outer edge of the installation, where a human-like figure appears to hover in the air. The anonymous body is covered in the flowers, which are made from laser-cut polyester drawing papers and powered by cranks and small motors.
      Through the maze of garden plots at the other end of the space hangs a hollow, aluminum asteroid—which is modeled after 951 Gaspra, the first rocky mass humans were able to observe in detail thanks to a 1991 viewing by the Galileo spacecraft. Titled “Anchor of Janus,” the imposing sculpture references both the Roman god and the intricate motifs on Gothic cathedrals and provides a foreboding, catastrophic lens to the otherwise burgeoning garden.
      In a statement, Curran explains the confluence of the manufactured and organic themes:
      This mythological, architectural, and astronomical convergence considers not only the scientific and spiritual aspects of our connection to the natural world, but also our cultural legacy and the ways in which past technological advancements continue to impact our lives and experiences today. Further, the reference to Janus recognizes the dual nature of human progress, with all of the positive and negative implications it carries.
      Watch the video above to watch the installation take shape, and follow Curran on Instagram and Vimeo to stay up-to-date with his latest projects.

      Full installation view: “Kinetic Towers” and “Anchor of Janus,” Dur-alar, MDF, aluminum, dirt, paper, and glue. Photo by James Harnois. All images © Casey Curran, shared with permission

      “We Spoke Like This to Remember.” Photo by Adrian Garcia Rodriguez 
      Detail of “Anchor of Janus.” Photo by James Harnois
      Full installation view: “Kinetic Towers” and “Anchor of Janus,” Dur-alar, MDF, aluminum, dirt, paper, and glue. Photo by James Harnois
      Detail of “We Spoke Like This to Remember”
      “Kinetic Towers” and “We Spoke Like This to Remember.” Photo by James Harnois
      Photo by James Harnois
      Visitors walking through the kinetic towers. Photo by Adrian Garcia Rodriguez
      Curran installs “We Spoke Like This to Remember”

      #flowers
      #installation
      #kinetic sculpture
      #video

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      Lush Tufted Tapestries Document Ecological Changes in Argentina’s Landscapes

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      Art
      Craft
      Design

      #Argentina
      #carpets
      #landscapes
      #rugs
      #tapestry
      #textiles

      March 25, 2021
      Anna Marks

      All images © Alexandra Kehayoglou, shared with permission
      Designer Alexandra Kehayoglou (previously) creates exquisite pieces of flowing textiles that reference the rugged landscapes of her homeland, Argentina. In the creation of each tapestry, Kehayoglou transforms surplus carpet fabric into natural elements that range from a spectrum of Earth-colored mosses to clusters of trees and serpentine rivers that cut through the heart of her weaves. Entwined within each piece are fragments of the artist’s own memories, including witnessing waterways slowly recede and the alterations to Argentina’s grasslands.
      Her latest works, a series called Prayer Rugs, depict animal footprints and small vegetative features of the Parana Wetlands located 50 kilometers from Buenos Aires. In recent years, the region’s biodiversity has been decimated by the wood and paper industries, which have facilitated the growth of non-native plant species that have since spread out of control. Additionally, human-made fires wreaked havoc during 2020, while livestock simultaneously trampled the once-luscious grassland.
      Kehayoglou’s pieces document the foliage that has survived after years of this widespread exploitation and how, over time, local fauna has started to reappear: thistles grow through cracks in the dry Earth, deer leave mud-splattered tracks, and chirping insects dance upon youthful leaves. The artworks narrate the wetland’s change and growth, reflecting the pain caused by capitalism while turning the need for change into tapestries that reference Argentinians’ hope. Kehayoglou says:
      Isolation made me think of my carpets as spaces where new forms of activism could be enacted. A type of activism that instead of focusing on paranoid conflict was silent, absorptive and, as I believe, more effective. My carpets, thus, became instruments for documenting ‘minor’ aspects of the land, which were otherwise overlooked as irrelevant. A focus on its micro-narratives that would open new doors for possible ecological futures.
      You can see more of the artist’s rich tapestries on her website and Instagram.

      #Argentina
      #carpets
      #landscapes
      #rugs
      #tapestry
      #textiles

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    • 175 Shares168 Views

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      Illuminated Streaks Appear to Fall from Trees in Light Paintings by Photographer Vitor Schietti

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      Art
      Photography

      #Brazil
      #light
      #light painting
      #trees

      March 25, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Vitor Schietti, shared with permission
      In Vitor Schietti’s Impermanent Sculptures, thick treetops and branches are swollen with light that appears to drip down in incandescent rays. Each photograph frames the nighttime scenes in a dreamy, energetic manner as the glowing beams both outline and obscure the existing landscapes. Schietti shot the pieces shown here in February and March of 2021 around his hometown, Brasília, but the ongoing series first was developed in 2015.
      Although some of the long-exposure photographs are taken in a single shot, many are composites created from various light paintings. He explains:
      Apart from this process and color and contrast adjustments, the result is conceived entirely from real action with fireworks, a performance that shifts between spontaneity and control… To paint with light in a three-dimensional space is to bring one’s thoughts from unconscious realms into existence, only visible as presented through long-exposure photography.
      Schietti sees the luminous series as a celebration of the Brazilian city, which he describes as a tree-filled oasis of birds and cicadas that’s “often integrated with the genius architecture of Oscar Niemeyer…Appreciating their hidden expressions, or imagining the life force that pulsates and emanates from them maybe a little less ordinary, so here (the) images play an important role: inspire and foster imagination.”
      Check out the catalog of available prints on Schietti’s site, and head to Instagram for more of his photographs featuring Brazil’s lush landscapes and natural life.

      #Brazil
      #light
      #light painting
      #trees

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      A Massive Catalogue of Stitched CMYK Studies by Evelin Kasikov Merges Printing and Embroidery

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      Art
      Craft
      Design

      #books
      #color
      #cross-stitch
      #embroidery
      #thread

      March 25, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “XXXX Swatchbook” (2010-2016), 180 x 210 millimeters. All images © Evelin Kasikov, shared with permission
      In “XXXX Swatchbook,” Evelin Kasikov (previously) explores all of the variables of CMYK printing without a single drop of ink. She catalogs primary, secondary, and tertiary colors, two-dozen combinations showing how rotation affects the final pigment, and a full spectrum of rich gradients. In total, the printing-focused book is comprised of four base tones, 16 elements, and 400 swatches of color entirely hand-embroidered in 219,647 stitches.
      The original idea came from Kasikov’s desire for a reference tool, one similar to loose sheets of Pantone swatches, that she could share with potential book design clients interested in CMYK embroidery. During the next six years, though, the project evolved into the uniquely comprehensive artist book it is now.
      “XXXX Swatchbook” features three-dimensional color studies in the style of precisely arranged halftone dots employed in four-color printing. “I use cross-stitch technique to replicate this. It’s a very simple idea,” Kasikov says. “I prepare the image in InDesign or Illustrator, then pierce the design onto paper and stitch with CMYK colored threads. Of course, my ‘print resolution’ is very low, about 3-4 lines per inch compared to 300 in print.”
      Stitched with varying thickness, the swatches use conventional screen angles—cyan 105˚, magenta 75˚, yellow 90˚, and black 45˚—to produce a wide range of colors and gradients, all of which you can view on the artist’s blog. Each French-folded page features geometric patches of thread, alongside hand-written details about the CMYK values shown. The spine of the book also reveals a vibrant gradient spanning magenta to cyan.

      “XXXX Swatchbook” is founded on Kasikov’s earlier “CMYK Embroidery,” a project that grew out of her MA studies at Central Saint Martins and was influenced by her background in advertising. Merging the two into the broader project of graphic stitching grew organically and offered an outlet to create a piece that was the artist says was “valuable, timeless, and trend-less,” in comparison to the more transitory projects of commercial work. “When you add tactile qualities to graphic design, it changes perspective. The structure of color can be touched. The printed image becomes three-dimensional. A flat page comes to life so to speak,” she writes.
      Kasikov splits her time between Tallinn and London, where she’s working on a project called Small Hours. Centered around a theme of silence, the collection features still-life photographs with freehand dots stitched on top in a pointillist style. Follow the ongoing project and find a larger archive of Kasikov’s book designs and embroidered works on her site and Instagram. You also might enjoy Tauba Auerbach’s RGB colorspace atlas. (via Present & Correct)

      #books
      #color
      #cross-stitch
      #embroidery
      #thread

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