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      This Warty Pig Painting Is Thought To Be the Oldest Cave Art in the World

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      Art
      History

      #animals
      #cave art
      #caves
      #Indonesia
      #painting

      January 14, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      Deep within Leang Tedongnge, a cave tucked away on the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, archaeologists discovered this mulberry-hued painting of a warty pig and two hand silhouettes potentially belonging to the artist, which is now believed to be the oldest figurative work in the world. A study published in Science Advances this week says the impeccably preserved rendering is at least 45,500 years old, which predates previously discovered depictions of mythical creatures in the region. Those prior findings date back about 43,900 years.
      Questions remain about the exact age of the work and who made it. Archaeologists from Griffith University, who helmed the mission, utilized uranium-series dating to determine how old the speleothem, or mineral deposits, of the cave is rather than the actual painting. There’s also debate about whether modern humans are responsible for the renderings, a question that’s complicated by the fact that the only skeletal remains that date back at least 45,500 years in Sulawesi belong to early hominins.
      Dr. Adam Brumm, who co-authored the study, told The New York Times that researchers expect to discover similar artworks in the region, although the cave paintings are deteriorating at a rapid rate and could fade before they’re ever uncovered. “It is very worrying, and given the current situation the end result is likely to be the eventual destruction of this ice age Indonesian art, perhaps even within our lifetime,” Brumm said.

      #animals
      #cave art
      #caves
      #Indonesia
      #painting

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      Recycled Scraps and Discarded Objects Are Fashioned Into an Eccentric Menagerie of Metal Animals

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      Art

      #animals
      #metal
      #recycling
      #sculpture

      October 27, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Barbara Franc, shared with permisison
      London-based artist Barbara Franc (previously) upcycles materials that otherwise would be tossed into the recycling bin to create a quirky menagerie of metal creatures. Composed with scraps and copper wire, the lively sculptures generally are indicative of movement: owls lift a talon mid-waddle, two cats peer over their shoulders with surprised expressions, and a squirrel appears ready to scurry off.
      The diversity of Franc’s creatures mimic the breadth of materials utilized. She often begins by creating a wire-netting form before attaching the found objects—which include a combination of windscreen wipers, dog leads, keys, cupboard handles, cutlery, biscuit tins, old spanners, metal clips, costume jewelry, and clock and watch pieces—that she sources from yard sales, thrift shops, builder’s dumpsters, and along the roadside as she walks. When attached to the body, logo-printed scraps form a bushy tail and chess pieces create ruffled chest feathers.
      Franc notes that she creates to celebrate other species rather than out of sentimentality. “It is more about a very positive feeling of respect for the huge diversity of life on our wonderful planet and the knowledge that Life itself will always be there. Animals just symbolize that for me in an uncomplicated and direct approach as there is no human element to confuse the issue,” she says.
      Purchase one of Franc’s animalistic sculptures from her shop, and follow her latest recycled pieces on Instagram.

      #animals
      #metal
      #recycling
      #sculpture

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      Overflowing with Flora and Fauna, Collaged Paper Installations Comment on Earth’s Dwindling Biodiversity

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      Art

      #animals
      #found photographs
      #installation
      #nature
      #paper
      #plants

      October 21, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      “Intimate Immensity” (2016). Photograph by Trevor Good. All images © Clare Börsch, shared with permission
      Sprawling across paint-chipped walls and tiny alcoves, the collaged installations of artist Clare Börsch mimic overgrown jungles and whimsical forest scenes. Layers of flora, fauna, and the occasional gemstone or human figure comprise the amorphous paper artworks as they transform spaces into fantastical ecosystems.
      In a note to Colossal, Börsch shares that she began her artistic practice as a way to translate her dreams, which are often lucid and informed by memories and a strong tie to nature, into physical objects that others could immerse themselves in. “Growing up in Brazil, I had the ocean, rivers, and jungles that always existed in stark contrast to the industrial cities (I lived in Sao Paulo). So my earliest and most formative memories are of lush, humming tropical ecosystems —and the encroaching industrial landscapes of Brazil’s cities,” she says.
      The Berlin-based American artist sources her many of the vintage photographs from open source archives, including the Biodiversity Heritage Library (previously), Pixabay, and Unsplash. Some of the botanical elements she draws or photographs herself before cutting around the organic elements and assembling them in new, sometimes bizarre, compositions.

      Jungle installation commissioned by Book A Street Artist Berlin for Riem Arcaden in Munich. Photograph by the artist
      Despite the vibrancy and lively qualities of the three-dimensional collages, Börsch uses her artworks to reflect on the ongoing climate crisis and destruction of biodiversity, commentary that’s laced with themes of decay and death. She explains:
      This came into focus for me when I made a series of collages and then later realized that many of the species in the vintage illustrations had already gone extinct. Humanity has wiped out 68% of all our planet’s biodiversity since 1970, so working with vintage illustrations can be very heartbreaking as much of the diversity in these gorgeous old naturalist prints has been wiped out by human activity.
      Since then, Börsch has been collaborating with scientist Louisa Durkin, of the Nordic Academy of Biodiversity and Systematics Studies, to identify ways the artworks can spark awareness and dialogue about environmental issues. “I often say that I do not want my art to be a funerary dirge for everything we could have saved,” she says.
      In recent months, Börsch has been working on a commissioned series that will culminate in a forthcoming book, titled Why Do Tigers Have Whiskers? And Other Cool Things About Animals, which is scheduled for release by Thames & Hudson in May 2021. Follow the artist on Instagram to see her latest projects, including an immersive installation commenting on regenerative approaches to tackling problems of biodiversity, which she plans to unveil in early November. (thnx, Elsie!)

      “Intimate Immensity” (2016)
      “Intimate Immensity” (2016)
      Jungle installation commissioned by Book A Street Artist Berlin for Riem Arcaden in Munich
      Photograph by Kolja Raschke
      “Intimate Immensity” (2016). Photograph by Trevor Good
      Photograph by Kolja Raschke
      Photograph by Kolja Raschke

      #animals
      #found photographs
      #installation
      #nature
      #paper
      #plants

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      Vintage-Style Illustrations Merge Animals, Insects, and Botanics to Form Bizarre Hybrid Creatures

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      Art
      Illustration

      #animals
      #birds
      #humor
      #plants
      #watercolor

      September 15, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      All images courtesy of Mark Brooks, shared with permission
      Full of extraordinary creatures, the illustrated series The Creative Specimens seamlessly combines species into unusual hybrids. Similar in color, each organism is bizarre in form. The feathered head of a bird is placed on a tortoise’s body, octopus tentacles sprout from the bottom of a cactus, and speckled coral comprises a deer’s antlers.
      Adobe’s 99U Conference spurred the collaborative project as a way to offer a visual language encompassing various creative careers and passions. Inspired by the biological classifications of Charles Darwin and his contemporaries, New York-based art director and graphic designer Mark Brooks digitally rendered the organisms by referencing vintage illustrations. He then passed the project to Joanmiquel Bennasar, an illustrator living and working in the Balearic Islands, who recreated the creatures in watercolor.
      Explore more of Brooks’s and Bennasar’s illustrated projects on Behance.

      #animals
      #birds
      #humor
      #plants
      #watercolor

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      Painted on Front Pages, Lisa Törner’s Evocative Animals Astutely Comment on Major News Stories

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      Lisa Törner repurposes the front pages of The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the French weekly Le Canard Enchainé into inky canvases for her expressive creatures. For each edition, the Stockholm-based artist offers insightful commentary on the day’s events: a pensive monkey masks an article about bankers on Wall Street, a turquoise peacock adorns the coverage of Karl Lagerfield’s death, and a slinking leopard is rendered alongside a heartwrenching story about a mother and child, who were separated more than 50 years ago. More More

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      Welded Stainless Steel Creatures by Georgie Seccull Twist and Unfurl in Eternal Motion

      by

      
      Art

      #animals
      #metal
      #metalwork
      #sculpture
      #steel
      #welding

      August 27, 2020
      Christopher Jobson

      Zenith & Nadir, 2020. All images by Andrew J Bourke, © Georgie Seccull, shared with permission.
      Australian sculptor and installation artist Georgie Seccull creates large-scale stainless steel sculptures of animals and other creatures seemingly locked in motion. Comprised of numerous pieces cut from metal sheets, the materials lend themselves to organic forms like feathers, scales, wings, or the armaments of crustaceans. Seccull’s work scales up dramatically in her installation practice where she’s filled entire rooms and atriums with suspended pieces.
      “We are born out of chaos in darkness and come into the light—my process is much the same: I begin with a thousand pieces scattered on the ground, then working almost like a jigsaw puzzle, I pick them up one by one and allow each piece to come together organically and dictate the outcome,” the artist shares in a statement.
      One of Seccull’s most recent sculptures has been nominated for a Beautiful Bizarre People’s Choice art prize, and she has an upcoming solo show at the Gasworks Art Park near Melbourne. You can see more of her work on Instagram.

      The Beyond
      Cancer Rising
      Dancing in the Dark
      The Gatekeepers, detail
      Through the Dark
      Resistance, 2019
      Return to the Source
      Artist Georgie Seccull in her studio.

      #animals
      #metal
      #metalwork
      #sculpture
      #steel
      #welding

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      In ‘Human,’ Artist Beth Cavener Chronicles Nearly Two Decades of Evocative Sculptural Creatures

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      Art

      #animals
      #books
      #sculpture

      August 19, 2020
      Claire Voon

      All images © Beth Cavener, shared with permission
      In the hands of Montana-based sculptor Beth Cavener (previously), clay transforms into mesmerizing, life-size animal figures charged with raw emotion and vitality. ​Human​, her recently released and award-winning monograph, gathers and celebrates nearly two decades of these extraordinary creations, featuring 160 color plates of work from six series. The curious menagerie includes hares, foxes, goats, and other common mammals, with graceful and luminous bodies depicted in situations that are often tinged with a sense of violent tension. They are figures of pathos: Some creatures recoil, as though in fear; others seem paralyzed by some unseen force. Many are suspended, tethered, or slumped over, having seemingly surrendered to their perpetual state of entrapment. Still, others are beasts exuding tenderness, their body language and eyes inviting viewers to draw close.
      Cavener is a prolific artist, and as ​Human​ reveals, she has experimented with diverse materials including crystallized sugar, black sand, and smoke. Some of her most compelling pieces engage evocative devices like steel chains and glass vitrines, with several incorporating distinctive objects like a 24 karat gold ring and a wasps’ nest. The resulting animals could be displaced from dark fables. They are haunting, unlucky characters whose precise body language and inescapable gazes express unfiltered views of human nature.
      Writing the foreword for ​Human​, critic Garth Clark identifies Cavener’s sources of inspiration: People she personally has encountered during her lifetime—including her own self—“whose psychodramas, emotional catastrophes, and sexual peculiarities play out in her work.” Roiling with unspoken affect, these animals serve as unflinching mirrors capable of appealing at one glance and suddenly unsettling at another. As Cavener has said about her own visions: “Entangled in their own internal and external struggles, the figures express frustration for the human tendency towards cruelty and a lack of understanding. Something conscious and knowing is captured in their gestures and expressions. An invitation and a rebuke.”
      Explore this beguiling bestiary by picking up a copy of ​Human​ from the artist’s ​website​ or Bookshop.

      #animals
      #books
      #sculpture

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      Copper Animal Sculptures by Artist Wang Ruilin Are Embedded with Nature’s Sublime Elements

      by

      
      Art

      #animals
      #copper
      #nature
      #sculpture

      August 18, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      “66°​​​​​​​ N” (2020), copper and paint. . All images © Wang Ruilin
      Artist Wang Ruilin (previously) visualizes nature’s interconnectivity by literally imprinting a rocky terrain or ice cap onto the bodies of wild animals. His recent copper-and-paint sculptures include a panda with a black back stripe and limbs that are covered in a mountainous ridge and a white blanket of clouds. Similarly, the waters of the Arctic Circle wrap around a polar bear’s lower back and hind legs, contrasting its otherwise smooth fur. Often positioned in states of repose, the creatures are evoking Earth’s most sublime features through surreal placements. See more of the Ruilin’s recent sculptures below, and head to Behance and Instagram for glimpses into his process.

      “Above Cloud” (2020), copper and paint
      “Above Cloud” (2020), copper and paint
      “66°​​​​​​​ N” (2020), copper and paint
      “66°​​​​​​​ N” (2020), copper and paint
      “DREAMS Rhino (No. 04)” (2015), copper and paint
      “DREAMS Rhino (No. 04)” (2015), copper and paint
      “HIDE.SEEK – DOUZHANSHENGFO” (2015), copper and paint
      “HIDE.SEEK – DOUZHANSHENGFO” (2015), copper and paint

      #animals
      #copper
      #nature
      #sculpture

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