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Monumental Cardboard Bridges Float in the Sky in Temporary Installations by Olivier Grossetête
Art#architecture
#bridges
#cardboard
#hot air balloons
#installationJuly 29, 2021
Grace EbertArchitecture en Fête, Villeneuve lez Avignon, France (2015). All images © Olivier Grossetête, shared with permission
Temporarily seen hovering above small European towns or balancing on a river in floating canoes are elaborate bridges designed to be constructed and demolished in a matter of days. The ongoing work of Olivier Grossetête, the cardboard-and-tape pieces are entirely hand-built by the French artist and local residents. Each ephemeral installation, which Grossetête refers to as “utopian building(s), temporary and useless,” appears for only a day or two before it’s taken down and the public is asked to stomp on and destroy the cardboard. “This is an integral part of the project,” the artist says in a statement. “This symbolic moment is fun.” While they’re on display, the architectural works are often tethered between hot air balloons and existing buildings, which makes them appear dream-like as they float above the urban landscape.
Grossetête has been utilizing the cheap, flexible material for more than ten years because it’s easy to manipulate, allowing the installations to spring up and be removed relatively quickly. “Despite its appearance, it has quite extraordinary capacities and is very light. It doesn’t scare anyone, and it allows me to open my practice to the greatest number of people,” he says, explaining that it’s also emblematic of cultural signifiers. “It is the symbol of the false and of the appearance! I like to make this parallel between architecture, an instrument of power, and the false, the appearance.”
Currently living in Jausiers in the Alpes de Hautes Provences, Grossetête is headed to 23 Milhas in Ílhavo, Portugal for his next installation, which will be up from July 31 to August 1. You can explore more than a decade of his works on his site.“Monkey Bridge,” Japanese Garden of Tattonpark Biennale
Mantuano/French Embassy in Rome
Festival de l’Oh, Champigny, France (2015)
Mantuano/French Embassy in Rome
Pont Landerneau, France (2016)
Amboise, France Cultural Season of Amboise#architecture
#bridges
#cardboard
#hot air balloons
#installationDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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Infinite Architectural Metropolises Balance Order and Chaos in Benjamin Sack’s Drawings
Art#architecture
#drawing
#labyrinth
#mazes
#surrealJune 23, 2021
Grace Ebert“Boxed In.” All images © Benjamin Sack, shared with permission
In Benjamin Sack’s imagined environments, it’s not uncommon to find angular mazes resembling dystopian structures, buildings packed so closely together it’s difficult to distinguish one from the next, and labyrinthine walkways that spiral like fractals. Working in pen and ink, the artist (previously) draws intricate black-and-white metropolises that waver between organization and chaos: He plays with geometry, angles, and dimension to render perplexing maps teeming with both traditional architecture and surreal additions, like treble clefs, astral shapes, and dizzying line- and dot-work.
While many of Sack’s works meld the past, present, and future into a single display, his recent feet-wide maze titled “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)” is directly drawn from this last year. “This piece was a massive, Daedalian undertaking that was started at the outset of the initial lockdowns back in March 2020 and finished upon my receiving the first dose of the vaccine in April,” the artist tells Colossal. “A large labyrinth emblematic of the epoch we persevered.”
Watch the timelapse video below and head to Instagram for a glimpse into Sack’s process, and pick up a print in his shop.“Tokyo, Japan”
“Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)”
Detail of “Roots of Being (Per Aspera ad Astra)”
“Manhattanesque”
Detail of “Leitmotif”
“Endurance”
“Acoustaglyph”
“A Sensitive Chaos”
“Leitmotif”
#architecture
#drawing
#labyrinth
#mazes
#surrealDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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Miniature Architectural Spaces Nestle into Carved Chunks of Raw Marble
Art#architecture
#marble
#miniature
#sculpture
#stone
#stone carvingMay 25, 2021
Grace Ebert“Tetraconch II” (2019), Faxe limestone, 38 centimeters. All images © Matthew Simmonds, shared with permission
Since antiquity, marble has been a preferred material for sculptors and architects alike because of its relative softness and the unlikelihood that it’ll shatter. British artist Matthew Simmonds (previously) fuses these two traditional forms and honors their history with his miniature models carved into hunks of the raw stone. Evoking ancient ruins and sacred architecture—most pieces aren’t modeled after specific structures—the chiseled sculptures are complete with grand archways, ornately tiled ceilings, and minuscule statues on display in their halls.
Within the spaces, Simmonds contrasts the rough, jagged edges of the stone with precise angles and detailed flourishes. “Drawing on the formal language and philosophy of architecture the work explores themes of positive and negative form, the significance of light and darkness, and the relationship between nature and human endeavor,” he says in a statement.
See more of the artist’s carved interiors, which are often less than a foot wide, on his site.“Mystras” (2020), Carrara marble, 39 centimeters
Left: “Essay in Perpendicular” (2018), limestone, 42 centimeters. Right: “Window” (2020), limestone, 24 centimeters
Detail of “Hidden Landscape II” (2019), Carrara marble, 180 centimeters
“Gothic Passage II” (2021), limestone, 25.5 centimeters
Left: “Single Helix II” (2019), Faxe limestone, 24 centimeters. Right: “Landscape: study” (2020), limestone, 10 centimeters
Detail of “Basilica V” (2020), Carrara marble, 170 centimeters
“Stepwell” (2020), Faxe limestone, 39 centimeters
Detail of “Stepwell” (2020), Faxe limestone, 39 centimeters#architecture
#marble
#miniature
#sculpture
#stone
#stone carvingDo stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member and support independent arts publishing. Join a community of like-minded readers who are passionate about contemporary art, help support our interview series, gain access to partner discounts, and much more. Join now!
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