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Beep Boop! Computers and Game Consoles Blink to Life in Love Hultén’s Retrofuturist Tech
by Aurelia Butler 14 February 2025, 10:00
“R-KAID-R”
Beep Boop! Computers and Game Consoles Blink to Life in Love Hultén’s Retrofuturist Tech
February 14, 2025
ArtDesignMusic
Kate Mothes
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From throwback pixelated video games to science fiction-inspired computer consoles, Love Hultén’s playful sculptures (previously) harken back to the birth of digital.
Based in Gothenburg, Sweden, the artist’s explorations of video games, electronic music, and retrofuturist aesthetics continue to shape playful pieces like “R-KAID-R,” a mobile video game complete with a toggle, all of which can be carried like a briefcase.
“The Singer”
One recent work, “The Future Fan Stage” takes a humorous approach to a fantastical fusion of live performance, science, and computers. Commissioned for Gothenburg’s Way Out West, the screen doubles as a fully functional stage that played live recordings of the headliners “for what might be the largest yet smallest crowd in history: sperm and eggs getting ‘ready to rumble’ in a laboratory,” Hultén says.
The artist draws on controversies surrounding in vitro fertilization (IVF) that have reached a fever pitch during the past few years. Taking an optimistic approach to science and modern medicine, Hultén references studies demonstrating that music may improve fertilization during the IVF process.
Hultén’s work will be on view in Liljevalchs’ spring salon Vårsalong 2025, which opens on February 14 in Stockholm. Find more on the artist’s website.
“Leto”
“The Future Fan Stage”
Detail of “The Future Fan Stage”
“Y-17”
Detail of “Y-17”
“R-KAID-R”
Detail of “Leto”
“The Singer”
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Matt Bua’s ‘Repurposed City’ in Upstate New York Just Hit the Market
by Aurelia Butler 13 February 2025, 19:30
The interior of Matt Bua’s cabin in Catskill, New York. Photo by Photo by Kevin Witte Productions. All images courtesy of Matt Bua, shared with permission
Matt Bua’s ‘Repurposed City’ in Upstate New York Just Hit the Market
February 13, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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On nearly 27 wooded acres outside the town of Catskill, New York, artist Matt Bua has been hard at work on a creative compound like no other. For two decades, he has constructed an artist-built environment from salvaged materials comprising numerous living spaces and work areas. Recently listed for sale for $269,000, the off-grid property known as “B-Home” could be yours.
Bua’s project originated with the idea to “build one of every type of dwelling we could with materials that were easily at hand,” the artist tells Colossal. From repurposed vinyl records, bottles, and reclaimed wood, a sprawling “repurposed city” emerged as painted signs, sculptures, and one-of-a-kind structures popped up over time.
Bua describes his approach as “intuitive building,” working in response to the natural terrain, found materials, and vernacular structures of the northeast. He wrote a book titled Talking Walls, which focuses on the region’s tens of thousands of miles of historic stone walls and considers history and material culture merge in the ways we understand “place.”
Bua lived in Brooklyn when he purchased the property. “All I wanted to do was go up there and build,” he recently told Artnet. He was inspired by self-sustaining communities like Drop City in Colorado, an artists’ commune formed in 1960 with a reputation for remarkable hand-built homes. Incidentally, he also used to maintain Catskill’s quirky Catamount People’s Museum, an installation of an enormous bobcat made from scraps of wood.
Along with a cohort of friends who have contributed freestanding artworks and functional structures over the years, Bua approached “B-Home” as a collaborative experiment “informed by the needs and desires of our surrounding community.”
Learn more about Bua’s work on his website.
All images courtesy of Matt Bua, shared with permission
Map of “B-Home” More
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An Otherworldly Garden of Lights Emerges from Hemp and Resin by Ross Hansen
by Aurelia Butler 12 February 2025, 23:17
‘Of Human Feelings’ installation view. All images courtesy of the artist and Volume Gallery, shared with permission
An Otherworldly Garden of Lights Emerges from Hemp and Resin by Ross Hansen
February 12, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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Evoking marigolds, prairie clover, and milk thistle, Ross Hansen’s ongoing series of ethereal lighting fixtures dissect assumptions about design and function. The Los Angeles-based artist and designer’s unique sculptural forms combine hemp, bio-resin, and aluminum to create otherworldly floor lamps.
Hansen draws on a background in landscape design, inspired by organic textures and forms found in nature. In his recent exhibition Of Human Feelings at Volume Gallery, clusters of lights resemble larger-than-life fungi or microscopic organisms. Strips of cloth are enrobed in plant-based resin for rigidity, and the illuminated bulbs diffuse within the fabric.
Volume Gallery will present Hansen’s work at Felix Art Fair in Los Angeles next weekend. Find more on the artist’s website.
Detail of “Milk Thistle”
‘Of Human Feelings’ installation view
“Dalea” (2024), hemp, bio-resin, wood, epoxy resin, paint, and lighting components, 70 x 16 x 16 inches
‘Of Human Feelings’ installation view
‘Of Human Feelings’ installation view
“Marigold” (2024), hemp, bio-resin, aluminum, and lighting components, 85 x 18 x 18 inches
Detail of “Marigold”
Base detail of “Dalea”
“Milk Thistle” (2024), hemp, bio-resin, aluminum, and lighting components, 81 x 18 x 18 inches
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‘Imagining the Future’ Honors Aleksandra Kasuba’s Trailblazing Installations and Environments
by Aurelia Butler 10 February 2025, 21:07
“Spectrum. An Afterthought” (1975–2014), synthetic fabric, neon lamps, colored filters, steel, aluminum, plywood, and plastic,
40 x 105.6 x 53.9 meters. Photo by Antanas Lukšėnas. Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
‘Imagining the Future’ Honors Aleksandra Kasuba’s Trailblazing Installations and Environments
February 10, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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From immersive fabric installations and sculptures to photography, landscape design, and architecture, the work of Aleksandra Kasuba (1923-2019) merges myriad ideas about how we experience the world around us. The intersection of technology and nature enchanted the late Lithuanian artist, and she often experimented with a variety of materials and the effects of light, hue, and tension to explore relationships between ourselves and notions of shelter and place.
The first major exhibition of her work in Europe, Imagining the Future at Carré d’Art—Musée d’Art Contemporain, explores the incredible breadth of Kasuba’s artistry.
“Shell Dwellers III” (1989), paper and collage, 35 × 43.5 centimeters. Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
Born to an aristocratic family, Kasuba enrolled in art school in 1941, focusing primarily on sculpture and textiles. She married artist Vytautas Kašuba, with whom she fled Lithuania in 1944 in the wake of the Nazi occupation of the country. They landed in a displaced-persons camp in Germany where they stayed until making their way to New York in 1947, and her experience as a refugee and an immigrant significantly affected her work.
In the U.S., Kasuba found employment in crafts and design and began laying the foundations for her future artistic practice, which merged applied and functional arts with abstraction. Her interdisciplinary practice took shape in earnest the 1950s and 1960s and was deeply influenced by tenets of modernism and the era of space exploration, which cast humanity’s existence on Earth in a new light.
Mid-20th century scholarship on vernacular architecture also inspired Kasuba, and she was moved by a visit to Bernard Rudofsky’s 1964 exhibition Architecture Without Architects at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. He took a broader view of global architecture than the field typically covered and emphasized the ingenuity and beauty of structures built by Indigenous cultures.
Rudofsky suggested that modernism—particularly modern architecture—had lost touch with the real needs of society, and he urged viewers to pay attention to artistic, idiosyncratic, culturally rich local styles free from elitist design rules.
“Rock Hill House” (2002). Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
Kasuba’s artistic practice blended with daily life in her own living spaces, too, from her New York City home in the 1970s to Rock Hill House, a sculptural dwelling in the New Mexico desert she completed between 2001 and 2005.
The convergence of sculpture and environmental design also fascinated the artist, spurring unique material combinations in large-scale public interventions and spatial installations. Concerned with how we move through places and are affected by our surroundings, she was also commissioned to create numerous public wall installations using materials like brick, marble, and granite.
Kasuba explored the relationships between transparency, color, and light in works like “Spectrum,” privileging organic shapes and an immersive passageway made from stretched nylon. Her Space Shelters series, composed of fabric in curving forms without ninety-degree angles, exemplifies her desire to harmonize nature, people, and technology.
Imagining the Future continues through March 23 in Nîmes, France. Learn more on the museum’s website.
“Dreaming III” (1963), white marble, 103 x 91 centimeters. Photo Antanas Luksenas. Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
Installation view of ‘Imagining the Future’ at Carré d’Art, Nîmes, France. Photo by Cédrick Eymenier
“Live-In Environment, 43W90, NYC” (1971–1972). From the digital archive of Aleksandra Kasuba. Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
Installation view of ‘Imagining the Future’ at Carré d’Art, Nîmes, France. Photo by Cédrick Eymenier
Installation view of ‘Imagining the Future’ at Carré d’Art, Nîmes, France. Photo by Cédrick Eymenier
“Rock Hill House” (2005). Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
Installation view of ‘Imagining the Future’ at Carré d’Art, Nîmes, France. Photo by Cédrick Eymenier
“Shell Dwellers VI” (1989), paper and collage, 35 × 43.5 centimeters. Image courtesy of The Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Estate of Aleksandra Kasuba
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Visit Dozens of Incredible Artist-Built Environments, Homes, and Studios Around the U.S.
by Aurelia Butler 6 February 2025, 19:15
Prophet Isaiah Robertson’s Second Coming House, Niagara Falls, New York. All images courtesy of the artists, foundations, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation, shared with permission
Visit Dozens of Incredible Artist-Built Environments, Homes, and Studios Around the U.S.
February 6, 2025
ArtDesignHistory
Kate Mothes
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Whether a self-taught artisan or a contemporary art titan, one can make artwork just about anywhere. As the saying goes, the only limit is your imagination. And when art and life intersect, sometimes the distinction between the two disappears.
As the National Trust for Historic Preservation can tell you, homes and studios from rural Kansas to the hubbub of Manhattan have been the locus of eclectic, quirky, and innovative ideas that illustrate how creativity and daily existence are one and the same.
Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village, Simi Valley, California
Last month, the NTHP announced the addition of 19 new property members to its Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios program. Comprising locations that range from houses and workspaces to quarries and hand-assembled fantasylands, the new spaces bring the total number of network participants to 61 across the U.S.
Colossal readers might be familiar with one of last month’s additions, the Kosciusko, Mississippi, home of L.V. Hull (1942–2008), which was included in the National Register of Historic Places last summer. The designation was the first to honor the residence of an African American woman visual artist, and it was also the first time a home art environment by any African American was on the list.
Women feature prominently in this year’s announcement, including Pope’s Museum in Ochlocknee, Georgia, which is distinguished as the oldest surviving artist-built environment by a woman in the U.S. A self-taught maker, Laura Pope Forester (1873–1953) created elaborate exterior installations, including murals and other works that pay tribute to women’s achievements, military veterans, and literary figures. The crochet-like white facade is composed of sewing machine parts.
Additional places include the homes of groundbreaking women artists Louise Bourgeois and Carolee Schneemann, along with remarkable creations like Grandma Prisbey’s Bottle Village in Simi Valley, California, and Mary Nohl’s unique environment in Fox Point, Wisconsin.
Plan your visits on the Historic Artists’ Homes and Studios website.
Pope’s Museum, Ochlocknee, Georgia
Shigeko Kubota Video Art Foundation, New York City
Spiral House Park, Saugerties, New York
“Enchanted Garden” and entrance to the “Troglodyte Cavern” at Valley of the Moon, Tucson, Arizona
Mary Nohl Art Environment, Fox Point, Wisconsin
Interior of the Mary Nohl Art Environment, Fox Point, Wisconsin
Dog Mountain, Home of Stephen Huneck Gallery, St. Johnsbury, Vermont
Interior of Reuben Hale House, West Palm Beach, Florida
Interior of Prophet Isaiah Robertson’s Second Coming House, Niagara Falls, New York
Interior view of Grandma Prisbrey’s Bottle Village, Simi Valley, California
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Uncanny Objects by Joyce Lin Blur Distinctions Between Reality and the Fantastical
by Aurelia Butler 21 January 2025, 18:00
“Fir Mignon” (2023), wood, epoxy clay, oil paint, 8.75 x 8.75 x 3 inches. All images courtesy of Joyce Lin, shared with permission
Uncanny Objects by Joyce Lin Blur Distinctions Between Reality and the Fantastical
January 21, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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Whether enclosed in clear acrylic or seemingly sliced from a single tree, Joyce Lin’s sculptures examine themes of interconnectedness and the Anthropocene, which describes our planet’s most recent epoch and the way humans significantly impact its ecosystems and climate.
“I am both disturbed and captivated by the paradoxes of industrialized society,” Lin says in a statement, “where modes of production and disposal are often obscured to the public, yet people have more technology than ever to make their imagined worlds a reality.”
“Wood Chair in Fir” (2024), oil paint, epoxy clay, plywood, MDF, and wood, 16.5 x 16.25 x 34.75 inches
Lin’s uncanny pieces meld form and function, taking the recognizable shapes of furniture and food and transforming them into playful meditations on mass production and consumption. She often uses organic materials like wood, augmenting the surfaces with synthetic mediums like epoxy, resin, and oil paint to preserve their appearance in perpetuity. Some works, like the Wooden Chair series, are entirely composed of engineered materials.
“I love to dissect and understand things, and my works often feature objects—usually a chair—sliced open to expose an inner structure; to express an inner truth, so to speak,” Lin tells Colossal. She manipulates the structures extensively, blurring the reality of what she describes as the “insides” and the “outsides,” so the composition takes on a fantastical quality.
“I don’t think they’re so convincing when you really zoom in, so it’s interesting to see people assume they’re somehow grown or AI-generated, even though they take an incredible amount of manual labor and time to create,” Linn adds. “I often think about distortions in our perception of reality, (which is) probably why people keep sending me those is-it-cake videos.”
The artist is currently working toward a solo exhibition later this year at R & Company, and you can explore more on her website and Instagram.
“Exploded Chair” (2019), maple and acrylic, 16 x 16 x 35 inches
“Woodnanas” (2024) wood, steel, polyester resin, and epoxy clay
“Wood Chair in Ash” (2024), oil paint, epoxy clay, plywood, MDF, and wood. Beetles: epoxy, wire, 16.5 x 16.25 x 34.75 inches
Detail of “Wood Chair in Ash”
“Root Chair” (2023), found driftwood and walnut stain, 29 x 30 x 34 inches
“Wood Stool”
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Vibrant, Immersive Installations by Poh Sin Studio Emphasize Vulnerability as a Strength
by Aurelia Butler 15 January 2025, 10:00
“Projection: Kite” (2019) at night. Photo by David Yeow. All images courtesy of Poh Sin Studio, shared with permission
Vibrant, Immersive Installations by Poh Sin Studio Emphasize Vulnerability as a Strength
January 15, 2025
ArtDesign
Kate Mothes
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From vibrant rope to metal frames to acrylic panels, the chromatic installations of Poh Sin Studio invite viewers into glowing thoroughfares and sprawling pavilions. Founded by Pamela Poh Sin Tan, the studio emphasizes public art as a means of fostering relationships between people, their communities, and their surroundings.
Tan’s immersive works blur the boundaries between disciplines, evoking a sense of curiosity and discovery. “I’m particularly drawn to engaging the public through art and creating experiences that inspire dialogue and connection,” she tells Colossal. “I believe public art is a powerful catalyst for urban renewal and psychological well-being, providing moments of reflection, joy, and connection.”
Detail of “Crimson Cloud”
For example, the artist shares that her most recent installation, “Structural Resonance,” explores the interplay between art and architecture, embodying layers of spatial and experiential narratives.” She is interested in how physical spaces interact with their environment and affect us visually and emotionally.
Embracing fragility as a form of strength is central to Tan’s practice, manifesting in the way soft materials, like rope, complement those associated with resilience and permanence, like metal. “I find inspiration in overlooked details, such as plant veins, diatoms, mechanical and electrical systems, or even the skeletal framework of objects like a piano,” she says. “These hidden elements hold quiet beauty and complexity that I love to bring to light.”
Art and architecture are inherently intertwined in Tan’s view. Design and engineering provides structure, context, and utility, while the artistic aspect adds compelling narrative and emotion. “Together, they reveal hidden dimensions, evoke movement, and connect deeply with viewers,” she says.
Explore more on Poh Sin Studio’s website and Instagram.
“Structural Resonance” (2024)
“Projection: Kite.” Photo by David Yeow
Detail of “Projection: Kite” (2019). Photo by David Yeow
“Sunnyside Up” (2023) at MRT Pasar Seni, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
“Sunnyside Up” (2023)
“Crimson Cloud” (2022), at Pavilion Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
Detail of “Crimson Cloud”
“Eden”
“Structural Resonance”
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Near Liverpool, a One-of-a-Kind Art Environment by Ron Gittins Is Saved
by Aurelia Butler 3 January 2025, 10:00
“The Minotaur Room.” All images courtesy of Historic England, shared with permission
Near Liverpool, a One-of-a-Kind Art Environment by Ron Gittins Is Saved
January 3, 2025
ArtDesignHistory
Kate Mothes
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Behind the unassuming red brick facade of a gable-roofed flat in Birkenhead, England, sits a home like no other. The only clue passersby would have had, until recently, was a pair of hand-sculpted figurative columns that flanked the wooden front door. But to step inside this corner flat near Liverpool is to be transported into the imaginative world of Ron Gittins.
A gifted artist who also dabbled in local acting groups and music, Gittins was a complex character. He took day jobs here and there, but he was much more inclined to work for himself, on his own terms. Anecdotally, he was known for his zest for life and determination to do great things; his sister recounts that he once exclaimed to their brother, “I will not be ignored!” His creativity shone through in every facet of his life, and his home is no exception.
Hallway
In a ground floor rented flat, which he let in 1986, Gittins created monumental hearths in the shapes of a lion, minotaur, and relief-adorned Roman altar. He painted bright murals inspired by ancient Greece, Rome, and Egypt, including a central hallway adorned with hieroglyphs. The columns at the front door were reminiscent of palatial stone depictions of pharaohs and deities.
Gittins turned to the era of English romantic portraiture in one room’s Georgian era-inspired murals, which feature framed paintings in a row above an ornate hearth. And in the bathroom, the walls swim with aquatic-themed images.
“Although Ron was extremely proud of his artwork, he generally refused entry to landlords, maintenance staff, and any kind of officialdom in order to protect the fantasy world he had created for himself,” says a statement from Wirral Arts & Culture Community Land Trust, which now owns and manages the property. It adds, “After all, not every property owner would allow their tenant to build an epic concrete lion fireplace in their living room.”
Gittins’ tenancy agreement permitted him to “decorate the interior of the property to his own taste and the external porch in classical style without the prior written consent of the Landlord.” He also had access to the garden, which he was able to landscape at his own expense.
“The Lion Room”
Few people were granted the privilege of seeing Gittins’ creations during his lifetime, as he was protective of his art and preferred to maintain his privacy. He continued to collect unique objects and transform his home into his ultimate fantasy, his self-described “villa.” Then, following his unexpected death in 2019, its fate was suddenly uncertain.
In December 2021, artist Jan Williams—who is also Gittins’ niece—along with Chris Teasdale of The Caravan Gallery, launched a campaign to save the flat. Along with a dedicated team of volunteers comprising family, friends, and experts in arts and heritage, a last-minute purchase at auction was successful in March 2023. Since then, the team has continued caring for the installations and sifting through the artist’s eclectic collection of books, magazines, videos, clothes, furniture, and trinkets.
The Wirral Arts & Culture Community Land Trust continues to catalogue Gittins’ belongings and work to preserve this unique environment for years to come. Learn more and take a virtual tour on the organization’s website.
“The Georgian Room”
Ceiling of “The Georgian Room”
The “Roman Altar” in the kitchen
Bathroom
“The Minotaur Room”
“The Georgian Room”
Exterior of Gittins’ flat in Birkenhead, England
Front door columns
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Design

More stories

Beep Boop! Computers and Game Consoles Blink to Life in Love Hultén’s Retrofuturist Tech

Matt Bua’s ‘Repurposed City’ in Upstate New York Just Hit the Market

An Otherworldly Garden of Lights Emerges from Hemp and Resin by Ross Hansen

‘Imagining the Future’ Honors Aleksandra Kasuba’s Trailblazing Installations and Environments

Visit Dozens of Incredible Artist-Built Environments, Homes, and Studios Around the U.S.

Uncanny Objects by Joyce Lin Blur Distinctions Between Reality and the Fantastical

Vibrant, Immersive Installations by Poh Sin Studio Emphasize Vulnerability as a Strength

Near Liverpool, a One-of-a-Kind Art Environment by Ron Gittins Is Saved

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