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      An Uncanny Animated Short by Fernando Livschitz Twists Mundane Scenes into Bizarre Alternatives

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      Animation
      Art

      #humor
      #short film
      #surreal
      #video

      April 6, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      [embedded content]
      Argentinian director Fernando Livschitz (previously), who helms Black Sheep Films, is back with a surreal short film that envisions everyday activities and scenes with a slightly unsettling spin. Infused with Livschitz’s distinct penchant for humor and absurdity, “Anywhere Can Happen” is set to a rendition of “What a Wonderful World” by Reuben and the Dark and AG and descends into an uncanny universe of galactic rollercoasters, dimension-traveling trains, and oversized hands keen on manipulating the landscape. Watch the animated short above, and find more of Livschitz’s cleverly bizarre projects on Vimeo and Instagram.

      #humor
      #short film
      #surreal
      #video

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    • 150 Shares169 Views

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      New Perspective-Bending Collages by Lola Dupré Distort and Reconfigure Pets and Portraits

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      Art
      Photography

      #animals
      #architecture
      #collage
      #humor
      #surreal

      March 19, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Cleo” (2020), 8.2 x 11.6 inches. All images © Lola Dupré, shared with permission
      Glasgow-based artist Lola Dupré (previously) continues her practice of slicing and rearranging photographs and art historical works into cleverly surreal collages. Her newest manipulations include a blockheaded Léon Bonnat, an entire row of irresistible puppy eyes, and a twisted rendition of George Stubbs’s “The Kongouro from New Holland.” Dupré’s cat, Charlie, still finds himself as fodder for the unusual works—see two pieces centered on him below—and the artist is currently in the process of creating her 33rd portrait of the orange-and-white feline. Find more of the Dupré’s compositions in the latest issue of Standart Magazine, shop originals and prints on her site, and see the distorted works in person at Portland’s Brassworks Gallery later this year. You also can follow along with the contorted creations on Instagram and Behance.

      “Kayack” (2020), 11.6 x 8.2 inches
      “Roo after Stubbs” (2021), 8.2 x 11.6 inches
      Left: “After Leon Bonnat” (2021), 8.2 x 11.6 inches. Right: “The Community” (2020), 8.2 x 11.6 inches
      “Charlie 32” (2021), 8.2 x 11.6 inches
      “Hardy” (2020), 16.5 x 11.5 inches
      Left: “Cat after Nathaniel Currier” (2021), 8.2 x 11.6 inches. Right: “Rand” (2021), 11.5 x 16.5 inches
      “Charlie 31” (2021), 11.6 x 8.2 inches

      #animals
      #architecture
      #collage
      #humor
      #surreal

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      Busts of Unabashed Women by Gerard Mas Are Sculpted with a Contemporary and Cheeky Twist

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      Art

      #busts
      #humor
      #sculpture

      March 18, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Lady of the chewing gum,” polychrome resin. All images © Gerard Mas, shared with permission
      Despite their modest clothing and perfectly plaited hair, the women that artist Gerard Mas sculpts are spirited, brazen, and undeniably shameless. Whether blowing a wad of bubblegum, sporting visible tan lines, or unabashedly digging in their noses, the corset-clad figures are steeped in humor and wit and cast a contemporary light on the long-held conventions of the medium.
      Mas began the ongoing series a few years ago as he ventured into figurative sculpture and struggled with portraying perfection and beauty. He shares:
      This was an impossible job. There was always something that broke that beauty. And a sculpture attempting to speak of beauty with some disproportion or flagrant compositional flaw is pretentious if not ridiculous… I decided to anticipate that failure and deliberately introduce discordant elements that broke that pretended beauty by making our sense of good taste squeak. Let’s say it’s an ode to the impossibility of beauty.
      Based near Barcelona, Mas originally trained as a restorer with a focus on reconstructing floral ornaments in architecture. “In my obsession with contemplating the art of other times, I also realized that our current cultural codes prevent us from contemplating the art of the past without reinventing its meaning. We are subjected to an avalanche of daily images that shapes the way we look,” he says. This experience continues to inform his practice that seamlessly melds traditional techniques—his use of standard materials like marble, alabaster, carved wood, gilding, and polychrome, for example—and contemporary subject matter.
      If you’re in Madrid, you can see Mas’s sculptures at Estampa from April 8 to 11. Otherwise, peruse a larger collection of his figurative works on his site and Instagram. (via The Jealous Curator)

      “Call center lady,” polychrome resin
      “Lady of lloret,” polychrome resin
      “Lady of the chewing gum”
      “Lady of the necklace” (2018), polychrome resin
      “Lady of the cactus” (2019), polychrome alabaster
      “Lady of the collar”
      “Picking nose lady”
      “Lady sticking out tongue” (2007), polychrome alabaster

      #busts
      #humor
      #sculpture

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    • 175 Shares159 Views

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      Banksy Creates Bob Ross-Dubbed Process Video of New Work Depicting Oscar Wilde Escaping Prison

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      Art

      #humor
      #Oscar Wilde
      #street art
      #video

      March 4, 2021
      Christopher Jobson

      [embedded content]
      What begins as a soft-spoken clip of America’s most iconic TV painting instructor, Bob Ross from his Joy of Painting show, suddenly shifts into a frenetic and extremely rare behind-the-scenes video of Banksy creating his latest work in Reading, Berkshire. Titled “Create Escape,” the clip was just posted to the artist’s social media channels and depicts the real-time creation of a stenciled artwork of a prisoner escaping the high, red brick walls of HM Prison Reading (formerly known as Reading Gaol). Unlike the bright studio lights that illuminated Ross’s bucolic landscapes, “Create Escape” captures the frantic yet precise execution of a work done in near darkness by an artist completely governed by police response time.
      The expansive and unblemished prison wall was a daring and perfect spot for a Banksy piece. It’s best known for its most famous inmate: Oscar Wilde served two years in the prison from 1895-1897 for the charge of “gross indecency” for being gay. The work is clearly a tribute to the poet, as the escape mechanism appears to be a long strand of paper emerging from a typewriter in place of the usual bed sheets. Wilde recounted aspects of his imprisonment in the poem “The Ballad of Reading Gaol,” which centers largely on the execution of Charles Thomas Wooldridge.

      Still from “Create Escape”
      Still from “Create Escape”
      Still from “Create Escape”
      Still from “Create Escape”

      #humor
      #Oscar Wilde
      #street art
      #video

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    • 150 Shares169 Views

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      Clothesline Farm Animals Graze the Countryside in Playful Illusions by Helga Stentzel

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      Art

      #animals
      #clothing
      #cows
      #humor

      February 23, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “Pegasus.” All images © Helga Stentzel, shared with permission
      Instead of tossing an old pair of pants or T-shirt, Helga Stentzel puts her tired garments out to pasture. So far, the London-based artist has added Pegasus and Smoothie, a pair of clothesline equine and bovine, to her herd of playful interventions hung in bucolic landscapes. Stenzel’s practice, which she terms “household surrealism,” is derived from her childhood in Siberia, where she spent hours surveying her grandmother’s carpet, birch logs, and random objects for recognizable forms, including “a stack of buckets resembling the tower of Pisa,” she tells Colossal.
      Prints of the laundry creatures are available in Stentzel’s shop, and you can follow additions to the drove—the artist currently is creating a few more farm animals while braving the -32 degree weather in Russia—on Instagram, where you’ll also find a variety of quirky food-based characters. (via Laughing Squid)

      “Smoothie”

      #animals
      #clothing
      #cows
      #humor

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    • 163 Shares129 Views

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      Demented Toys by Obvious Plant Confront Harsh Realities and the Mundanity of Life

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      Art
      Design

      #games
      #humor
      #pop culture
      #satire
      #toys

      February 2, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Obvious Plant
      Unless you want a distraught child, double-check the packaging of your next purchase in case you accidentally snag a one-off toy by Jeff Wysaski, aka Obvious Plant. For years, he’s been littering supermarket and drugstore shelves with his action figures and small games that cleverly comment on capitalism and the harsh realities we all experience, from a birthday for one—it “includes one party blower because that is all you will need”—to a “childless couple” riding matching jet skis. Sometimes parodying pop culture, the elaborate designs are paired with witty copy and a slew of intentional spelling errors, including warnings that “everybody dies, even bird.”
      Many of the subversive products, shirts, and other goods are available in the Obvious Plant shop, although they sell out quickly. To stay up-to-date on the latest designs, follow Wysaski on Instagram.

      #games
      #humor
      #pop culture
      #satire
      #toys

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    • 163 Shares139 Views

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      Duplicate Limbs and Unusual Mashups Revitalize Vintage Ceramic Creatures by Artist Debra Broz

      by

      
      Art
      Craft

      #animals
      #ceramics
      #found objects
      #humor
      #surreal

      January 19, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      All images courtesy of Paradigm Gallery
      Simultaneously adorable and bizarre, Debra Broz’s porcelain creatures breathe new life into antique knick-knacks. The Los Angeles-based artist (previously) carefully gathers discarded figurines that she separates and reassembles into humorous and unusual sculptures: an entire flock of ducklings balances on just two feet, a hooved cat carries its equine baby, and tree branches sprout from a lounging ballerina.
      Broz’s hybrid animals are included in Salvage, a group exhibition curated by Colossal’s Founder and Editor-in-Chief Christopher Jobson at Paradigm Gallery + Studio in Philadelphia. Through the work of three artists and pieces from the Recycled Artist in Residency Program, Salvage examines how artists are revitalizing fragments of tradition and culture that were destined to be lost, relegated to the periphery, or buried forever. The show opens on January 22 with a live talk with Jobson, Broz, and artists Yurim Gough and André Schulze—tickets are available on Eventbrite—and runs through February 20.

      #animals
      #ceramics
      #found objects
      #humor
      #surreal

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      Miniature Figures Navigate Human-Sized Threats in Slinkachu’s Humorous Interventions

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      Art

      #humor
      #installation
      #miniature

      November 5, 2020
      Grace Ebert

      All images © Slinkachu, shared with permission
      At first glance, Slinkachu’s scenes might appear to be a heap of multi-colored pills or a mess of children’s toys left behind on a London street corner. Closer inspection, however, reveals minuscule figures navigating human-sized items as if they occupy an alternate, miniature world occurring in sidewalk alcoves and planter boxes. Characters find themselves in a sea of medication that’s reminiscent of arcade ball pits, while others create a tower to fend off a nearby bee that’s triple each of their heights. Imbued with humor, the site-specific scenes often comment on contemporary social issues.
      Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Slinkachu (previously) has shifted to creating works in his home to minimize exposure to passersby. Although many of his projects were canceled or postponed, the Natural History Museum commissioned both the mushroom and bee works shown below for its Urban Nature project, a biologically diverse green space in central London. “My work has always reflected the sense of isolation and loneliness that a big city can imbue, but the isolation of being inside is new to me,” he shares with Colossal. “These were recreations of small parts of city streets built in my living room with concrete paving slabs and weeds and moss.” The shift in venue has the British artist reconsidering parts of his practice:
      It was a bit surreal recreating the outside world inside, but it has opened up new possibilities for me to create narrative images. By experimenting with mixing miniature sets and photographic backdrops, I’ve had many ideas about creating images that are not always possible to create outside on a real street without digital manipulation. It is different from my usual street work but a new avenue to explore.
      Follow Slinkachu’s latest installations on Instagram, and pick up a puzzle or print of his miniature figures from Affenfaust Galerie.

      #humor
      #installation
      #miniature

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