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    Illuminated Dinosaurs Stalk Paris’s Jardin des Plantes in a Spectacular Journey Through Time

    
    Art
    #dinosaurs
    #immersive
    #lightDecember 6, 2021Grace EbertAll images © China Light Festival B.V.& Sichuan Tianyu Culture Communication Co., Ltd, shared with permissionTrilobites, luminous flying raptors, and a T-Rex towering 27 meters above the ground are just a few of the otherworldly creatures currently haunting the grounds of the Jardin des Plantes. The massive organisms are the subjects of a fantastic exhibition now on view at the Paris venue that takes viewers on a spectacular journey of development and biodiversity through the ages.Populated by hand-painted silk sculptures crafted by the Sichuan-based company China Lights, Evolution on a Path to Enlightenment opens about 3,700 million years ago with the Precambrian era’s marine creatures. The walkable, outdoor show then ventures into the early terrestrial environment of the Paleozoic period, greets the dinosaurs of the Jurassic and Cretaceous ages—this segment includes fanciful renditions of well-recognized creatures like the stegosaurs and velociraptor, all of which are based on research from paleontologists from the National Museum of National History—before closing with the birds and mammals that remain today.Visit the botanical garden before January 30, 2022, to explore life 600 million years ago or take a virtual tour in the video below.
    #dinosaurs
    #immersive
    #lightDo 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! Share this story  More

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    Bars of Light Pierce a Dilapidated Sydney-Area Home in Ian Strange’s Illuminated Intervention

    
    Art
    #architecture
    #installation
    #light
    #public art
    #site-specific
    #street artDecember 3, 2021Grace EbertAll images © Ian Strange, shared with permissionTagged with graffiti and marred by a chipped facade, a stately Victorian home in a Sydney suburb is the site of a brilliant site-specific installation by artist Ian Strange. “Light Intersections II” uses angled beams of light to impale the derelict structure and permeate outer walls, windows, and the ornate, metallic railing on the second-floor balcony. Illuminating the battered building, Strange’s monumental public work is one of his many projects that explores ideas of home through architectural interventions.The artist, who lives between Melbourne and Brooklyn, relies on the concepts of drawing to inform much of his practice, with a particular focus on how single marks alter perspectives and affect understandings of the material world. He explains:The lines of light in ‘Intersections’ are an attempt to place abstracted perspective lines back into the environment. These drawn perspective lines don’t appear in nature, but are staples in both painting, drawing, and architecture, used as a way of containing, representing, and changing the natural environment.Commissioned by the City of Sydney, “Light Intersections II” follows the artist’s 2019 project that installed a similar concept throughout the galleries and around the perimeter of Melbourne’s Lyon Housemuseum. Watch the video below for a tour of the radiant home, and explore more of Strange’s work on Instagram. (via Street Art News)
    #architecture
    #installation
    #light
    #public art
    #site-specific
    #street artDo 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! Share this story  More

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    A Cube of Scaffolding Encloses a Glowing Red Sphere That Looms 25 Meters Above Madrid

    
    Art

    #climate crisis
    #installation
    #light
    #public art

    November 16, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    Photos by Ruben P. Bescos, © SpY, shared with permission
    As a visual metaphor for the intensity and urgency of the ongoing climate crisis, urban artist SpY erected a luminous orb that towers nearly 25 meters above Madrid’s Plaza de Colón. The large-scale work, titled “Tierra,” features a cage of construction scaffolding that encloses the massive sphere, creating a contrast between the two geometric shapes and casting a brilliant red glow on the surrounding area. Set against the backdrop of the bustling Spanish city, the installation “asks us to reflect on the way in which our home makes up a whole of which we form part and in which everything is connected as if it were a living creature,” the artist says.
    SpY is known for his public interventions, including ironic installations and a temporary park in the middle of Madrid, where he currently lives. Follow his upcoming projects on Instagram.

    

    #climate crisis
    #installation
    #light
    #public art

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    Colorful Patterns of Stained Glass Nestle Within Repurposed Sea Defense Timber

    
    Art
    Craft

    #glass
    #light
    #sculpture
    #stained glass
    #wood

    October 27, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Louise Durham, shared with permission
    Based in the coastal town of Shoreham-by-Sea, England, artist Louise Durham creates towering wooden sculptures of reclaimed sea defense timber and vibrant stained glass. She embeds stripes and circles in a full spectrum of color within the totem-style works, which when illuminated, cast kaleidoscopic shadows on their surroundings. “It is all about the light,” she says. “That’s the magic of glass and the magic of all living things.”
    In a note to Colossal, Durham explains that she utilizes traditional leaded light techniques, along with fusing and slumping—these involve connecting two pieces together and melting the material in a mold, respectively—to create bisected circles and asymmetric stripes. Shen then arranges the translucent elements in gradients and rainbow-like columns and leaves the rugged edges and knots of the repurposed wood visible. “Even having all the colors of glass laid out in front of me on my cutting table is enough to make me feel good, and I think that’s why the work is so popular. Color makes us feel good,” she shares. “I try not to interfere too much on an intellectual level. The work is definitely not from the head and totally and utterly from my heart.”
    You can find more of Durham’s brilliant sculptures on her site and Instagram. (via Women’s Art)

    #glass
    #light
    #sculpture
    #stained glass
    #wood

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    A Virtual Installation Immerses Viewers in a Reactive Environment of Shape-Shifting Architecture

    
    Art
    Design

    #architecture
    #digital
    #immersive
    #installation
    #light
    #virtual reality

    September 20, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Medusa.” All images courtesy of London Design Festival, shared with permission
    A landmark collaboration between Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto (previously) and Tin Drum, a production studio and technology developer, brings an undulating, reactive installation to the 2021 London Design Festival, but the immersive artwork is only viewable through a headset. Falling at the intersection of architecture and virtual reality, “Medusa” is comprised of monochromatic pillars that appear to suspend from the ceiling in a rippling environment. As viewers move through Raphael Court at the Victoria and Albert Museum where the work is on display, the responsive structure shifts and alters its composition in light and shape.
    The work draws inspiration from the dynamic displays of the aurora borealis and underwater bioluminescence, two phenomena that manifest through the animated qualities and shifting patterns of Fujimoto’s curved forms. “This is the first time I am designing architecture with non-physical materials—it’s using light and pure expanse of the space,” he said in a statement. “It’s an architecture experience but completely new and different.”
    “Medusa” is on view through September 26.

    #architecture
    #digital
    #immersive
    #installation
    #light
    #virtual reality

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    Lights and Painted Blocks of Color Intersect in a Perspective-Bending Installation by Luftwerk

    
    Art

    #color
    #installation
    #LED lights
    #light
    #site-specific

    August 9, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Luftwerk, shared with permission
    A deceptively trippy installation by Chicago-based duo Luftwerk (previously) immerses viewers in a distorted environment of color and sound. Relying entirely on physical properties for its illusions, Open Square connects two spaces that are painted with clean, angled blocks of color in cool and warm tones. Prismatic LED lights flash across the rooms, skewing their boundaries and creating perpetually changing settings that appear to emerge and fade over time.
    The abstract installation is part of Factory Installed 2021, a group exhibition at Mattress Factory on view now through November 14. One of five projects, Luftwerk’s Open Square transforms the historic building into a kaleidoscopic experience that’s “designed to mesmerize and shed the outside world, holding limitless possibilities for exploration,” a statement says. “Developed throughout the Covid-19 lockdowns of 2020, the exhibition reflects on the habitat that defines our everyday experience.”
    Artists Petra Bachmaier and Sean Gallero are behind Luftwerk, and you can explore more of their site-specific installations on their site and Instagram.

    #color
    #installation
    #LED lights
    #light
    #site-specific

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    Immersive Installations by Liz West Convert Spaces into Glowing Arenas of Prismatic Light

    
    Art

    #installation
    #light
    #public art
    #site-specific

    June 30, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “Hymn to the Big Wheel” (2021), steel, PVC vinyl and polycarbonate, 480 x 480 x 300 centimeters. All images © Liz West, shared with permission
    Whether nestling an iridescent tunnel inside a Georgian-style church or encircling a concrete walkway with multicolor ribbons, Liz West transforms whatever space she approaches into a dynamic field of kaleidoscopic light and shadow. The prolific British artist (previously) is known for her large-scale pieces that use reflection and refraction to create dazzling immersive environments. Often utilizing translucent panels and a combination of natural light and LEDs, West’s intention is to enhance sensory awareness, showing the potential the full spectrum of color has to impact both psychological and physical reactions.
    On view through August 12 at Canary Wharf in London, “Hymn to the Big Wheel” (shown above)  is an architectural installation comprised of two concentric octagons that cast layered jewel-toned shadows depending on the viewer’s position. The piece draws its name from Massive Attack’s “Hymn Of The Big Wheel” and has what West calls a “sun-dial effect” that changes how the light streams through the panels depending on the time of day.
    Other recent projects include “Aglow,” which arranged 169 fluorescent bowls in a hexagon outside of the Musee Nissim de Camondo in Paris. The individual elements were designed to catch rainfall, which once pooled in the base, added an extra layer of color and illusion to the patterned grouping. Similarly deceptive is West’s 2021 piece titled “Presence” at Christ Church in Macclesfield, which produced an obscured and prismatic path through the historic site that presented the existing architecture through the lens of colorful panels.
    West is currently working on two permanent installations launching in August and September in Salford, while “Hundreds and Thousands” (shown below) will be taken down this fall. You can follow her vibrant constructions on her site and Instagram.

    “Aglow” (2018), acrylic, 1,500 x 45 x 1,500 centimeters
    “Aglow” (2018), acrylic, 1,500 x 45 x 1,500 centimeters
    “Hundreds and Thousands” (2021), pigment injected polyester, 700 linear meters
    Detail of “Hundreds and Thousands” (2021), pigment injected polyester, 700 linear meters
    “Hymn to the Big Wheel” (2021), steel, PVC vinyl and polycarbonate, 480 x 480 x 300 centimeters
    “Presence” (2021), metal, dichroic vinyl, and polycarbonate, 1,500 x 140 x 300 centimeters
    “Our Spectral Vision” (2016), dichroic glass, LEDs, and acrylic, 700 x 220 x 40 centimeters
    “Presence” (2021), metal, dichroic vinyl, and polycarbonate, 1,500 x 140 x 300 centimeters
    “Presence” (2021), metal, dichroic vinyl, and polycarbonate, 1,500 x 140 x 300 centimeters

    #installation
    #light
    #public art
    #site-specific

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    An Eclectic Group Show Features Sound Sculptures, Collages, and Toy Assemblages for the Annual BBA Artist Prize

    
    Art

    #collage
    #fiber art
    #light
    #painting
    #sculpture
    #sound

    June 18, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    By June Lee. All images courtesy of BBA Artist Prize, shared with permission
    A broad, varied collection of work from 20 emerging artists converges in a group exhibition for the sixth-annual BBA Artist Prize. Living in ten countries and working across mediums, this year’s finalists include Steve Parker’s touch-activated horn sculptures, Fiona White’s vivid collaged paintings, and June Lee’s figurative assemblages of toys and everyday objects. The winner of 2021’s award will be announced on June 25, with all works on view at Kühlhaus Berlin through June 30. Get a preview on the BBA site, and check out artist Ming Lu’s blue-and-white porcelain sculptures, which won the 2020 competition.

    By Ewa Cwikla
    By Fiona White
    By Ernst Miesgang
    By Steve Parker
    Left: Nina Ekman. By Right: By Juliette Losq
    By Sandra Blatterer

    #collage
    #fiber art
    #light
    #painting
    #sculpture
    #sound

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