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    New Articulate Cardboard Sculptures by Greg Olijnyk Populate Miniature Worlds of Fantasy and Science Fiction

    
    Art
    Craft

    #cardboard
    #insects
    #light
    #robots
    #science fiction
    #sculpture

    May 20, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    “DvG 2.0.” All images by Griffin Simm, © Greg Olijnyk, shared with permission
    An eerie pair of buildings, a jet-powered dragonfly, and a sci-fi-inspired retelling of David and Goliath complete with an oversized robot and samurai comprise the latest cardboard sculptures by Greg Olijnyk (previously). Fully articulate and outfitted with LED lights and glass where necessary, the extraordinarily detailed works are futuristic, slightly dystopic, and part of larger world-building narratives. The architectural constructions, for example, are “the start of a series of pieces exploring the fear, fascination, and curiosity aroused by the stranger in our midst. The weird presence out of place. The building of unknown purpose with no windows and with lights flickering at night,” he says. “What’s going on in there?”
    Olijnyk is based in Melbourne and shares works-in-progress and more photos of the machine-like sculptures shown here on his Instagram.

    “DvG 2.0”
    Detail of “DvG 2.0”
    “Dragonfly Bot”
    “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
    “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
    Detail of “The New Neighbours,” 80 x 75 x 30 centimeters
    Detail of “Dragonfly Bot”
    “Dragonfly Bot”

    #cardboard
    #insects
    #light
    #robots
    #science fiction
    #sculpture

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    Glowing Geometric Light Paintings Dance Above Sparse Landscapes in Reuben Wu’s Audiovisual Works

    
    Art
    Photography

    #audio
    #drones
    #landscapes
    #light
    #light painting

    April 26, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    
    Paired with static, beeps, and soft melodic sequences, a series of glowing geometric shapes by Reuben Wu (previously) appear to emerge from the air in his new project, EX STASIS. Created in his signature otherworldly style, the Chicago-based photographer draws on both his Lux Noctis and Aeroglyph series, which use a combination of drones and light painting, to illuminate the rugged topographies with rings, tubes, and dots that spin and contort in hypnotic motion.
    For EX STASIS, Wu programmed a stick of 200 LED lights to shift in color and shape above the calm landscapes. He captured the mesmerizing movements in-camera, and through a combination of stills, timelapse, and real-time footage, produced four audiovisual works that juxtapose the natural scenery with the artificially produced light and electronic sounds. “As it gets dark, my surroundings cease to be an exterior experience and become a subliminal space, and that’s when I feel most connected and aware of my sense of being,” Wu says. “This dynamic terrestrial chiaroscuro synchronizes with my sound design and music to form singular looping pieces.”
    Find more of the photographer’s light-focused works on Instagram, Twitter, and Behance.

    A still from “EX STASIS I”
    A still from “EX STASIS III”
    A still from “EX STASIS II”
    A still from “EX STASIS IV”

    #audio
    #drones
    #landscapes
    #light
    #light painting

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    A Circle of Light Beams Undulates in an Interactive Kinetic Installation by Scale Collective

    
    Art

    #installation
    #interactive
    #kinetic
    #light

    April 7, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    
    An undulating kinetic artwork by Scale Collective blends organic movement and architectural forms in a mesmerizing installation. Created for the Constellations Festival in Metz, France, “Flux” is comprised of 48 beams of light that stretch 1.5-meters-long and are spaced 40 centimeters apart. Each is connected to a single mechanism that’s motorized and controlled by viewers through an interface, allowing for a synchronized performance of twisting and coiling patterns. “The formal multiplication of these lines coupled with micro variations of phases, time delays, speeds, and amplitudes allows us to sculpt an object 20 meters long, alive and evolving with a cyclical back and forth movement,” the French collective says. See more of the group’s dynamic projects on its site, Vimeo, and Instagram. (via Core 77)

    All images via Scale Collective

    #installation
    #interactive
    #kinetic
    #light

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    Speckled with Light, Glowing Glass Sculptures React to Viewers with Shifts in Brightness

    
    Art

    #glass
    #light
    #sculpture
    #sun
    #weather

    March 30, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    Detail of “Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile” (2019), glass, phosphorescent material, broad-spectrum UV lights, motion detector, 3,353 x 4,267 x 3,658 millimeters as installation. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa, 33rd Rakow Commission, courtesy of The Corning Museum of Glass. All images © Rui Sasaki, shared with permission
    Approach the delicate glass artworks by Rui Sasaki, and witness the unpredictable patterns of the weather through a subtle glow of blue light. The Japanese artist’s experiential body of work translates varying forecasts into speckled sculptures that radiate once encountered, an intimate process that Sasaki describes as a way to “visualize subtle sunshine, record today’s weather, and transfer it from here to there/from there to here.”
    At their brightest, the phosphorescent crystals are tinged green before fading to blue. “Visitors will doubtless be surprised to find that even if they cannot see anything on first entering the gallery, stay long enough and their eyes will become accustomed to the dark, and the elements of the work will gradually become visible,” Sasaki writes. Because each encounter sparks a unique reaction in the embedded lights, no two experiences will be the same. She explains:
    The phosphorescent glass used stores light of a wavelength close to that of sunlight, with this stored light then glowing in the dark. That is to say, one is now seeing light accumulated in the past. If a viewer remains in the gallery for an extended period, the next viewer will see the work glowing weakly in the darkness. With longer viewing time, the light of the phosphorescent glass fades, moment by moment, until finally the gallery is plunged into darkness. This might occur a minute later, or a day later, depending on viewer movements.
    Many of the sculptures evoke organic elements in material, concept, and sometimes form, whether shaped into swollen raindrops or a sun-like orb. Others, though, are depicted through domestic scenes with dinnerware or a suspended chandelier, a juxtaposition that relates to Sasaki’s feeling she had lost her sense of home after moving to the U.S. for a few years. Now living in Kanazawa, the artist is using the weather and surrounding environment as a way “to recover from the reverse culture shock and rediscover my intimacy towards my home Japan little-by-little and day-by-day.”
    Sasaki’s sculptures are part of multiple group shows, including one at Toyama Prefectural Museum of Art & Design through April 4, another at Art Museum Riga Bourse that will re-open April 6, and an upcoming spring exhibition at Tainan Art Museum in Taiwan. She also has a solo exhibition at Tokyo’s Gallery DiEGO Omotesando slated for May. Watch this interview and studio visit for a glimpse into her process, and follow where her work is headed next on Instagram.

    “Weather Project” (2015), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, sunshine, 1,050 x 1,300 x 750 millimeters (as installation)
    “Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile” (2019), glass, phosphorescent material, broad-spectrum UV lights, motion detector, 3,353 x 4,267 x 3,658 millimeters as installation. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa, 33rd Rakow Commission, courtesy of The Corning Museum of Glass
    “Liquid Sunshine” (2016), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, solarium lights, motion detector, timer, 2,300 x 5,800 x 3,100 millimeters (as installation). Photo by Pal Hoff
    “Liquid Sunshine” (2016), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, solarium lights, motion detector, timer, 2,300 x 5,800 x 3,100 millimeters (as installation). Photo by Pal Hoff
    “Liquid Sunshine” (2016), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, solarium lights, motion detector, timer, 2,300 x 5,800 x 3,100 millimeters (as installation). Photo by Pal Hoff
    “Liquid Sunshine/I am a Pluviophile” (2019), glass, phosphorescent material, broad-spectrum UV lights, motion detector, 3,353 x 4,267 x 3,658 millimeters as installation. Photo by Yasushi Ichikawa, 33rd Rakow Commission, courtesy of The Corning Museum of Glass
    “Remembering the weather” (2020), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, lights, motion sensor, plywood, 1,800 x 590 x 300 millimeters. Photo by Kichiro Okamura
    “Weather Chandelier” (2015), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, metal, timer, motion detector, solar panel, sunshine, 700 x 550 millimeters. Photo by Kichiro Okamura, collection of Glasmuseet Ebeltoft
    “Weather Mirror” (2021), glass, phosphorescent crystal mixture, mirror, foot switch. Photo by Kichiro Okamura

    #glass
    #light
    #sculpture
    #sun
    #weather

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    Illuminated Streaks Appear to Fall from Trees in Light Paintings by Photographer Vitor Schietti

    
    Art
    Photography

    #Brazil
    #light
    #light painting
    #trees

    March 25, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    All images © Vitor Schietti, shared with permission
    In Vitor Schietti’s Impermanent Sculptures, thick treetops and branches are swollen with light that appears to drip down in incandescent rays. Each photograph frames the nighttime scenes in a dreamy, energetic manner as the glowing beams both outline and obscure the existing landscapes. Schietti shot the pieces shown here in February and March of 2021 around his hometown, Brasília, but the ongoing series first was developed in 2015.
    Although some of the long-exposure photographs are taken in a single shot, many are composites created from various light paintings. He explains:
    Apart from this process and color and contrast adjustments, the result is conceived entirely from real action with fireworks, a performance that shifts between spontaneity and control… To paint with light in a three-dimensional space is to bring one’s thoughts from unconscious realms into existence, only visible as presented through long-exposure photography.
    Schietti sees the luminous series as a celebration of the Brazilian city, which he describes as a tree-filled oasis of birds and cicadas that’s “often integrated with the genius architecture of Oscar Niemeyer…Appreciating their hidden expressions, or imagining the life force that pulsates and emanates from them maybe a little less ordinary, so here (the) images play an important role: inspire and foster imagination.”
    Check out the catalog of available prints on Schietti’s site, and head to Instagram for more of his photographs featuring Brazil’s lush landscapes and natural life.

    #Brazil
    #light
    #light painting
    #trees

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    An Innovative Installation Embeds Lights into a Five-Acre Field to Spur Crop Growth

    
    Art
    Design

    #farming
    #installation
    #light
    #plants
    #sustainability

    January 22, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    
    Spread across a thick field of leeks in the Netherlands is Daan Roosegaarde’s new installation that illuminates the practice of modern farming, highlighting the plants that feed us and their plights. In “Grow,” the Dutch artist and designer, who’s known for glowing, interactive exhibits, implanted the rows with red, blue, and ultraviolet lights that shine vertically across the crop and shift in entrancing motion.
    Spanning 20,000-square-meters, the multi-faceted project is both aesthetic and practical: the radiant landscape is visually stunning, while the embedded elements enhance plant growth and cut pesticide use in half. Roosegaarde worked with existing photobiological technology and distinct “light recipes” that are thought to improve crop resistance and their metabolisms without added chemicals. “It gives a new meaning to the word ‘agri-culture’ by reframing the landscape as a living cultural artwork,” the studio says in a statement.
    In a conversation with Dezeen, Roosegaarde noted that a trip to a local farm spurred the project, which the designer now hopes will act as a blueprint for similar works. The Netherlands is the second-largest agricultural exporter in the world—the U.S. is first—and is known for innovating more sustainable technologies. With some shifts in the combination of lights and placement, this singular project could have wide-reaching implications for crop production around the world.
    “Grow” took Roosegaarde’s studio about two years to complete and is part of Rabobank’s artist-in-residence program. It’s slated to tour 40 countries in the coming months. For more of Roosegaarde’s work that falls at the intersection of art, design, and science, head to Instagram.

    All images © Daan Roosegaarde, shared with permission

    #farming
    #installation
    #light
    #plants
    #sustainability

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    A Pulsating Light Room of Multi-Layered Glass by Claudia Bueno to Premiere at Meow Wolf Las Vegas

    
    Art

    #drawing
    #glass
    #installation
    #light
    #nature
    #plants
    #sound

    January 8, 2021
    Grace Ebert

    Step into Claudia Bueno’s aquarium-style installation at Meow Wolf’s new space in Las Vegas and experience the slow, oscillating movements of natural life. “Pulse” is comprised of countless white line drawings that are meticulously intertwined and superimposed on 60 glass panels. When illuminated, they mimic scores of nautilus spirals, coral, vines, and botanics that sway and throb in glowing masses.
    “This is what ‘Pulse’ is, a way of creating animated volumes using layers of drawings that build up. I have been refining this technique for the last six years, understanding how these forms can also have a moving quality when the light system is applied,” the Venezuela-born artist says, noting that the idea for the project grew out of a visit to Yellowstone National Park.

    [embedded content]
    During the course of eight months, a team of women painstakingly painted the glass panels at Bueno’s Idaho studio. “The repetitive/meditative quality of the work lent itself to provide a very special healing space for us as we drew fine lines for hours and openly shared and supported each other,” she says. No matter the scale of the project, Bueno begins with a single dot that she duplicates, expands into lines, and eventually into intricately developed patterns, which she explains:
    It seems like it doesn’t matter what size, materials, and tools I am working with, the same kinds of patterns manage to manifest themselves over and over, building on each other, gaining both complexity and simplicity at the same time… It has been an interesting brain challenge to visualize a stack of 2D drawings that then become 3D and move. It’s my own version of a non-digital, hand-drawn time-lapse or animation.
    Although much of the installation’s work is complete, Bueno shares that she’s creating smaller sculptures, jewelry, and other works to coincide with the larger project. “Pulse” is set to premiere at Meow Wolf’s satirical sendup of consumerism, Omega Mart, which the Santa Fe-based arts group (previously) will open within Area 15 in early 2021. Until then, find more of Bueno’s light-based works on her site and Instagram.

    #drawing
    #glass
    #installation
    #light
    #nature
    #plants
    #sound

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    A Small Scottish Town Delegates the Annual Christmas Light Display to Its Youngest Residents

    
    Art

    #holidays
    #kids
    #light
    #public art
    #Scotland
    #street art

    December 22, 2020
    Grace Ebert

    All images via Poppy McKenzie Smith, shared with permission
    In a delightful holiday tradition, the small town of Newburgh in southern Scotland tasks its youngest residents with creating the glowing Christmas decorations that adorn the streets. Now in its 19th year, the annual event begins with school-age kids submitting their quirky designs to a competition. Once a winner is chosen, the artwork is sent to Blachere Illumination to be translated into LED before it’s unveiled at a ceremony held at Lampost 15, where the new work is hung each year. The winning artist gets the honor of turning on the light, illuminating their crooked gingerbread figure or beaming reindeer for the 2,000-plus residents to enjoy. In a similarly charming practice, the runner-up’s art is featured on the town’s Christmas card. (via It’s Nice That)

    #holidays
    #kids
    #light
    #public art
    #Scotland
    #street art

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