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    A Glowing Inflatable Canyon by ENESS Squeezes Inside Melbourne’s Prahran Square

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    All images courtesy of ENESS, shared with permission

    A Glowing Inflatable Canyon by ENESS Squeezes Inside Melbourne’s Prahran Square

    August 15, 2025

    Art

    Grace Ebert

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    Although it appears that thousands of tons of boulders have been dropped into Prahran Square in Melbourne, the enormous rocks are actually as light as air. Art and technology studio ENESS (previously) has installed its inflatable “Iwagumi Air Scape” in the park, creating an immersive canyon for visitors to wander through.

    While the 16 massive stones have a grainy, granite-like texture during the day, at night, they glow in otherworldly pinks and yellows, creating a surreal landscape that illuminates the urban environment. Audio of flora and fauna accompanies the work, so that when viewers squeeze through what would be a treacherous pass between real boulders, the soft inflatables and mountain sounds wrap them in a natural embrace.

    The outdoor installation is on view through August 17, when it will travel to additional locations. Keep up with its stops on ENESS’s Instagram.

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    • 138 Shares169 Views

      in Art

      Peels and Folds Soften José Manuel Castro López’s Fleshy Stone Sculptures

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      Untitled (2017), granite, 26 x 18 x 11 inches. Image courtesy of the artist and Cadogan Gallery, shared with permission

      Peels and Folds Soften José Manuel Castro López’s Fleshy Stone Sculptures

      October 22, 2024

      Art

      Kate Mothes

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      Delicately peeled skin and supple folds appear where we’d least expect them in José Manuel Castro López’s stone sculptures (previously). From small boulders of granite and quartz found near his home in A Coruña, Spain, the artist carves and polishes delicate wrinkles that suggest fabric or the malleability of smashed, wet clay. For example, “Recorte de Piel,” or “Skin Peeling,” resembles an angular slice of potato skin carefully pulled away.

      A few works shown here are part of López’s exhibition at Cadogan Solo in Milan, which continues through October 31. Keep an eye on his Instagram for updates.

      “Dedo de Dios” (2023), granite, 13 x 9 x 4 inches. Image courtesy of Cadogan Gallery

      “Recorte de Piel” (2021), granite, 15 x 12 x 5 inches. Image courtesy of Cadogan Gallery

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    • 200 Shares139 Views

      in Art

      A Sprawling Installation Explores the Power of Protest as It Floats Above a MASS MoCA Gallery

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      Art

      #activism
      #boats
      #installation
      #protest
      #rocks

      April 15, 2021
      Grace Ebert

      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong. All images courtesy of MASS MoCA, shared with permission
      Rocky debris, vintage photographs, and a wooden ship colliding with its own hull are suspended above a 100-yard gallery at MASS MoCA for “In the Light of a Shadow.” The work of Los Angeles-born artist Glenn Kaino (previously), the monumental installation generates a sprawling environment filled with thousands of floating elements that speak to the vast impact of protest and collective movements.
      Lined with an aisle of light and constantly moving shadows, the hovering artworks fuse memories of past injustices and a brighter, hopeful path forward in an immersive experience. Specifically, Kaino uses “In the Light of a Shadow” as a response to the horrific events of Bloody Sunday in both Selma, Alabama, and Derry, Northern Ireland. He models the wrecked ship after the Shadow V, a modest boat Lord Mountbatten often used for fishing, that the Irish Republican Army bombed in 1979 to assassinate the member of the royal family.
      The towering display is also paired with a metal sculpture comprised of tuned bars that emit the melody from U2’s protest anthem “Sunday Bloody Sunday” when pinged in succession. A collaborative video with singer and activist Deon Jones, who police nearly blinded after shooting with a rubber bullet for protesting George Floyd’s murder, plays nearby, drawing together the historic tragedies with those happening today.
      “In the Light of a Shadow” is on view through September 5. Find more of Kaino’s works, which span installation and sculpture to film, on his site.

      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Will McLaughlin
      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong
      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong
      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong
      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong
      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong
      “In the Light of a Shadow” (2021), installation view. Photo by Tony Luong

      #activism
      #boats
      #installation
      #protest
      #rocks

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    • 200 Shares139 Views

      in Art

      Granite and Quartz Stones Carved to Appear Like Fabric and Clay by José Manuel Castro López

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      Art

      #carving
      #rocks
      #stone carving
      #stone sculptures

      October 26, 2020
      Christopher Jobson

      All photos © José Manuel Castro López.
      Spanish artist José Manuel Castro López (previously) transforms nondescript chunks of granite and quartz into squished and dough-like objects, as if each object morphed from solid to liquid and back again in the sculptor’s capable hands. López seems to delight in convincing the viewer that he works with stone as if it were clay. Lately, he’s begun to introduce additional objects that seem to stitch, clamp, or stretch the stones in various ways. While the pieces are obviously not as complex as a Bernini or Michelangelo, they do function as unusual and often humorous studies of various stone carving techniques. You can explore a steady stream of work old and new on his Facebook timeline. (via My Modern Met)

      #carving
      #rocks
      #stone carving
      #stone sculptures

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