Colossal | A blog about art and visual ingenuity.

Soo Sunny Park’s Unwoven Light Documented by Walley Films

Soo Sunny Parks Unwoven Light Documented by Walley Films reflection multiples light installation documentary

If you enjoyed learning about Soo Sunny Park’s Unwoven Light installation at Rice Gallery earlier this month, you’ll like this new documentary short by filmmaking duo Angela and Mark Walley of Walley Films. The film covers the installation period and opening of Park’s chain-link fence installation and you learn quite a bit more about the artist’s process and intent behind her imaginative, surreal artwork. If you’re unable to make it to Houston to see this in person, this is the next best thing.

New Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Ron Mueck

New Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Ron Mueck sculpture hyperrealism
Ron Mueck’s Studio, January 2013. Photo by Gautier Deblonde.

New Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Ron Mueck sculpture hyperrealism
Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Hyperrealist sculptor Ron Mueck works in the realm of the ultra-real where he spends hundreds of hours perfecting the shape of the human form, the appropriate color of skin, and the most realistic hair texture. All of his efforts culminate in incredibly lifelike figurative sculptures with one small (or large) exception: the artworks are often gigantic or miniaturized, resulting in an uncomfortable “does not compute” moment when trying to comprehend exactly what you’re looking at. Each sculpted person is as bizarre as it is amazing, in part because of the raw intimacy portrayed in their faces, as if we are somehow witnessing the documentation of a private moment.

New Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Ron Mueck sculpture hyperrealism
Ron Mueck’s Studio, January 2013. Photo by Gautier Deblonde.

New Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Ron Mueck sculpture hyperrealism
Photo by Thomas Salva courtesy Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain.

Like several other hyperrealist sculptors Mueck began his sculpting career in entertainment where he started work as a puppeteer, creating models and puppets for children’s movies and TV shows. Most notably he worked on Jim Henson’s film Labyrinth and even provided the voice for the character Ludo. In 1996 he made the switch to fine art and quickly rose to prominence with exhibitions at the Royal Academy and the National Gallery in London.

Last month Mueck unveiled three new works at the Fondation Cartier in Paris as part of an exhibition that runs through September 29th, including the extraordinary Couple Under an Umbrella shown above. You can watch the video to get a little more perspective on just how large this artwork really is. All images above courtesy Fondation Cartier. (via my amp goes to 11)

By Christopher on May 22, 2013 • hyperrealism sculpture

Optical Ripple: A New Geometric Print from Simon C. Page

Optical Ripple: A New Geometric Print from Simon C. Page posters and prints geometric

Optical Ripple is the latest print from artist and designer Simon C. Page who often explores complex geometric patterns as well as the interplay of color. This latest piece involves a kaleidoscopic array of colors and concentric circles that borders on the edge of a blurry optical illusion. If you liked this, also check out his wonderful Color Wheel. (via the fox is black)

By Christopher on May 21, 2013 • geometric posters and prints

New Cloned Video GIFs from Erdal Inci

New Cloned Video GIFs from Erdal Inci video art gifs animation

Last year I featured a number of amazing gifs from Istanbul-based artist Erdal Inci (previously) who clones sections of video to create hypnotic animated loops. His work has since popped up all over the web and will soon find its way into a gallery space. Above are some of his latest clips depicting numerous copies of Inci himself parading through the frame like a cloned robot army, though he also flashlights to create even more complex effects. If you happen to be in Italy you can catch his work firsthand at Action Gallery in Milano on May 25 and in Naples on May 30.

By Christopher on May 21, 2013 • animation gifs video art

Recycled Bike Part Chandeliers Under a Texas Overpass

Recycled Bike Part Chandeliers Under a Texas Overpass recycling lighting bicycles

Ballroom Luminoso is a series of six chandeliers designed by artists Joe O’Connell and Blessing Hancock currently installed in San Antonio, Texas. Made from custom made structural steel, custom LEDs and recycled bicycle parts, the lights project colorful silhouettes of sprockets and other pieces onto the otherwise drab cement underpass. From the artist’s statement about the project:

Ballroom Luminoso references the area’s past, present, and future in the design of its intricately detailed medallions. The images in the medallions draw on the community’s agricultural history, strong Hispanic heritage, and burgeoning environmental movement. The medallions are a play on the iconography of La Loteria, which has become a touchstone of Hispanic culture. Utilizing traditional tropes like La Escalera (the Ladder), La Rosa (the Rose), and La Sandía (the Watermelon), the piece alludes to the neighborhood’s farming roots and horticultural achievements. Each character playfully rides a bike acting as a metaphor for the neighborhood’s environmental progress, its concurrent eco-restoration projects, and its developing cycling culture.

If you liked this project you might also enjoy Carolina Fontoura Alzaga’s bike chain chandeliers. Images above courtesy photographer Fred Gonzales. (via lustik)

By Christopher on May 20, 2013 • bicycles lighting recycling

Neon Swing & Bird Cage by Su-Mei Tse

Neon Swing & Bird Cage by Su Mei Tse swings sculpture neon

Swing is a 2007 kinetic sculpture by Luxembourg musician, artist and photographer Su-Mei Tse. If you’re like me you can’t wait to jump on for a ride, however it would all be over before it started as the entire piece is essentially a rigid light made of white neon tubes and controlled by a motor embedded in the ceiling. Watch the video above to see it installed at Peter Blum gallery back in 2009 along with her neon bird cage. (via 2headedsnake, mithril, yiping lim)

By Christopher on May 20, 2013 • neon sculpture swings

The Floating Temple: How to Lift a Seven Million Pound, 112-year-old Building

The Floating Temple: How to Lift a Seven Million Pound, 112 year old Building history churches architecture

Something’s up in Provo, Utah and it weighs around seven million pounds. It’s the 112-year-old exterior of the Provo Tabernacle that was severely damaged in a 2010 fire but has since been saved by the LDS church so it can be converted into a temple. Engineers first gutted the damaged interior and then supported the exterior walls with special scaffolding as they dug down to create space for a two story basement, so in actuality the building hasn’t even moved. The entire structure is now on stilts some 40 feet in the air and from some angles appears to be floating above ground, such as in the first photograph above provided by Brian Hansen. Additional photos courtesy the LDS Newsroom.