I admit, this leans toward the creepy side, but it’s also pretty captivating too. This wax woman embedded with candle wicks was made by A.F.Vandevorst (which I believe is a Belgian fashion label) for the Arnhem Mode Biennale 2011. Reminds me of this piece by Urs Fischer. (via lenn cox)
I’m really enjoying the work of Brazilian illustrator Diogo Hornburg.
Production still from Static No. 12 (Seek Stillness in Movement), courtesy Anna Schwartz Gallery. Click for detail.
Static No. 12 (Seek Stillness in Movement) is a video piece by Australian artist Daniel Crooks who filmed a man performing tai chi and used what appears to be a form of video slit scanning to play it slowly back. I tried to get the actual video for you, but it’s technically unavailable for viewing online (ahem, however — awesome right?). Hopefully one day we’ll be able to watch a clearer version online. Thanks to the Anna Schwartz Gallery for permitting use of the still above.
A number of new works by Deborah Butterfield who assembles these striking horse sculptures using tree branches made from bronze. I can’t imagine the process involved in finding the perfect piece of wood for each delicate line. Her upcoming show at Danese in NYC runs September 9 through October 8, 2011. (via ex-chamber)
Creative duo Lars Marcus Vedeler and Theo Tveterås of Oslo, Norway have come together to form the experimental design team Skrekkøgle that I was originally tempted to call an art collective, however via their website they suggest otherwise.
We don’t think of ourselves as artists, as we come from a product/interaction design background. What we see ourselves as is a studio that does what it very well pleases, experimenting with products and electronics and the like, not necessarily being tied to a client.
Sounds like every designers dream to me. A number of their projects have bounced around the blogs lately, my favorite being this hilarious three-dimensional sculpture of the win screen for Windows Solitaire. Also check out their exceedingly clever big money project that makes nearby objects look tiny by placing them next to an enormous replica of the 50 Euro cent piece and photographing them using using tilt-shift photography. I can’t wait to see what they come up with next. Reading their blog they seem to fancy Colossal—what’s up guys? (via quipsologies)
South Korean artist Limee Young makes these diabolically complex kinetic sculptures using stainless steel components, embedded cpu boards, microprocessors, servos, and other mechanical doodads I’m not going to even pretend to understand. The devices seem to have no practical function other than being completely mesmerizing in a strangely perfect way. You can read a bit more about the devices on his blog and see a couple larger images on mu-um.
File this under I had no idea this existed. During the early 20th century residents of Fort Bragg, California chose to dispose of their waste by hurling it off the cliffs above a beach. No object was too toxic or too large as household appliances, automobiles, and all matter of trash were tossed into the crashing waves below, eventually earning it the name The Dumps. In 1967 the North Coast Water Quality Board closed the area completely and initiated a series of cleanups to slowly reverse decades of pollution and environmental damage. But there was one thing too costly (or perhaps impossible) to tackle: the millions of tiny glass shards churning in the surf. Over time the unrelenting ocean waves have, in a sense, cleansed the beach, turning the sand into a sparkling, multicolored bed of smooth glass stones now known as Glass Beach. The beach is now an unofficial tourist attraction and the California State Park System has gone so far as purchasing the property and incorporating it into surrounding MacKerricher State Park. (images courtesy digggs, matthew high, meganpru, lee rentz and linked to sources. via kuriositas)
French street artist LUDO made a quick, sweeping tour across the U.S. this month with stops in Los Angeles, Chicago, and New York. His signature wheatpastes are hard to miss, often hybridizing insects and plants with mechanical objects such as tanks and airplanes. The above works photographed by Brock Brake are from here in Chicago, but head over to Arrested Motion for a broader overview of the artist and his work in other cities. Thanks to Brock and Pawn Works (previously) for hosting the artist.
