Art

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Art

Follow the Leaders: A Corporate City in Ruins by Isaac Cordal

In one of his most ambitious artworks ever, artist Isaac Cordal (previously) spent three months constructing a corporate city in ruins for his installation Follow the Leaders. The sprawling collapsed society involves some 2,000 cement figures and decaying concrete buildings that the artist says are meant as a “metaphor for the collapse of capitalism and the side effects of progress.” You can see many more photos on his website (scroll to the bottom), or you can stop by Place du Bouffay in Nantes, France through September 1, 2013. (via Street Art Utopia)

Art

Intricate Organic Forms Cut from Paper by Rogan Brown

Artist Rogan Brown creates intricate sculptural forms reminiscent of microorganisms, plant life, and topographical charts by deftly cutting patterns in layer after layer of paper. A single work can take upward of five months to complete, and just like the organic forms he seeks to emulate the piece evolves as he works without a preconceived direction or plan. Via his artist statement:

I want to communicate my fascination with the immense complexity and intricacy of natural forms and this is why the process behind my work is so important. Each sculpture is hugely time consuming and labour-intensive and this work is an essential element not only in the construction but also in the meaning of each piece. The finished artefact is really only the ghostly fossilized vestige of this slow, long process of realisation. I have chosen paper as a medium because it captures perfectly that mixture of delicacy and durability that for me characterizes the natural world.

You can see much more of Brown’s work in higher resolution over in his portfolio, blog, and several original works and prints are currently available at Saatchi Online. If you liked this you might also enjoy the work of Eric Standley, Tomoko Shioyasu, and Noriko Ambe. (via My Modern Met and My Amp Goes to 11)

Art

The Funnel Tunnel Snakes its Way Through the Streets of Houston

Pablo Gimenez Zapiola via Art League Houston

Pablo Gimenez Zapiola via Art League Houston

Pablo Gimenez Zapiola via Art League Houston

Barry Tse

Barry Tse

Barry Tse

Barry Tse

Barry Tse

Pablo Gimenez Zapiola via Art League Houston

If you happen to drive down Montrose Blvd. in Houston this week you’ll most likely encounter this massive wooden sculpture winding its way along the esplanade, and you would be right to ask yourself, is that a tunnel? A funnel? Well, it’s both! It’s the Funnel Tunnel, a recent public art installation by artist Patrick Renner, commissioned by Art League Houston. The snaking 180 foot sculpture was built from steel and reclaimed wood and snakes its way just outside the ALH building in Houston. You might remember a somewhat similar structure built in 2005 (also commissioned by ALH) called the Inversion House by Dan Havel and Dean Ruck. See many more photos here. (thnx, justin!)

Art

Torafu’s Haunted Art Gallery for Kids at the Tokyo Museum of Contemporary Art

In an attempt to better engage the youngest visitors to the Museum of Contemporary Art in Tokyo, Torafu Architects created a special art gallery just for kids called Haunted House. On entering the exhibition a few familiar artworks appear hung in frames around a large white cube, but something is clearly amiss as everything appears to be moving.

The eyes in a portrait dart back and forth, a pair of hands emerges from Mona Lisa’s face and begins to manipulate the painting, the head of a portrait turns around in loops, and then a wave of relief as children realize this isn’t another crummy art gallery with old boring art. A secret passageway leads to the cube’s interior where almost every artwork can be manipulated or altered from behind, a place where the art can be touched and kids are free to laugh, run and play while interacting directly with some of the world’s most famous paintings. A killer idea.

You can see much more about Haunted House over on Yatzer, and see more images on Torafu’s website. Photos by Yoshitsugu Fuminari. (via Yatzer)

Art Design

Unlikely: The Impossible and Improbable Objects of Giuseppe Colarusso

In this ongoing series titled Unlikely, artist and photographer Giuseppe Colarusso imagines bizarre and humorous objects, each of which is either technically impossible, improbable, or simply useless in its proposed design. Colarusso tells me via email that many of the pieces he fabricates himself, however some are digitally created in Photoshop. So what’s the point? He hopes each image will make you stop, think and hopefully bring a smile to your face, which is definitely a worthy cause. Also, I would pay top dollar for that spray paint can with adjustable hue sliders, so could somebody make that? See some 50+ additional concepts over on his website. (via Bored Panda)

Art

Each Line One Breath: Morphogenetic Freehand Drawings By John Franzen

In his series of drawings titled Each Line One Breath, Netherlands-based artist John Franzen creates textured drawings reminiscent of wrinkled fabric or waves of water by drawing tediously placed rows of lines with black ink. The artist begins by drawing a single vertical line on the far side of a canvas but on subsequent lines allows for various imperfections to become amplified or suppressed as he continues, line after line. The process, which might look maddening, actually appears to be a sort of meditative effort for Franzen who works with almost robotic precision.