Music

Japanese Musician Creates Unique Drum Beats by Tapping on Vintage Tape Recorders

Japanese musicians Ei Wada, Haruka Yoshida, and Masaru Yoshida create reverberating drum beats on the outstretched tape of cracked open reel-to-reel tape recorders from the 1970s and 1980s. The group, appropriately named Open Reel Ensemble, produces an intriguing timbre that more closely resembles a synthesizer than an analog drum. The group has created the soundtrack for Japanese designer ISSEY MIYAKE‘s last four seasons. You can listen to more compositions by the trio, including this song that mixes their unique drumming technique with a keyboard, on Youtube.

Art

Synesthetic Artist Melissa McCracken Paints Abstracted Depictions of Jazz, Funk and Pop Songs

“Wasn’t It Kind of Wonderful” (2017), oil on canvas, 48” x 48”Melissa McCracken paints what she hears, titling each of her abstract oil paintings after the songs that inspired the work’s expressive gestures and bright punches of color. The Kansas City-based artist has a neurological condition called Synesthesia, which causes her sense of hearing to trigger colorful depictions of songs and genres. For McCracken, jazz music appears as iridescent blues, whites, and golds, while an upbeat pop song is bright pink and purple. You can see more of the artist’s musical interpretations on her website and Instagram. (via Kottke)

Art

Crystallized Ballet Slippers and Soccer Cleats by Alice Potts

Royal College of Art student Alice Potts grows crystals on shirts, slippers, and various athletic wear from a common yet unlikely source—sweat. The London-based artist encrusts wearables in natural formations that elevate the sporty objects into one-of-a-kind sculptures. The series, titled PERSPIRE, aims to show how we could grow our own accessories, rather than having them manufactured.

“Every human is unique, and so is the sweat they produce, encapsulating our health, wellbeing and identity,” Potts told Dazed. “In the future I’m keen to develop the idea and use it to explore sustainable processes within fashion.”

You can see more of her crystallized shoes and garments on Instagram.

Art Design

Alex Chinneck Unzips a Condemned Building in the Style of a Retro Shirt

British sculptor Alex Chinneck has a history of manipulating facades—previously slumping the brick face of an apartment in Margate and completely upending a building in London. Chinneck’s newest monumental manipulation is a condemned office building in Kent, England. The 1960s structure seems to unzip from its middle with a XXXL zipper, revealing the ruin of the forgotten interior. Two folded segments near the top act like a collar, giving the entire installation the appearance of a retro polo shirt. Catch the soon-to-be-demolished intervention while you can: Open to the Public opened August 2 at Brundrett House, Tannery Lane, Ashfield, TN23 1PN. (via It’s Nice That and Dezeen)

Art Craft

Improvised Wall Tapestries Crafted with Vibrant Thread Combinations

Spanish textile artist Judit Just Anteló moved to Asheville, North Carolina in 2013 to further develop her textile brand Jujujust. Although she studied fashion design, sculpture, and textile art in her hometown of Barcelona, she first learned the standards of weaving from her mother as a small child. Anteló applies these more traditional techniques to her current practice, updating the old methods with splashes of neon color and engaging combinations of vibrant threads.

“Most of my tapestries are just an involuntary result of an improvisation, a dance with colors and materials,” Anteló tells Colossal. “I like to let myself flow and see what it transforms into afterwards. Once I finish and approve one design, I keep the original in my studio to reproduce it in different color variations. Then I redo them and make them evolve and metamorphose into other creations.”

Anteló weaves her tapestries with rye knots created on a lap loom or eight-harness table loom, depending on which type of wall hanging she is attempting to make. You can find a variety of her works for sale on her Etsy shop, and take a peek into her studio on Instagram.

Art

New Furry Collages Stretch and Distort Famous Cats and Canines

We just recently covered a new set of collages by Lola Dupre (previously), but couldn’t resist sharing her latest series of stretched and distorted animals. Dupre began focusing on cats and dogs after creating several works based on her own pet Charlie, who appears again in this new series. The Scotland-based artist also created collages based on Instagram-famous pets such as @hosico_cat and @mywhiskeygirl. She hopes to expand the furry series, eventually including a selection of raccoons, foxes, sheep, opossums, and more. You can purchase an original collage on her website, and follow along with the new series on tumblr, Instagram, and Behance.

Colossal

New in The Colossal Shop

This just in: Field Notes has released their latest notebook edition, which includes three pocket-sized notebooks that mark the 50th anniversary of America’s outer space exploits. The collection celebrates the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo missions and also includes three DIY crew capsule models. Plus, artist Jay Ryan brings the joy of reading to life in his charming new five color screenprint, The Garden and Haptic Lab sends swallows soaring with their handmade avian kites.  Studio Carta designs unique craft supplies including Rooster Scissors with 24 karat gold finish and a cleverly integrated farm bird handle. Find all these and more, new in The Colossal Shop!