assemblage

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Art

In the Greenhouse: A Towering Figure Enclosed Within a Glass Greenhouse by Susanne Ussing

Susanne Ussing, I Drivhuset, Ordrupgaard Samlingen, 1980. Image Courtesy Carsten Hoff.

Artist Susanne Ussing (1940–1998) was a Danish visual artist and architect who worked in a variety of different mediums from photography and ceramics to large-scale installations and sensory exhibitions. One of her most impactful pieces was this 1980 installation titled I Drivhuset (In the Greenhouse) that was installed at the Ordrupgaard Museum in Copenhagen. The sculpture depicts a female figure who has seemingly grown too large for (or has become trapped by) a very tall glass greenhouse. Constructed from newspaper clippings, wood, and metal chimney vents, the figure is so large that her feet seem to penetrate the brick floor below. If Colossal had a physical manifestation, I imagine it would look almost exactly like this.

A retrospective of Ussing’s work titled “an Exhibition in the Midstream between Dream and Prosaic Reality” opened today at the Den Frie in Denmark. Image courtesy Carsten Hoff. (via Carnival of Dogs)

Art

Dollface: Bizarre Portraits Made from Repurposed Toy Parts by Freya Jobbins

Using dismembered plastic parts from old dolls and other toys, artist Freya Jobbins assembles these exceedingly strange portraits of people and pop culture icons. Chances are when viewing these you fall firmly into one of two camps: the highly amused or the highly disturbed. Regardless, it’s hard to deny the incredible amount of labor that goes into each piece, from the exploration of form and the use of color to make each anatomical amalgamation.

Born in Johannesburg, South Africa and raised in West Sydney, Jobbins is influenced in part by Guiseppe Archimboldo’s fruit and vegetable paintings as well as Ron Mueck’s oversized humans. You can see more freaky faces over in Jobbin’s online gallery and on Facebook. (via Juxtapoz, FastCo)

Art

Ornate Mixed Media Assemblages by Kris Kuksi

Unveiled Obscurity, 2013. Mixed media assemblage. 32″ x 46″ x 12″.

This week Kansas-based artist Kris Kuksi opened his fourth solo show titled Revival, at Joshua Liner Gallery. Kuksi continues his use of ornate assemblage to create wildly complex sculptures that comment on history, life, death, and spiritual conflict. In the words of director Guillermo del Toro:

“A postindustrial Rococo master, Kris Kuksi obsessively arranges characters and architecture with an exquisite sense of drama. Instead of stones and shells he uses screaming plastic soldiers, miniature engine blocks, towering spires and assorted debris to form his landscapes. The political, spiritual, and material conflict within these shrines is enacted under the calm gaze of remote deities and august statuary. Kuksi manages to evoke, at once, a sanctum and a mausoleum for our suffocated spirit.

Revival will be on view through January 18, 2014.

Unveiled Obscurity, detail.

Neo-Hellenism, 2013. Mixed media assemblage. 37″ x 35″ x 11″.

Neo-Hellenism, detail.

Intelligent Redesign, 2013. Mixed media assemblage. 40″ x 50″ x 12″.

Intelligent Redesign, detail.

Expulsion, 2013. Mixed media assemblage. 24″ x 32″ x 9″.

Expulsion, detail.

Der Ubermensch of the Post-Post World Calamity Variety, 2013. Mixed media assemblage. 54″ x 48″ x 16″.

Art

New Animal and Insect Assemblages Made from Repurposed Objects by Edouard Martinet

Butterfly. 25″ x 14″ x 22″ H. Legs: bike brake parts, pieces of windshield wipers, bike chains. Abdomen: old acetylene light tank. Thorax: car suspension part, small spoon parts, cream chargers. Head: headlights, bike parts. Butterfly trunk: clock springs. Hair: pieces of a typewriter daisy wheel. Antennae: brake cables, drawer knobs.

Butterfly, detail.

Butterfly, detail.

Rhinoceros beetle. 13″ x 11″ x 6″ H. Legs: bike brake parts, bike derailleur chain, bike chain ring. Head and horn: small bike brake, pieces of a typewriter daisy wheel. Antennae: small bike parts. Thorax: shoe tree, bike Luxor headlight. Abdomen: motorbike light, shell-shaped drawer handles.

Rhinoceros beetle, detail.

Three-spined stickleback. 34″ x 5″ x 13″ H. Body: moped fenders and chain guards. Bones: tablespoons. Gills: car door parts. Fins: cake tins, fish slices, compasses. Tail: motorbike silencer, fish slices. Eyes: flashlights. Head: Solex front fenders.

Moth. 31″ x 16″ x 7″ H. Wings: moped chain guards (rusted and patinated). Abdomen: motorbike headlights. Thorax: very old car headlamp. Legs: large upholstery tacks, car boot hinges, pieces of windshield wipers, bike brake parts, chain guards. Head: old rear position lamps, bike parts, pieces of a daisy wheel. Butterfly trunk: clock springs. Antennae: aluminium heating resistor.

Moth, detail.

Wasp. 11″ x 6″ x 16″ H. Abdomen: steel tips for boots, bike headlights. Thorax and head: steel tips and bells from bikes and typewriters. Eyes: vintage watch case. Antennae: spectacles arms. Legs: bike brakes, bike chain, spoon handles. Wings: glass.

Red ant. 25″ x 16″ x 9″ H. Thorax and head: sauce spoons, car parts. Eyes: marbles. Abdomen: bike or motorbike headlights. Antennae: small bike chains. Legs: cream chargers, brake parts, chains, alarm clock feet, spoon handles.

Dragonfly. 37″ x 49″ x 15″ H. Abdomen: patinated copper/brass bicycle pump, car horn part, parts of old acetylene bike lights (at the ends). Thorax: two motorbike rear lights, shell-shaped drawer handles, big upholstery tacks. Head: car or lorry old stop lights, parts of acetylene bike lights, parts of a daisy wheel for typewriter (hair from the mouth). Legs: tubes, bike cable guide, wing nuts, wire. Wings: umbrella ribs, wire, wire netting for hen coops.

Dragonfly, detail.

When looking at these perfectly assembled sculptures by French artist Edouard Martinet (previously) it’s difficult to believe the raw materials he used ever existed in another form. Yet every head, thorax, leg, wing, and eye from these assorted creatures was once part of a car, bicycle, typewriter, or other found object. Reading through his material lists it becomes clear how completely thorough and judicious Martinet is in selecting the perfect objects to realize his vision, truly a master of his craft. Via Sladmore Contemporary:

His degree of virtuosity is unique: he does not solder or weld parts. His sculptures are screwed together. This gives his forms an extra level of visual richness – but not in a way that merely conveys the dry precision of, say, a watchmaker. There is an X-Factor here, a graceful wit, a re-imagining of the obvious in which a beautifully finished object glows not with perfection, but with character, with new life. Martinet takes about a month to make a sculpture and will often work on two or three pieces at the same time. It took him just four weeks to make his first sculpture and 17 years for his most recent completion!

If you want to see these new pieces up close, Martinet opens a new exhibition at Sladmore Contemporary in London, November 27 through January 31, 2014. You can see several additional new works on his website.

Art

Xu Bing Arrives at Mass MoCA With His 12-Ton Birds Made of Construction Equipment

Chinese artist Xu Bing has several works currently on view as part of an exhibition at Mass MoCA in Massachusetts. Among the works are two 12-ton birds titled Phoenix that fill the museum’s football field-sized Building 5. Two years in the making, the birds were constructed from materials collected at various Chinese construction sites including demolition debris, steel beams, tools, and assorted remnants of migrant laborers. The male Phoenix titled Feng measures 90 feet long, and the female, Huang, is nearly 100 feet in length from beak to its steel tail feathers. Both birds are illuminated from within through a network of lights.

Somewhat similar to artists Yao Lu and Ai Weiwei, Xu Bing seems to be commenting on China’s rapid commercial development that is drastically altering the physical and cultural landscape within the country. Phoenix will be on view October 27th. (via junk culture, hyperallergic, my modern met)

Art

Steampunk Watch Part Sculptures
by Sue Beatrice

Using the smallest components from repurposed antique pocket watches and other time pieces, New-Jersey based artist Sue Beatrice of All Natural Arts assembles curious sculptures of animals and human figures. Given the nature of watch movements I can’t help but want to see each one of these things spring to life. See much more here. (via my modern met)