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Art Craft

Sci-Fi Inspired Cardboard Sculptures by Greg Olijnyk Feature Fully Articulated Limbs and Working Motors

To balance out his working life as a graphic designer focused on 2-D digital projects, Greg Olijnyk creates cardboard sculptures  in his free time. The remarkably refined artworks are made with packaging-grade cardboard and tracing paper, and finishing touches added with LED lighting and glass accessories.

Cardboard’s affordability and malleability, as well as its surprisingly pleasing surface texture and color, have made it the medium of choice for Olijnyk. The designer tells Colossal that each piece comes together organically, and he draws inspiration from sci-fi books and things he finds on Pinterest as he evolves each concept. “Every piece has the limitations and advantages of the cardboard material in mind, how it bends, how strong it will be, etc.,” Olijnyk explains. “The sailing boat sculpture started with the desire to use a pleated, folding effect to simulate water and the rest of the form evolved over the course of a few months.”

As part of his engineering efforts, Olijnyk incorporates movement and articulation. His robot limbs are movable, and wheels rotate. In some of his works, the designer even incorporates solar panels and small motors to activate various components. “Even if, once behind glass, they remain frozen in a pose, I like to know that the capacity is there to bring them to life,” Olijnyk tells Colossal.

Olijnyk notes that he admires fellow Melbourne-based sculptor Daniel Agdag, who creates similarly fanciful worlds using precisely manipulated cardboard. See more from Olijnyk’s studio as he starts new projects and shares the process on Instagram.

 

Art

Fantastical Mechanisms of Land and Sea Built from Cardboard and Hand-Blown Glass by Daniel Agdag

Australian sculptor and filmmaker Daniel Agdag (previously) builds fictionalized architectural objects that could find their home in the sky, on land, or under the sea. The cardboard, timber, and hand-blown glass structures are inspired by the hidden mechanics found in everyday industrial forms, and consist of miniature models of fans, gears, and pumps. Inflated balloons like The Southeasterly carry small ship-like vessels, and a 2018 work titled The Second State looks like an early roller coaster model complete with billboard-like signage that spells out the word “LUCKY.”

Agdag received a Master’s degree in Film and Television from the Victorian College of the Arts in 2007. His recent solo exhibition States wrapped at Messums in Wilshire on June 30, 2019, and selected sculptures from the exhibition will travel to the gallery’s London location from July 3 to 13, 2019. You can see more of Agdag’s sculptural objects on his website and Instagram.

 

Art

Massive Cardboard Installations by Isabel and Alfredo Aquizilan Investigate Migration and Community

Isabel and Alfredo Aquilizan work as a husband and wife team primarily in the medium of cardboard. Their soaring installations fill gallery spaces, reaching from floor to ceiling and wall to wall. The duo’s massive sculptural works are comprised of miniature homes that have been piled and stacked, creating dizzying towers of comingled landscapes. For many of their installations the artists work with students and community members to collaboratively build the cardboard structures, inviting participants to reflect on and channel their own migratory experiences. The Aquilizans moved from the Philippines to Australia in 2006, and much of their work centers around the migrant experience, and having a foot in two worlds.

A statement from NuNu Fine Art gallery in Taiwan explains, “the Aquilizans negotiate identity vis-à-vis tracing points of mobilities… Identifying with departures as a poignant tribute to all, like themselves, who have managed to make homes out of strange lands, keeping memories of the passage as the foundation of new dwellings.”

See one of the Aquilizan’s installations through May 19, 2019 in Melbourne, as part of Bruised: Art Action and Ecology in Asia at RMIT Gallery. You can get to know the artists in a 2018 interview with HAINAMANA, and explore more of their mixed media collaborative projects on Artsy.

Design

Architecture Firm NUDES Uses Corrugated Cardboard to Form the Furnishings and Walls of a Mumbai Cafe

In the new Mumbai-based cafe Cardboard Bombay, corrugated cardboard composes each chair, table, and light fixture, in addition to the sinuous walls which sweep across the space. The restaurant was designed with the biodegradable material by Nuru Karim, founder of Mumbai-based architectural firm NUDES, who chose the material because of its sustainability, versatility, and ability to absorb sound.

Before starting on the cafe the design team tested the cardboard they wished to use, researching how it would react with typical hospitality factors such as water resistance and temperature changes. Next NUDES designed the undulating chairs, light fixtures, and wall partitions to have a similar free-flowing appearance, and treated cardboard tables with wax to seal the furniture and prevent damage. You can see more images from the (via designboom)

Animation Art

New Whimsical Cardboard Machines and an Art Deco-Inspired Stop Motion Film by Daniel Agdag

Australian artist Daniel Agdag (previously) produces invented contraptions and antiquated flying machines from cardboard, timber, and trace paper, turning his whimsical fantasies into highly detailed sculptures. The works seek to connect his audience with the mechanics located beneath the exterior of modern machines while emphasizing the complexity present in our everyday experiences.

New sculptural works include a flying caboose that combines the visual language of locomotives and hot air balloons and a turbine-assisted car that moves horizontally along a raised track. In addition to these new pieces, Agdag has also released a short film with producer Liz Kearney titled Lost Property Office. The stop-motion animation follows a custodian named Ed through his solitary work in a large city’s Lost Property Office, exploring the whimsical creations he builds from discarded objects and machines. Over 2,500 sheets of recycled cardboard were utilized over the course of the film’s 18-month production, which translated into 1,258 hand-crafted and Art Deco-style set pieces and props.

Agdag and Kearney’s film is currently being screened at film festivals all over the world. Next month Lost Property Office will travel to the New Zealand International Film Festival for Animation Now! on August 2 and 6, 2018 and the Palm Springs International Animation Festival from August 22-26, 2018. You can watch the trailer for the short in the video below, and see more of Agdag’s sculptural objects on his website and Instagram.

 

Art

Life-Size Cardboard Sculptures of Chinese Villagers Tap Into Artist Warren King’s Ancestral Heritage

Warren King began sculpting with cardboard as an attempt to add fantasy to the lives of his children, creatively crafting masks and helmets out of the recyclable material. This slowly evolved into a more time-consuming arts practice as King began focusing less time on costumes, and more time making large sculptures of his own. After a visit to his grandparents’ village in Shaoxing, China, the New York City-based artist felt compelled to more deeply connect with his cultural past. This sparked Grandfather’s Friend, and Arrival Times, a series of life-size cardboard recreations of his ancestors. 

“During my first visit to China about 7 years ago, I visited the village and spoke with residents who actually remembered my grandparents from over 50 years ago,” said King. “It was a pivotal experience for me, one that inspired me to become an artist. Through my work, I am attempting to understand the fragile connections to people and culture, and examine whether those connections, once broken, can be restored.”

King’s cardboard sculptures will be shown in the exhibition Art of Asia at the Peninsula Fine Arts Center from February 2 to March 28, 2018. You can see more of his work on his Instagram and Flickr.