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Art

The Art Institute of Chicago Now Offers Unrestricted Access to over 52,000 High-Resolution Images from Their Collection

The Art Institute of Chicago recently announced the release of tens of thousands of images from their collection to the public domain, providing high resolution access to the thick paint strokes of Van Gogh’s “The Bedroom,” the eerie light of Edvard Munch’s “The Girl by the Window,” or the pointillism used in George Seurat’s famous “A Sunday on La Grande Jatte — 1884.″ The works have been made available under the Creative Commons Zero (CC0) license, which presents the works without copyright. Visitors to the Art Institute’s website also can experience enhanced viewing for each image by zooming in on the paintings, drawings, and other artworks with more detail than before. The current image count is at 53,438, however the Art Institute explains that this number will continue to expand regularly. You can begin your dig into their vast store of artworks by visiting this online research tool. (via Hyperallergic)

Design Science

The Museum of the Moon: An Illuminated 23-Foot Lunar Replica Currently Touring the World

Multidisciplinary artist Luke Jerram has created several exacting 23-foot replicas of the moon, which are currently touring the world as Museum of the Moon. The lunar project has been installed in public spaces ranging from China and Finland to the United Arab Emirates and Australia, and is accompanied by music from composer Dan Jones. Locations vary and include indoor and outdoor spaces as well as festivals, to intentionally alter the interpretation and experience of the project for viewers around the world.

To create the large illuminated sculptures, the British artist used a massive image (nearly 70 feet wide) of the moon created by NASA’s Astrogeology Science Center. The image itself was taken by a NASA satellite carrying the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera, which was launched in 2010. Each centimeter of Jerram’s replicas represent 5 kilometers of the moon’s surface.

Jerram also shares in a statement, “As it travels from place to place, it will gather new musical compositions and an ongoing collection of personal responses, stories and mythologies, as well as highlighting the latest moon science.” This information is compiled on Museum of the Moon online research page. You can find out where the moons will be next on the museum’s website and see photos with the #museumofthemoon hashtag. (via designboom)

Design

The Van Gogh Museum and Vans Collaborate on a Wearable Collection of Masterworks

The Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam has partnered with footwear and apparel brand Vans for a collaborative collection based on Vincent van Gogh’s iconic paintings. Drawing from his famed Almond Tree, Sunflowers, and Skull paintings, the collection includes sneakers in Vans’ classic silhouettes as well as shirts, bomber jackets, hats, and a backpack. Some of the profits from the project will be donated to preserving van Gogh’s legacy and artwork. All items in the Vans x Van Gogh Museum collection are available for sale starting August 3, 2018 from Vans and the Van Gogh Museum. For those concerned about the styled photos containing the artworks, the museum assures Colossal that the framed works shown are extremely high quality reproductions. (via Juxtapoz)

 

Art

A Keith Haring Mural Painted in 1986 and Under Wraps for 30 Years Has Been Revealed in Amsterdam

Completed over just two days in 1986, a Keith Haring mural in Amsterdam has been revealed once again after nearly thirty years out of sight. The famed artist completed the 40-foot tall-white line painting on an outside wall during his (indoor) exhibit at the Stedelijk Museum. However, it disappeared from view a few years later when the brick facade was weatherboarded to improve climate control; the building was a storage site for the museum’s collections. Over the last ten years, graffiti artist Aileen Middel (a.k.a. Mick La Rock) pushed for the mural—his largest in Europe—to be revealed once again. The restoration of the mural was made possible because the museum changed its storage location and the building is now a Markt Kwartier West grocery store and distribution center. (via Artnet)

Sponsor

San Francisco’s Exploratorium Presents Inflatable, an Exhibition of Gigantic Air-filled Artworks (Sponsor)

Explore, play, and wonder at gigantic, fantastical, artworks at Inflatable — a new summer exhibition at the Exploratorium, San Francisco’s iconic museum of art, science, and human perception.

Curated by Christopher Jobson, founder and editor-in-chief of Colossal, Inflatable features artwork by Tasmanian environmental artist Amanda Parer, balloon sculptor Jason Hackenwerth, interactive artist and educator Jimmy Kuehnle, technology-inspired designer Shih Chieh Huang, and Rhode Island collective Pneuhaus. Massive air-filled, human-like figures will fill the museum from floor to ceiling, along with dynamic sculptures of otherworldly organisms, a forest of cushiony columns, an inflatable insect-eye room, and more. Even visitors familiar with the Exploratorium will see the space in a new way.

Rated the #1 Museum in San Francisco on TripAdvisor, the Exploratorium is more than a museum. Visitors of all ages can step inside a tornado, turn upside down in a giant curved mirror, walk on a fog bridge, and explore more than 650 hands-on exhibits. The museum offers all of this plus unique programs, discussions, and events; a café and restaurant; two stores; and more at its beautiful San Francisco waterfront location on the historic Embarcadero.

Located between the historic Ferry Building and Pier 39, the Exploratorium is a short distance from any of these popular attractions: Fisherman’s Wharf, the Alcatraz ferries, and downtown.

• Daily Summer Hours (May 26–September 3), 10am–5pm (All ages)
• After Dark Thursday Evenings, 6–10pm (Ages 18+)
• Friday Evening Extended Hours (July 6–August 31), 10am–9pm (All Ages)

Entry to Inflatable is included with museum admission.

Learn more at exploratorium.edu/inflatable and follow the Exploratorium on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram.

Art

Colossal Curates ‘Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art’ at San Francisco’s Exploratorium Museum

Colossal is thrilled to announce the summer show, Inflatable: Expanding Works of Art at San Francisco’s Exploratorium, a museum dedicated to science, art and human perception. Led by our founder and editor-in-chief Christopher Jobson, Colossal has worked closely with the Exploratorium team to curate the museum’s summer 2018 exhibition. Inflatable brings together artists from around the world who work in the mediums of textiles, technology, and air.

Jason Hackenwerth (previously), renowned for his massive balloon sculptures that often simulate the universal biology of living things, will be building an inflated sculpture comprised of thousands of hand-tied balloons. Cauldron Veil will be built in front of the public at the Exploratorium in the days before the exhibition opening, and hoisted up to the ceiling where it will be suspended over visitors.

Tasmania-based artist Amanda Parer (previously) examines the relationships between humans and our natural surroundings in her large-scale white inflatable sculptures. Parer’s series, Fantastic Planet, includes two enormous humanoid figures that will be hard to miss as they tower over gallery walls.

Jimmy Kuehlne taps into interactivity, wonder, and humor in his diverse range of artworks. For Inflatable, he’ll be building a forest of glowing air-filled columns that invite museum-goers to explore his art from within. The Cleveland-based artist describes the spirit of his creations: “If I can make something that you can’t quite put in a category, then maybe there’s going to be a short circuit and you’ll have a genuine interaction.”

Inflatable visitors will also have the chance to step inside a fly’s eye as built by Rhode Island-based design collective Pneuhaus. Compound Camera  is a uniquely functional geodesic dome that turns the world upside down and inside out using 109 inflated spherical camera obscuras.

Technology, electronics, and everyday materials collide in Taiwanese artist Shih Chieh Huang‘s responsive sculptures. Huang, who is based in New York, will be installing Guardian of the Disphotic, a fleet of interconnected sculptures that move and breathe in response to their environment.

The Exploratorium is a unique public learning laboratory with a mission to create inquiry-based experiences that transform learning worldwide. Centrally located on San Francisco’s waterfront Embarcadero, the Exploratorium is filled with hundreds of explore-for-yourself exhibits. These interactive stations will be on view alongside Inflatable. We’re also developing public programming and family-friendly evening events specifically for the summer show—stay tuned! Inflatable opens on May 26 and is open through September 3, 2018. Find out more and plan your visit on the Exploratorium website.

Art

Museum Visitors Invited to Crawl and Slide Inside Massive Suspended Tape Structure

The Des Moines Art Center’s recent exhibit, Drawing in Space, highlighted four artists working in the medium of tape. The show included Numen/For Use (previously), an artist collective based in Vienna and Zagreb. Their interactive sculpture, called simply “Tape,” is made exclusively of clear packing tape, suspended within the art center’s I.M. Pei-designed architecture. Museum visitors are encouraged to explore the piece from the inside out—as long as they wear socks and move through the structure in a clockwise direction. Numen’s exhibit at the Art Center closed on January 21st, and we’re looking forward to seeing where it appears next. Previous iterations have been built in Paris, Frankfurt, and Vienna. See more of Numen/For Use’s work on their website and Facebook.