J:V

“Installation view of a hole revealing wall painting of successive exhibition layers, 20 cm in diameter at the Viennese Secession. By Pierre Huyghe.”

(via VVORK)

Amazing. Mutoh.

“To explore and to know the real world we live, how we perceive it is to be the basic start point. The principle should be true in the world of color in visual expression, here in terms of our perception and recognition of dynamic characteristics of the light. The impressionist Claude Monet often painted the same motif under several natural conditions, and fixed the dynamic effect of light on the renowned 33 canvasses of “Cathedrale de Rouen”. The artist explored in essence how human being perceives change of natural scene in time and its color dynamism beyond simple problems of expression. But few people know that painting and coloring under the sky for the impressionists’ exploration of natural light has made partly possible by the advanced technology at that time of pressing zinc metal to manufacture paint tubes. The advance of technology should be unvaryingly one of the motivation for re-examine the color in expression and communication on products or media in natural or artificial light environment.”

(via VVORK)

Antony Gormley.

“Breathing Room was an attempt to make a three-dimensional drawing in space that was both a diagram and a thing.

It is an instrument that allows the viewers to become the viewed by creating an interpenetrating nest of seven space frames that occupy a central position in the room.

The volume outlined by the frame remains constant whilst being extended in each case on a different axis. A mandala-like drawing on the floor forms the groundplan from which the seven rooms grow. The structure is made from 25 mm x 25 mm square aluminium tube.

The object hovers between being architecture and being an image of architecture. It is a contained object in a defined internal space. In the Ropac Gallery installation, all electrical lights were removed and the frames were painted with two layers of phosphorescent paint that absorbed light during the day and emitted it at night. In its night state the work assumes an unstable position between the virtual and the real.

If perspective and orthogonal architecture in the West are the way in which space is described and contained, this is an attempt to open up those limiting characteristics.”

(via VVORK)

Seizure, an art work by Roger Hiorns is truly amazing. I can’t really describe what it is like, it is something that needs to be experienced. Hopefully the images below will help.

“In SEIZURE, Hiorns’ most ambitious work to date, the artist precipitates an unexpected sculptural form within the fabric of a housing estate near London Bridge. Architecture and modernist sculpture continue to be important touchstones for Hiorns’ work, and both have strongly informed the development of this major new commission. For his first work within an urban site Hiorns’ makes a radical shift of scale and context, and has developed an extraordinary chemical intervention in the heart of the city.”

(Art Angel)

Jason Hackenwerth takes balloon art to a new level with his large-scale balloon sculptures and installations. “He blows up hundreds of balloons and strings them together in unusual forms to create artwork that resembles an array of strange animals, insects or aliens… his works are playful and colourful, but like all balloons they slowly deflate over time added another dimension to his work.”

(via PicoCool)

Amazing interactive design by Chris O’Shea.

Audience, conceived by rAndom International, is an installation consisting of around 64 head-size mirror objects. Each object moves its head in a particular way to give it different characteristics of human behaviour. Some chat amongst themselves, some shy away and others confidently move to grab your attention.

When members of the audience occupy the space, the mirrors inquisitively follow someone that they find interesting. Having chosen their subject, they all synchronise and turn their heads towards them. Suddenly that person can see their reflection in all of the mirrors. They will watch this person until they become disinterested, then either seek out another subject or return to their private chatter. The collective behaviour of the objects is beyond the control of the viewer, as it is left entirely to their discretion to let go of their subject.

(via Visual Streak)

Whilst in Amsterdam, Varvara and myself had the short pleasure of meeting Denny. Really nice chap, with amazing work.

This is one of my favourites.

“Per Törnberg and me were asked to do the graphics for the symposium Transformations of Public Space, which was held February 2007 in Amsterdams Stedelijk Museum CS, and organized by Lektoraat Kunst in de Publiek Ruimte. Two days of lectures by artists, politicians and theorists around the subject of changes and interventions in the open room.

This subject quickly made us want to transform public space with the poster itself. A wish that we found was not so easy to realize: There was no way to do it visually, since we didn’t want to refer too much to only one of the artists, but we also didn’t want it to become too cheesy / obvious.

After a while we got to the idea to change the public space around the posters with a special smell: Since the poster was only hung in museums, art schools and gallerys throughout the Netherlands — that means in closed rooms / private space — we decided to use the characteristic smell of gasoline, to remind people of the outside world and public space.

In the end, we also came up a ‘smelly’ design for the final poster: We created several original drawings by spraying, glueing, painting and stenceling the logotype by hand on big sheets of paper. These were photographed and combined to make a 2-layer silkscreen template out of it.

The posters were screenprinted with a special ink that was mixed with a substitute gasoline smell that we found in an odor laboratory in Amsterdam, and perfumed another time afterwards to keep the smell fresh.

When the first posters were hung, people instantly started coming to us to complain about the disgusting smell of them. An effect that made us much happier than all nice words about the looks of the poster.”

Whilst in Amsterdam Varvara and myself went to the Stedelijk Museum one last time before it shuts its doors at their temporary location in October. My favourite piece of work in the exhibition was that of JODI, titled Untitled Game. (Don’t ask me how to use their website, I got nowhere!)

Untitled Game is based on the well-known game Quake, a first-person shooter that is played all over the world. The player encounters all manner of enemies (other online players and virtual monsters) in complex underground spaces. The artists have adapted the software of the different levels of the game that can be seen and played in the exhibition. This means that we experience the virtual space as black and white surfaces, or even as an entirely white screen. To find your way, you have to know the game so well you could play with your eyes closed.

JODI, Joan Heemskerk and Dirk Paesmans, show in their work how the representation of reality in digital media functions, and how the accepted norms can be undermined. They play with the mistakes and bugs that they find in the software and develop absurdist scenarios that continue the traditions of Dada and Pop Art in the digital art of today.

Love this video Varvara took, Phil thought he was posing for a picture.

Again, whilst in Amsterdam we (me & Varvara) were lucky enough to go to the book launch of F. R. David, where we got a reading from the book by Will Holder as well as watching two really great films; one by John Smith – Associations (a few bad quality and short films by John Smith here) and the second by Werner Herzog – The Enigma of Kasper Hauser. Both were very inspiring films to watch.

(Second image via Gerrit Rietveld Academie blog)

We met a lot of people my friend Phil Baber is at university with in the Gerrit Reitveld Academie; Nick, Michael, Stefan, and quite a few others (sorry cant remember all the names), was really nice to meet you all.

Varvara and myself went to Amsterdam last week for my birthday. We saw pretty much every single exhibition about design, fashion and photography. So for the next few days ill be posting images and links from the places we went. Starting with the Hacking IKEA exhibition at Platform 21, that started the day we left.

This is my favourite, a table with a subwoofer attached to the underside and a lamp with a tweeter above the bulb. Click the more link to see more pictures.

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