The Invisible Man: Liu Bolin’s Amazing Camouflage Art
October 9, 2009
What if humans could blend into the environment as effortlessly as some animals can? A photography series by Beijing-based artist Liu Bolin called ‘Camouflage’ explores a fascinating way to do this, without the use of camo print: painting human subjects so that they disappear into a background.
Bolin painstakingly paints his subjects’ faces, hair, hands, clothing and shoes to match a chosen setting, taking up to ten hours per shoot to get it just right. In some photos, like the two shown above, it really takes a moment to spot the people in the photos. Often, passersby can’t even tell that they’re there.
Of the series, the artist says, “In my photography, historical statues, costumes and architecture become symbols of that which confines us. I am expressing the desire to break through these structures. I portray subjects that seem to disappear into these structures and become transparent. The subject is released from social constructs and he is free.”
Link [ArtInfo.com] + [Design Boom]
Defining Sustainability at the Arizona State University Art Museum
August 20, 2009
How can sustainability be defined with art? That’s what Arizona State University’s Art Museum set out to answer this fall with Defining Sustainability, a series of dynamic and interactive projects that will come together to illustrate sustainability ideas.
From ASU News:
Each exhibition or project tells a simple story – an artist’s proposal for green transportation or a designer’s solution for recycled shade structures – which together convey the complexity of sustaining life on earth. A nontraditional art museum project, artists and designers, faculty and students will engage the greater Phoenix community in their creative processes and in conversations about sustainability. The diverse projects range in materials and format, and are installed throughout the ASU Art Museum to tell stories of environmental, social and cultural sustainability.
In Defining Sustainability, art and the museum are catalyst and site for campus and community members to gather and further the conversation about sustainability. While many of the projects focus on this place, they have implications for art, museums and urban centers throughout the country and the world. Today’s art museum is a pristine, controlled environment, keeping the landscape, with all its environmental systems, hazards and problems, at bay. The ASU Art Museum strives to forge a new model for the university art museum as an interdisciplinary lab to explore real-world issues through the lens of the creative process.
Defining Sustainability will run from August 26th, 2009 through February 20th, 2010 and will feature exhibitions in all media by regional and international, emerging and established artists.
Learn more and view a few examples at the ASU website.
Pictured above: Shade structures made by ASU architecture faculty member Jason Griffiths, who will be leading the upcoming project Political Ply at ASU Art Museum in October 2009. Photo courtesy Jason Griffith.
Link [ASU News]
Solar ‘Sunflowers’ Provide Energy and Décor
August 19, 2009
Many people are put off by the less-than-impressive aesthetics of solar panels, maintaining that they take away from the visual impact of a home or business, while others insist that looks shouldn’t be a factor. But if more solar panels were like these flower-shaped ones by public art team Harries/Heder, nobody would have any cause to quibble.
15 of these ‘sunflowers’ sprouted up in Austin, Texas, on a pedestrian and bike path between the village of Mueller and highway I-35. From Inhabitat:
When construction on Mueller, a mixed-use urban village in Austin, Texas first began nearly a decade ago, developers set up a number of environmental and aesthetic rules to safeguard the green spaces and keep the town from taking on an industrial feel. So when a massive retail lot was proposed, Mueller agreed to let it be built on one condition: loading docks behind the stores had to be covered up. Enter Sunflowers, An Electric Garden — Austin’s largest public art installation.
The solar flowers collect sunlight during the day to power their own blue LEDs at night, turning them into an illuminated art display. Unused power is fed back into the grid.
Solar + art = smart! Design like this makes solar energy desirable to everyone.
Link [Inhabitat]
Eco-Logical Art ‘Second Saturday’ Events in LA
May 11, 2009
LA’s Eco-LogicalART gallery has announced yet another innovative eco-friendly way to exhibit art. The gallery, founded by Peter Schulberg, salvages toxic, non-biodegradable billboard vinyl and stretches them so that they may be used by LA-area artists for free in exchange for exposure on the exterior of the gallery.
Starting Saturday, June 13th, Eco-LogicalART will be launching a monthly exhibit of original art on the billboard directly over the gallery. The “Second Saturday at Eco-LA” events will feature a dramatic curtain drop reveal, live painting of billboards, eco vendors, green workshops, and more. Besides the monthly gallery installations, original billboard art will also go on display across the city.
From the press release:
Sponsored in part by the Vinyl Institute, the recurring “Second Saturday” events will also feature a gallery show of smaller art painted on vinyl, “live” billboard art painting, kids eco-art workshops, tree giveaways, eco vendors, bio-diesel demos, bike club sign-ups, and more. For Schulberg the varied event elements are a perfect fit.
“The billboard art is our wow factor. But we want people to experience a whole range of eco experiences. Going green is about taking a second look atthe world we live in.” For Schulberg the re-visionary moment came out of the blue–literally. Thinking back he calls it “divinyl intervention”.
This event not only makes smart use of 20,000 square feet of toxic material that would otherwise take up space in landfills, but also gets artists tons of exposure and puts art within the reach of LA citizens that might not otherwise get to see it. The work will be seen by 40,000 people per day.
The billboard will be unveiled at noon on June 13th at the Eco-LogicalART gallery, 4829 West Pico Blvd, 90019, and will be up until 4pm.
Link [Eco-LogicalART]
Everyday Objects Transformed into Eco Art
March 10, 2009
When you find yourself with a pile of cardboard toilet paper rolls, what do you do with them? Throw them in the recycling bin or compost pile, use them to grow seedlings in the spring or give them to your kid to be turned into an art project. But artist Yuken Teryua shows how these mundane objects can be transformed into surprisingly beautiful art that inspires and amazes.
Yuken’s ‘Everyday Objects’ series consists of items like pizza boxes, a McDonald’s bag, flags, shopping bags, plastic bottles and other things that would have otherwise ended up in the waste stream. Silhouettes of trees are a common theme, emphasizing the connection between these throwaway objects and the natural world. Don’t read too much into Yuken’s use of these materials, however. The Japanese artist prefers to leave politics and polarizing ideas out of his work.
From Inhabitat:
The artist shows a knack for seeing potential in every day objects to become something eye-catching, and believes that while artwork is a reflection of the artist’s beliefs — it is also important that artwork engages its viewers. Yuken says:
I feel that my work shouldn’t only have the function of conveying the artist’s message. My works have a right to simply be beautiful or offer any kind of attraction.
Yuken’s recycled papercraft art is especially beautiful, with delicate branches seeming to spring organically from such unexpected places. Check out all of his work at YukenTeryuaStudio.com.
Link [Inhabitat] + [Yuken Teryua]
The Bizarre and Amazing Found-Object Sculpture of Nemo Gould
February 16, 2009
A centipede made of old bundt cake pans. Nightmarish rabbits built from car parts, antlers, wheels and real dentures. Statuesque, alien-like creatures masterfully cobbled together from the randomest bits of junk you can imagine. This is the artwork of Nemo Gould, a sculptor who uses all found objects to create often-interactive works that are mesmerizing in their uniqueness.
From Nemomatic, Nemo Gould’s website:
With years of accumulating post-consumer waste and a lifetime of absorbing pop culture imagery, Nemo Gould has been creating his signature style of kinetic metal and found object sculpture for over 20 years. Old vacuum cleaners, dead bugs, used dentures and sewing machine motors all find their unerringly rightful place in his surreal creatures and abstract sculptures, which have attracted museums, galleries and eccentric art collectors throughout the Bay Area and abroad.
Of his work, Gould says,
What makes a thing fascinating is to not completely know it. It is this gap in our understanding that the imagination uses as its canvass. Salvaged material is an ideal medium to make use of this principle. A “found object” is just a familiar thing seen as though for the first time. By maintaining this unbiased view of the objects I collect, I am able to create forms and figures that fascinate and surprise. These sculptures are both familiar and new. Incorporating consumer detritus with my own symbology, they are the synthesis of our manufactured landscape and our tentative place within it– strong and frail at the same time.
Get a fascinating look into the process of creating these wondrous works in the ‘News’ section of Gould’s website.
Link [Nemomatic]
Unnaturalism: Stunning Eco-Themed Artwork by Don Simon
February 2, 2009
Artist Don Simon creates thought-provoking works focusing on the juxtaposition of nature and the modern world. Simon uses colored pencils and a surrealistic style to speak about the conflict between nature and industry. His subjects include deer peeking out from a jungle of pipes, monkeys making their home at a construction site, creatures of the African savanna in a vast parking lot and, startlingly, marine life swimming around a submerged city.
From his artist statement:
“Throughout history, particularly since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, mankind has been less than kind to our cohabitants on the planet. We build, produce, and consume with little or no regard to the impact it has on the environment. It is the nature of nature to adapt and evolve in order to survive, and we are forcing other species to deal with compromised, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems.
This series of triptychs depicts scenes resulting from our tragic indifference. They are rendered in a beautiful and natural way, highlighting the idea that we find this acceptable. We are numb to the damage — and so, the unnatural becomes natural to us. This may be the saddest commentary of all.”
You can view all of Simon’s work in a slideshow over at Grist or at Simon’s website.
Green Patriot Poster Contest
January 31, 2009
Are you an artist or graphic designer with a passion for the environment? The Canary Project is holding a ‘Green Patriot Poster Contest’ to spread awareness and inspire action in response to climate change, and entries are being accepted now. Poster designs should illustrate strength, optimism and unity in the fight against climate change and drive for energy independence.
From WorldChanging:
Poster entries can spread knowledge or encourage action: they could feature numbers like 350 or 80 percent by 2050, or could highlight scientists or prominent leaders making a difference in the movement. They could promote composting, the retooling of factories, or the retrofitting of houses. The possibilities are endless!
The Canary Project is accepting designs from anyone willing to take on the task, from designers at leading firms, to art students and all other passionate, creative thinkers. For more detail, to upload your design, or to view the posters that have been submitted so far (like the one above), please visit their site.
View and rate the ones that have aleady been submitted at the Green Patriot Posters website. You can also view a gallery of original World War II posters for inspiration.
This is a great way to spead the word about the urgent need for global warming action – pass it on to anyone you know who might be interested!
Link [WorldChanging] + [Green Patriot Posters]
Polar Bears Float Past Houses of Parliament in London
January 27, 2009
Londoners got quite a shock yesterday as polar bears floated down the Thames River on icebergs, past the Tower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. They didn’t make some kind of bizarre, epic journey down from the Arctic, though – they’re sculptures launched in the river to raise global warming awareness, as part of the launch of new British television channel ‘Eden’.
From The Times Online:
A total of 15 artists spent two months constructing the 20ft by 20ft square structure, which was launched at 6:30am before travelling up the Thames, stopping besideTower Bridge and the Houses of Parliament. The structure weighing, 1.5 tonnes, was winched into place.
The event coincides with the Eden Channel’s Fragile Earth series, presented by Sir David Attenborough.
Melting ice caps threaten the existence of polar bears as their habitat disappears. There will also be serious consequences for the two billion people who depend on glacial meltwater to feed rivers.
Sir David said: “The melting of the polar bears’ sea ice habitat is one of the most pressing environmental concerns of our time. I commend Eden for highlighting the issue; we need to do what we can to protect the world’s largest land carnivores from extinction.”
The polar bear will also be touring other cities, including Glasgow and Birmingham.
That’s certainly a good way to grab people’s attention. The sculptures are pretty lifelike, but a close-up on the Times Online website shows that no fur was involved. (UPDATE: See video above!)
Link [Times Online]
Photo credit: The Daily Mail
“The Gleaners” Make Art Out of Trash
January 21, 2009
More and more artists are creating their work out of used objects but these sculptors are literally working in a trash dump! “The Gleaners” from KQED explores San Francisco Dump’s Artist-In-Residence program, visiting with current residents Christine Lee and David King.
Gleaner noun
1 a: to pick up after a reaper b: to strip (as a field) of the leavings of reapers
2 a: to gather (as information) bit by bit b: to pick over in search of relevant material
Barbara Hashimoto Makes Art Out of Junkmail
December 20, 2008
We all get inundated with seemingly never-ending streams of junk mail in our mailboxes, but Barbara Hashimoto is waist-deep in it. The New Jersey-born artist has been collecting it since 2007 for an installation called ‘Reverse Trash Streams: The Junk Mail Project’, and it’s truly amazing to see how much wasteful junk mail one woman was able to gather and shred. She has filled room upon room with it, creating ethereal seas of paper. Perhaps the most poignant moment of this project was the night Hashimoto piled armload after armload of it onto a piano while musician Edward Torrez played, creating a mountain of junk mail that threatened to engulf him.
The project was inspired by stomach-turning statistics about the wastefulness of junk mail, including these ones: Americans receive 77 billion pieces of junk mail annually, and the average American will spend an 8 months of his or her life handling junk mail. Amazing.
Check out this video by EarthFirst’s own Dorothee Royal-Hedinger for Fresh Cut:
Hashimoto’s sculptures, installations and performances have been presented from Chicago to Los Angeles, and you can still see the installations through the 45-foot floor-to-ceiling storefront windows at the 2003 South Halsted Street complex of the Chicago Arts District until December 31st.
Link [Barbara Hashimoto]
Green Art Spotlights Effects of Global Warming
December 14, 2008
The contemplative ice sculptures of Brazilian artist Nele Azevedo, perched on a set of stairs, melt agonizingly slowly in the sun as a crowd of onlookers watch. The art installation of hundreds of little frozen men symbolizes the melting of the ice in our polar regions and how it will affect life on earth.
They’re so beautiful in their simplicity, and the message is so poignant. The figures seem sad and resigned to their fate as their heads begin to drip down their bodies and their legs start to detach. It’s wonderful to see eco art that conveys a message like this in such a subtle and thought-provoking way.
Link [Nele Azevedo] via [Inhabitat]
Green DIY Holiday Crafts: Pop-Up Junk Mail Cards
December 13, 2008
Making your own holiday cards – let alone pop-up holiday cards – may seem like something best left to the Martha Stewart wannabe craftmasters, but it’s actually much easier than it sounds and it’s a great way to use up scrap paper like all those junk mail catalogs desperate retailers are sending out right now. The blog Junk Mail Gems created this awesome pop-up reindeer card from 100% recycled junk mail using Robert Sabuda’s easy pop-up card tutorials.
From Junk Mail Gems:
I added the red nose by simply using a hole punch on a piece of red junk mail and gluing the resulting dot on one side of the folded nose, and then painted on the eyes. The piece on the left side that I wrote on is the inside of a security envelope. I used a menswear catalog for the main card and the reindeer…the front and back covers, since they are a thicker stock.
Check out the selection of tutorials over at RobertSabuda.com and make a few craft masterpieces of your own! Though not holiday-related, my favorites are the Star Wars ones. Hey, just make them green and red and add a few little paper ornaments and they’ll work!
Link [Junk Mail Gems] + [Robert Sabuda]
Robots Made From Recycled Styrofoam
November 13, 2008
Styrofoam: no matter what we may do to avoid it, somehow it still ends up in our possession time after time. I mean, we do have to buy new stuff sometimes, and manufacturers still haven’t put the time and energy into finding a suitable, less planet-killing replacement. I know I have a pile of it in my basement that I haven’t figured out how to dispose of yet.
That conundrum is what prompted artist Michael Salter to come up with a creative reuse for the ubiquitous material, and the results are downright rad. He built this 22-foot-tall robot and its smaller companions in an attempt to make a statement about our consumerist culture.
From Komo News, via Treehugger:
“I have a sneaker collection,” he admits, “which is absurd, right? You don’t need more than one pair of sneakers. But at the same time, I’m conscious of the fact that this culture is about collecting stuff. The fact that we buy electronics at a time when they’re no longer really repairable … I mean, I know there’s a TV-repair shop somewhere, but I’ve never gone to a TV-repair shop in my life. You drag it to the curb and then you buy a new one. And the foam takes up more space in the box than the object does.”
Sure, styrofoam robots may not be the solution to styrofoam, but they sure are a fun way to make use of it and call attention to the problem!
Link [Komo News] + [Treehugger]
Recycled Cardboard Sculptures by Mark Langan
October 15, 2008
Inhabitat has once again proven that they’ve got a sharp eye for fantastic eco-art with a recent feature on artist Mark Langan, who creates art from cardboard. Unlike Chris Gilmour – another cardboard artist previously featured on Inhabitat, who utilizes mostly the smooth side of the material – Langan celebrates the texture of corrugated cardboard, making it the star of his creations. It’s interesting to see such different takes on this recycled art concept. Langan collects the materials for his work from his own neighborhood.
From Inhabitat:
Langan does not use any computer rendering to visualize a project: he sketches it the old-fashioned way, by drawing it out on a piece of paper. Each piece is built through a process of cutting, layering, and sealing with a non-toxic glue. For a more sculptural texture, the artist will run his cardboard through a paper-shredder and make it into a putty with glue and water.
A completely self-taught artist, Langan dedicated himself full-time to his corrugated masterpieces after being laid off from an office job. Some of the pieces are more overt proponents of the green lifestyle than others: one pieces says “Waste: it’s what haste makes” while in another, Uncle Sam declares “I want YOU to recycle” (above). Most of the works, however, are elegantly trimmed celebrations of a cast-off material. It’s the grown-up version of playing with cardboard boxes.
Who would have thought that you could achieve such detailed, textured, creative works of art with a material that most people toss in the trash without a second thought? It just goes to show that with a little creative thinking, we could save mountains of materials from landfills– they’re all useful to somebody.
Link [Inhabitat]
Urban Birdhouse Inspired by Shoes Strung on Power Lines
October 6, 2008
Check out this cool green gear: urban birdhouses designed to imitate shoes thrown over power lines, providing a home for wildlife that’s been displaced by urban growth. If we’re going to have stuff dangling from power lines, it might as well serve a good purpose, right?
Design Band calls it:
an urban birdhouse inspired by the uniquely American act
of throwing shoes over power lines (gangs use this to mark
their “turf”), Bird Turf proudly reclaims city space for natural
habitat by manipulating a distinctly cultural typology
Design Band is a collaborative effort between designers Emilie Baltz and Ben Bearsch.
Link [Design Band]
10 Creative Responses to Junk Mail – From Art to Garden Mulch
August 15, 2008
Who likes junk mail, anyway? It kills millions of trees, and most of it ends up in landfills or littering the streets. It clogs our mailboxes and puts us at risk of identity theft. With the amount of junk mail that arrives daily seeming to increase constantly, you may be wondering what’s the best way to deal with it. Well, the folks over at ProQuo have gathered 10 creative responses to junk mail – from custom portraits and sculptures to handmade recycled paper and garden mulch. Here are a few of them – check out the rest at ProQuo.com.
Link [ProQuo] via [BoingBoing]
An Artist’s Log of Three Years of Street Trash
August 13, 2008
From May 5th, 2002 to May 4th, 2005, artist Nico Van Hoorn took a daily 30-minute walk looking for the perfect piece of trash in the street. It could be paper, plastic or metal but it had to be smaller than 10×15cm and as flat as possible. The trash was scanned daily, and what results is a series of portraits of trash that really make you think, was this little item – whatever it was, whatever it was used for – worth littering the streets for?
Check out more of the photos at Trashlog.com
Link [TRASHLOG]
NYC Waterfall Installations Might be Killing Trees
August 9, 2008
So, those NYC waterfall installations might not be so great after all. Four waterfall installations located around the NYC metropolitan area were installed in June and lauded for their efforts to green it up by reusing the materials in construction projects after the installations come down. They also took pains to avoid harming aquatic life. Too bad they didn’t think about how all that salt water would affect trees downwind of one of the waterfalls.
Gothamist has it:
Artist Olafur Eliasson may soon have tree blood on his hands – the Brooklyn Bridge waterfall installation is kicking up such a salty spray that downwind trees are turning brown and “looking as if it’s November,” the Post reports. The saltwater is interfering with their photosynthesis, and the owner of the River Café, which has gardens just south of the bridge, is worried that the trees he planted over three decades ago are suffering too much for public art. The Parks Department agrees they’re “showing signs of stress,” and the Public Art Fund, which is producing the NYC Waterfalls, has hired a tree service to try and save them.
Oops. Hopefully they’ll be able to save the trees. That would certainly be a waste. Waterfalls are cool and all, but they’re just for human enjoyment and it would be a shame if they messed up the local ecosystem.
Link [Gothamist]
