Tag: art

Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams

At MoMA, through the rest of 2018, is an interesting exhibition entitled Bodys Isek Kingelez: City Dreams. It is a retrospective of artist Bodys Isek Kingelez (1948–2015) who was based in then-Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo):

following its independence from Belgium, Kingelez made sculptures of imagined buildings and cities that reflected dreams for his country, his continent, and the world.

These are amazing models of what could happen, a speculative dream for a new country emerging from great change, all created from everyday and readymade objects. The work is amazing, and you should go. A few times.

My criticism of the work is that the future dreamworld looks dreadful from an urbanist point of view. The future that Bodys Isek Kingelez envisions has come to life in parts of Beijing and in Gurgaon, right outside New Delhi, India. Gurgaon is the manifestation of libertarian space; rife with walled fortress-like compounds which require a car to navigate from one to the other, all cloaked in dust and smog. There is no space for walking or biking; no space for simple pleasures of moving from space to space without the requirement of a car to convey you to that new space.

These are spaces where the body is cut off from each other; spaces where the building form is more important than the person:

Now this criticism might seem unfair, or jumping to conclusions based on art but the work as a whole leaves me with trepidation that the future dream is not truly human-centered, rather the future envisioned is a series of unconnected edifices. Yet this work also, in a way, correctly predicts star architects, run amok libertarian space, and the foregrounding of building not urbanism.

 

Flip-Dot Art: Delete

I’ve been trying to use the flip-dot system by Alfa-Zeta for the last three years, so it is nice that they have begun creating pre-assembled units. Below is a piece of art entitled Delete by lab binaer located in the Public Library of Augsburg forecourt:

A snap-shot of the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia serves as basis for this artwork. The unique copy of the constantly growing online knowledge is stored on a memory in the column surrounded by security glass. There are only two connections to the outside world: Visually the display shows a tiny part of the millions of words. Physically an alluring button wants to be pushed. But whoever pushes the button will notice that he has deleted one character permanently.

When Art, Apple and the Secret Service Collide: ‘People Staring at Computers’

People Staring at Computers

I’ve learned you have to be careful when you get lost in an idea. As an artist, you have to get a little lost. Otherwise you won’t discover anything interesting. But you have to avoid getting so lost that you’re unable to walk away and keep exploring. This isn’t to say artists should avoid things just because they’re illegal — one of our most important responsibilities is to challenge every kind of social norm. But I would advocate balance. Even if you’re operating in a legal gray zone, it’s essential to spend time reflecting on your own ethical boundaries, and considering the ramifications of your actions.

via When Art, Apple and the Secret Service Collide: 'People Staring at Computers' | Threat Level | Wired.com.

In New York Sanitation Dept. Garage, an Art Gallery

In New York Sanitation Dept. Garage, an Art Gallery - NYTimes.com

Mr. Molina, 58, a lifelong New Yorker and a sanitation worker since 1981, began collecting pictures and trinkets along his route about 20 years ago, he said, to brighten up his corner of the garage locker room. Gradually, his colleagues on East 99th Street began to contribute, gathering up discarded gems they thought he might enjoy. As the collection grew, word spread, and workers from other boroughs started to drop off contributions from time to time. Next, building superintendents along Mr. Molina’s route started putting things aside they thought he could use.

In New York Sanitation Dept. Garage, an Art Gallery

Prince Holds The Katamari On His Shoulders

Prince Holds The Katamari On His Shoulders

This was for my sculpture 1 class at the Academy of Art University over in SF. we were to make a sculpture in wax to be cast into bronze. The topic of katamari damacy came up with a friend and i decided i might wanna do something in that theme… but then again i also wanted to make an Atlas holding the world on his shoulders… so i thought about it and the only logical conclusion is that i should do both!

The sculpture is 9 lbs. of cast bronze, 8″ tall, with a liver of sulfur cold patina base on both pieces and then a cupric hot patina on the Prince. the Katamari is designed to balance on the back/arms of the Prince so the two pieces are not welded together (this was an aesthetic choice because it’s really cool holding the ball on its own and also i wanted to make sure the patina on both was distinctly separate). the Katamari was cast hollow with one bump missing which was then welded on later.

What is the Katamari Damacy? Only the trippiest and most awesome game for Playstation 2, where you have a sticky ball and you have to roll larger and larger things. All of this is to fix the damage the King of All Cosmos‘ created after a night of binge drinking which wiped out all the stars from the sky. The King, who is dissatisfied with his 5-cm-tall son’s small size, charges the Prince to go to Earth with a “katamari”—a magical ball that allows anything smaller than it to stick to it and make it grow to collect enough material to recreate the stars and constellations. If you play long enough The Prince is successful, and the sky is returned to normal, but the Earth is destroyed.

Like I said, it is pretty awesome and hypnotizing game.

See more photos of the Prince Holds The Katamari On His Shoulders.

prince holds the katamari on his shoulders

prince holds the katamari on his shoulders