The lates newsletter of the MUG - Manhattan Users Guide featured the best looking recycling bin I have seen to date. The Interior Architect and Designer, Gianluca Soldi, has always been in touch with the environment and has designed the
Art & Design
September 20, 2010
February 05, 2010
El Anatsui - an artists profile
El Anatsui was born 1944 in Ghana - the youngest of his father's 32 children.
When I entered last year's Armory Show in New York City I was welcomed by this huge wall-hugging art installation. Upon further inspection I realized I looked at flattened bottle caps.
I found this great description on www.nmafa.si.edu: "...Throughout his career Ghanaian artist El Anatsui has experimented with a variety of media, including wood, ceramics and paint. Most recently, he has focused on discarded metal objects, hundreds or even thousands of which are joined together to create truly remarkable works of art. Anatsui indicates that the word gawu (derived from Ewe, his native language) has several potential meanings, including "metal" and "a fashioned cloak." The term, therefore, manages to encapsulate the medium, process and format of the works on view, reflecting the artist's transformation of discarded materials into objects of striking beauty and originality.The metal fragments that constitute the raw material of Anatsui's work have had a profound impact on the West African societies that use, reuse and finally discard them. Several of his metal "cloths" are constructed with aluminum wrappings from the tops of bottles that once contained spirits from local distilleries. The three-dimensional sculptures are made of the discarded tops of evaporated milk tins, rusty metal graters and old printing plates, all gathered in and around Nsukka, Nigeria, where the artist has lived and worked for the last 28 years..."
Learn more about El Anatsui on: http://www.nmafa.si.edu
August 11, 2009
Paul Jacobsen - The Final Record of the Last Moment of History
Paul Jacobsen, an American artist, paints prestine scenes of lush meadows and soaring mountains. Well, that would not be worth mentioning - would it? What makes Paul Jacobsen's art so amazing is that some of his oil paintings are interspersed with massive piles of garbage, while others depict naked people dancing in the meadows.
August 04, 2009
Cape Farewell - an art project
CapeFarewell.com
is a total environmental project devised by David Buckland which
cumulates in a sailing voyage north of the arctic circle, featured live
on the internet.
Since 2001 David Buckland has brought together artists, scientists, and educators to the Arctic. Over several trips the artist has chronicled the receding of the region's ice in documentary films and photographs.
More info at www.capefarewell.com
August 01, 2009
SHOWstudio - WONDERLAND
Filmed by Nick Knight and with a soundtrack of Professor Helen Storey intoning scientific formula as fitting backdrop, this filmic finale to the 'Wonderland' project documents the aquatic aerobics of Helen's collection in the last stage of its life. With the clothes literally peeling from her body as the remarkable biodegradable polymers react against their submerged state, watch as model Alice Dellal twists and turns through her underwater ballet and Helen's creations ultimately surrender to their watery grave.
July 09, 2009
Beecan Butterflies by Paul Villinski
At one of my recent visits to the MAD Museum of Arts and Design in NYC I was quite amazed by Paul Villinski's delicate work "My Back Pages". The installation included vintage vinyl records, a record player, wire and record covers. Vinyls in the shape of butterflies made their way up the wall in a rather delicate arrangement, almost like tunes coming out of the player itself. Paul Villinski's work focuses on reusing products. Another fav of mine is the found beercan butterfly.
This is the artist statement on Beercan Butterflies:
"...Who leaves these crushed beer cans – forlorn evidence scattered in the
streets of the city? I take these “dead soldiers” – every one of them
once raised to someone’s lips – and breathe new life into them,
changing them into images that suggest the possibility of change
itself. A kind of conceptual unity develops between materials, process
and imagery: my practice in the studio mimics the act of transformation
that butterflies symbolize everywhere, in all cultures...."
Learn more about Paul Villinski
December 16, 2008
Greener Gadgets Conference
This year's Greener Gadgets Conference will take place on February 27, 2009 in New York City. As part of the event, Greener Gadgets has once again partnered with Core77 to generate outstanding design innovations for greener electronics. This design competition challenges established design firms, emerging designers, and design students to come up with new and innovative solutions to address the issues of energy, carbon footprint, health and toxicity, new materials, product lifecycle, and social development. The top 50 entries will be published on the web for voting and commenting, and top finalists will be showcased live at the Greener Gadgets Conference for judging by an expert panel. Awards will be given out at the end of the conference program, and winners will be showcased on Core77.com, GreenerGadgets.com, CE.org, and Inhabitat.com.
September 21, 2008
Buckminster Fuller
"Starting with the Universe" a retrospective at the Whitney Museum of American Art.
R. Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983), one of the twenties century's first truly cross-discilinary thinkers, explored a wide range of fields, including mathematics, engineering, environmental science, philosophy, architecture, and visual art, in his attempt to discover what one person could do to best serve the needs of humanity. Image this: the first energy-efficient car - called Dymaxion Car - was invented in 1933. Fuller also suggested transforming metal grain bins as well as airplane machinery into aluminum houses. He calculated that the heating bills would be 1/3rd compared to regular built houses. This was an inspiring, educational show of his life put together by Jennie Goldstein, senior curatorial assistant at the Whitney Museum in New York City. Learn more about the life of this true American genius: www.bfi.org
August 14, 2008
Academy of Science, CA
Did you know that strawberries grow on the roof of the Academy of Science in San Francisco? There are an astonishing 1.7 million plants on the academy's living roof, which not only helps to insulate the building, but also provides for the cafe and restaurant. Architect Renzo Piano turned the museum into one of the largest public buildings that received the LEED certifications.
This is is an event you should not miss: Doors open September 27, 2008
Acaemy of Science, 875 Howard Street, San Francisco, CA 94103, Tel: (415) 321-8116
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