Elementary and middle school artists verify that the Fourth Plinth has become a curator's game, not artistic excellence. Check out the more than 100o art ideas for the 4th Plinth by British children. Many of them are more artistic and conceptually interesting the actual artists selected for the 4th Plinth. These conceptual games just run out of interest. The artist has become an generic idea … [Read more...]
More Joy: Pita and Bloom
I am tracking "Joy", an emotion I don't understand, but see in others. Perhaps Pita and Bloom wants Beauty as a more high-minded ambition. Joy is the better objective. Here is the another joy. http://www.architectmagazine.com/architects/florencia-pita-and-jackilin-hah-bloom_o.aspx [contextly_auto_sidebar id="oSSJjCSPY2xo2uFq1w6MipIxeMwc4WYf"] … [Read more...]
Bring me your Ladders! Charlie Brouwer makes Art
Since he turned 60 in 2006, America artist Charlie Brouwer has become popular in the Carolinas and Virginia for "Rise Up". He asks for donations from the garage, basement or truck. The old ladders of the handy man, the working man and grandpa touch my heart. The ladders are spotted with paint, chipped, dented and a slightly broken - but "darn good" for cleaning the gutters. Thanks … [Read more...]
Ian Strange cut up earthquake condemned single family homes in Christchurch, NZ
In what could be called "Matta-Clark lite", artist Ian Strange (or Kid Zoom) got permission to cut-up and light up single family homes condemned to demolition after the massive earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand. Strange's new work has been added to the Aesthetic Ground's post on Single Family Houses. Ian Strange has buried a house in … [Read more...]
Bruening: Part of the “New Joy” movement in Public Art
We are deep into it: The New Joy Movement. Like the Pharrell Williams "Happy" song and 24 hour video, we are firmly into a new time of pleasure in public art. Olaf Bruening is part of the movement. [contextly_auto_sidebar id="EFCCdL5aXtap49n9UC5Vs8nVczF2pTAM"] … [Read more...]
Design-Build Weekends: Vermont, Germany, UK and Arizona
Looking for a little hands-on, artistic rejuvenation. Try Studio in the Woods in the British countryside for only £165 in July. Or the 72-Hour Urban Action in Germany's Ruhr Valley in July. Other collaborative Design-Build workshop options include Yestermorrow in Vermont, USA and Arcosanti north of Phoenix, USA. Both year round. Yestermorrow is $350 for a weekend and $875 for week. … [Read more...]
Public Artists earn $37,000 annually in England
IXIA Public Art Online in Britain has just completed its third annual survey of public art. A few interesting facts. Number of Projects in England: 900 England averaged 20 public art projects per million people. Popular Art Forms: Social engaged practice and festivals with public art are growing fast with local agencies, and art in architecture remains strong. Large permanent and … [Read more...]
Studio Weave: Thank you for your Work and Words
I must have been a sleep to not notice Studio Weave and its directors Je Ahn and Maria Smith. Read this... The statement could be crap. But the work proves it is not. At Studio Weave, we are fascinated by the powerful role that stories play in creating a sense of place, both as a design tool and a way to engage with everyone surrounding a project including clients, consultants and users, both … [Read more...]
Improve “Memory Wound” for the Norwegian massacre
Norwegians select "Memory Wound" by artist Jonas Dahlberg. The 43-year-old artist has sliced a three-and-a-half-metre-wide slit into the Sørbråten peninsula, which faces the island of Utøya where Anders Behring Breivik killed 69 people in 2011. It marks a "symbolic wound" in the landscape. I like the memorial as a sculptural reminder. Simple metaphor of damage landscaped and damaged nation. … [Read more...]
Dallas Memorials: Kennedy and Police
Never been to Dallas, Texas. Two memorials to learn from: JFK Memorial , 1970, by Philip Johnson and the Dallas Police Memorial by Ed Baum. Both are under-successful works of architects caught in transition. Johnson has several quirks such as tiny, tiny experiments with decoration showing a crack in his modernist faith. He raises the walls to show the feet and calves of visitors inside the … [Read more...]
Funny Pavilions in Shanghai
A certain ugliness of architectural work has emerged in China. Ugliness is normally made by long-term neglect or the original laziness by the designer. But many architects of all nationalities in working in China seem to be working on a style based on a quasi-organic "flow" and plastic injection toy manufacturing. Perhaps I am just out-of-date. Glenn Weiss "Living in urban surroundings … [Read more...]
Does Parody Strengthen the Original Work: Carl Andre vs Jordan McKenzie
When the silly artist makes childish fun of a great artist, does it strengthen the memories and thoughts regarding the great artist? In summer 2013, Jordan McKenzie’s performance Carl An(t)dre introduced 20 young people dressed as ants, accompanied by a marching band, promenading through Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s historic landscape creating structures inspired by Carl Andre’s infamous brick … [Read more...]