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Cloudscapes

Tetsuo Kondo Architects teamed up with a German climate engineering firm called Transsolar to create this, an indoor atmosphere complete with clouds. They managed this feat by pumping three layers of air into the room: “cool dry air at the bottom that keeps the cloud floating, hot humid air in the middle to fashion a dense fog and hot dry air at the top.” The project’s creators also decided to include a circular ramp so visitors can walk through the clouds above them. This reminds me of Damien Hirst‘s claim that someday he would find a way to create an indoor rainbow in a gallery (I’m not sure he’s been able to pull it off yet). Either way, it’s pretty amazing how much this indoor atmosphere changes the room’s perceived size.

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“You are Still Alive” Billboard

Steve Lambert was just one of the artists who were included in the 2010 Art Moves Billboard Festival in Torun, Poland. His work, titled “You are Still Alive” is a tongue-in-cheek interpretation of motivational imagery. The photograph is fantastic and seems to draw my attention more than the billboard itself. It seems like the outcome is a little different when billboards are used to hold an exhibition instead of used in their original locations to a non-commercial end–like our previous …and then the city billboard project. Even though I enjoy the idea of a billboard exhibition, somehow I feel this specific work would make more of an impact in a busy urban center.

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12 Container House

This house, made of 12 shipping containers, is included in Han Slawik’s book Container Atlas. I’m sure most people have heard of the concept of container houses in passing, but haven’t had the chance to see a successful example in detail. This particular example is pretty lavish, but the idea of using recycled structures as a shell for a home is a brilliant example of an alternative–and pretty sustainable–building technique. According to the book, this method has also been used for public buildings and small offices.

Via: We Make Money, Not Art

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‘M’ore Letter-Making

As you can see from a post we made a few days ago, we’ve been working on constructing a large-scale cardboard text statement. My job over the weekend was to re-do the first 3D letter we made–we made the letter ‘m’ too small horizontally and didn’t want it to be prone to falling over when someone sneezed next to it. This was my first time constructing a full letter, so I had to teach myself the ropes.

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Casino Luxembourg: This is Not a Casino

I recently came across some documentation of a visual arts exhibit at Casino Luxembourg called, in English, “This is Not a Casino.” The show features a plethora of sculptural and installation work that seemingly plays games with the viewer/participant.

For instance, the above image is a pool table that could never be used as such. Also included in the exhibit are a trampoline with no room for a person to jump and a basketball net with an almost endless veil of a net attached to the rim.

I really enjoy work like this, work that mocks those who think that art exhibits should be superficially gratifying and easy to digest.

Via: We Make Money, Not Art

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Numen/For Use’s Tape Installation

Ever wonder what 530 rolls of self-adhesive tape would look like if you used it to create a spiderweb? It would probably look much like Numen/For Use‘s Tape Installation in Odeon, Vienna. While I always appreciate projects that are so ambitious and visually stunning, I’m growing wary of excessive waste. Clear packing tape is, for the most part, not recyclable (due to its adhesive) and using 530 rolls for a temporary project is a bit tough for me to grasp.

While I don’t mean to sound like a worrier, I’m just concerned about projects that are so overwhelming to the viewer that he or she can’t stop for a minute to think about the implications of production. We (BCL) have used plastic products in some of our projects in the past, but questions about waste were usually addressed. The most I can hope for is that artists keep asking these important questions when they decide to take refined materials and transform them.

There are a couple of images of this massive installation after the jump.

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Christian Boltanski’s No Man’s Land

Have you ever sat back and contemplated how much ‘stuff’ you use on a weekly, even daily basis? Do you consider clothing to be items of utility or a means to show others what type of person you are? These are a couple of the questions I imagine Christian Boltanski is trying to address with his work No Man’s Land. “This sprawling piece is centered around a 30-ton mass of clothes that is picked up and dropped — in an act of abject futility — by a massive, industrial crane. All around are tidy squares of used clothing, illuminated by harsh fluorescent lights. […] The dire industrial backdrop keeps things suitably grim.” There is a strong message of life and death here also.

Via: C-Monster

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Postopolis!

Imagine a marathon of idea sharing. Now imagine this marathon was held on the roof of a skyscraper in Los Angeles. This is basically the idea behind Postopolis. “It is a public five-day session of near-continuous conversation curated by some of the world’s most prominent bloggers from the fields of architecture, art, urbanism, landscape, music and design.” What if we were able to host an event of this size on a Windsor roof? I think the unconventional location of an event like this probably breaks people out of familiarity and keeps their minds thinking creatively. For this reason, I think more creative events should be held in odd locations.

Via We Make Money, Not Art

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2 Million &1AD

Let’s get this out of the way: I am a sucker for scientific art, period. This particular work, a fossilization machine, was created for the Tatton Biennial by Austin Houldsworth. He is attempting to use this machine to create fossils in a matter of months, a process that usually takes thousands of years and requires specific circumstances to be present. According to his project description, “the project starts with the attempt to petrify both a Tatton-grown pineapple and pheasant, and conclude when it is a human that ends up fossilised.”

Via: We Make Money, Not Art

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Reverse Graffiti in South Africa

We’ve tossed around the idea of engaging in some form of reverse graffiti in Windsor for quite a while now. I assume there must be a few Windsor buildings dirty enough for a nice contrast-heavy design. Any suggestions? I think the Hiram Walker storage facilities near Russel Woods are covered with a black residue, but the premises are private and probably inaccessible. Apparently there are no laws prohibiting reverse graffiti in this part of South Africa. I wonder if we have any? I’d like to find out!

Via: The Center for Sustainable Practice in the Arts