When I first watched this video of Daniel Franke & Cedric Kiefer’s soundsculpture project, I was fascinated and watched it again several times.
Not for me to try to breakdown to you how this is done as it is quite complex. I’ll invite you to read the complete explanation from Creative Applications Network. In short, you are looking at a moving sand sculpture from the recorded motion data of a real person.
Take two thing a large number of us have manipulated once in their lives: LEGO and chalk. Take it further and create something too amazing for not writing something up about it. Dutchman Peter Westerink and a few other helping hands must have astonished a few by-passers with their 100m2 3D creation depicting a army of LEGO men Terracotta style.
You will see below, pictures showing the steps these guys has to go through. Oh and did I mention that it took 6 full days to a crew of four artists (Leon Keer, who also came up with the design, Remko Van Schaik, Ruben Poncia and Peter Westerink) to get this leaped out if the concrete floor. No surprise that the Sarasota Chalk Festival in Florida was chosen, imagine doing that at Glastonbury festival where it is very likely to rain and wash out a pile of efforts.
A grid is first laid out using chalk, then painted over with white paint before being removed and a mammoth task begins: filling.
Peter and his crew (and many other artists) are part of Planet Streetpainting is a collaborative of international street painters
There is still time to go and see Artcrank “A poster party for bike people” in Hoxton where cycling is broken down into art under the form of posters. Yes you heard me you hipsters, this is the place YOU HAVE to be so hurry and enjoy illustrations from international artists such as Dark Star Brewing, Pista Collective, Lezyne and Otesha Project UK to feature bike-inspired poster art by UK artists.
Admission is free, and limited edition, signed and numbered copies of all posters will be available for £30 each. We have included some pf our favorite posters below
What – Artcrank “A poster party for bike people”
Where – Plain Wall Projects in Hoxton | 2A Corsham St Shoreditch, London Borough of Hackney, London N1 6DP, UK
When – 7 till 14th September 2012
Jota Leal was born in a humble little town in eastern Venezuela, in the mid-eighties. He began drawing and painting at a very young age, and never studied fine art. He attempted to sit in class as a child of six, but ran away after being forced to paint plastic fruit and empty bottles.
Jota’s style results in a synergy of remarkable painting skill and a probing sense of the subject’s soul, and often tweaked with a remarkable sense of humor. Leal works with pencil on paper, acrylic on board, and acrylic on canvas to achieve his amazing images.
Jota Leal from Venezuela probes the subconscious, showing that depth can be shown with humor and whimsy. — Juxtapoz Magazine
A LATVIAN artist, who’s work can be found in a number of European locations, has been revealed as the person responsible for the two giant pirate murals that have recently appeared on an iconic landmark, on the North Wales Coastline.
The two pirate-like characters seemed to appear overnight, earlier this month, on the side of The Fun Ship, formally The Duke Of Lancaster, which has become a well-known landmark in Llanerch-y-Mor, near Mostyn. It has now been confirmed that they are the work of KIWIE, a street artist from Latvia.
The artwork appears to be orchestrated by a group calling themselves Dudug, who have set up a website reporting on the works. Shortly after the murals appeared on the 17th August, a You Tube video was posted on their site.
The video depicts the work being done illegally at night; however a new video has since been added to the website, revealing the original version to be a spoof. The intricate artworks did in fact take a number of days to complete, and was done under the watchful supervision of site security, which remains 24 x 7 at The Duke.
The painted characters, also known by the term KIWIES, are each 9 metres in height making them the biggest works ever created by the artist. They also include some key details about the Duke’s history in their design – with the year the ship was built (1956) on the blue pirate’s ear, and the year the ship was docked in Llanerch-y-Mor (10th Aug 1979) on its stomach.
Members of the Duke of Lancaster Appreciation Society (DOLAS) have been so far unable to shed any light on the appearance of the artwork but it appears none of them had any idea the cruise liner was going to be targeted by the street artist. It can also be confirmed that DOLAS and DUDUG operate completely separate from one another.
BLACK DUKE from KIWIE on Vimeo.
I am so glad that the show got extended since although it has been on all summer, I did not manage to go down before last week end. I meant to go for ages but busy was my schedule or was it really? I don’t know but now I went and came across artists I need to tell you about.
I have to point out before I get going that the dude behind the mac was well a dude, but not engaging for a bit when I tried to talk to him. Shame but lucky enough that the line up of art is so worth it that I got distracted quickly enough to actually liked the dude, let me mention though that photographs aren’t allowed – meh, but this show has got some substance.
My first distraction took me to look at Joe Black’s work from the UK and in particular his “made in China” large piece made of little soldiers toys put together and painted so when you look from far enough, you do not even realise what is made of. Great “trompe l’oeil” technique that is. Choose the right coloured soldier and when needed, apply a very generous stroke of black or white and the whole thing is visually pleasant to the eye.
I will then mention here “Miss Bugs” series of paintings which are most definitely what I enjoyed the most but which only made to the wall of the gallery that most people would miss. Great mixed medias (mainly acrylics) pieces such as “Silence” – See below
Two more artists I need to mention are Finn Stone and Ryan Hadley. Respectively, a great sculptor artist with a few great pieces scattered around the venue. Who wouldn’t fall in love with his “Voodo child”? Then you get Ryan Hadley and his amazing stencil like piece made from a rusty plate – I wish I could show you a picture of it but unlike the dude said “All works are on the website”, I could not find that piece, not even on Ryan Hadley’s website. As a result, I’ll mention the work from Bomk entitled “La limite”, a complete surreal encounter.
Whatever the dude is all about, he’s got a fine collection of must-see artists works so go and get a peak at this show which runs until the 30th September 2011.
The APART 2011 London Summer Show
55-57 Great Marlborough Street, W1F 7JX
35 artists got together for this exhibition held in this very good venue situated right on Malborough street (w1).
Watch the video of the show or even better, get yourself down there, the show has just been extended until the 31/9/2011.
Where – 55-57 Great Marlborough St, London W1F 7JX
No need to say much. Just look at this outstanding piece from Nevercrew in Rochester, New-York
Boom.
German artist MadABC has opened her show at Pure Evil gallery tonight in London. This coincides with the launch of her book – “Street Fonts – graffiti alphabets from around the world”. You can buy this book here on Amazon.
The work on display will feature a series of different alphabets on canvas and wall, MadABC is mad about letters. In preparation of the show, she painted a huge alphabet wall of about 5m x 25m Wenlock Road in Hackney which you can see photos (by Marco Prosch) and video of below.
MadABC show runs until the 1st May 2011 at Pure Evil gallery | 108 Leonard street, EC2A 4S, London
Jester Jacques – First of all, how did your interest in art making come about? Were there any specific events or influences in your childhood which swayed you to be more creative?
Novemto Komo – I have always been doodling since I was kid, on the wall of my parent’s room and my room; also sticking stickers I got on the doors all around the house.
I remember when I was in kindergarten and elementary schools, almost every weekend my parents took me to “Ancol art market” to see paintings, sculptures and crafts by local artists. We got our family portrait from one of the artist there using paper cut, and when my sister and brother were born, we also get their portrait done by the same artist. I also participated a lot in kids drawing competition and some of them came out top 3.
I also remember saw a painting by Ford Madox Brown, titled “Take Your Son, Sir!” in a book and I was finally able to see it in real a year ago in Tate Britain.
JJ – You were born in Indonesia. Does any of the culture seep into your work, even though you live in the UK?
NK – It does influence me a lot. There is so many social issues going on in Indonesia that kind of influence my way of thinking when developing the idea.
Also, the diversity of animals in Indonesia can be seen on most of my artwork lately. A lot of animals in Indonesia are very rare now and a lot are in risk of extinct.
JJ – Where did you study Fine Art and do you think it helped in your career as a visual artist? In what ways?
NK – I never studied Fine Art, I was trained as multimedia designer which lead to my first job as a junior flash developer. Then as time went on, I got more jobs doing illustration which carried me into doing more hand drawing/illustration. I got more into painting when I took my master in graphic design in 2010 at Newcastle where I had a lot of spare time to practice and develop my skills.
JJ – What is your fascination with animals? And anthropomorphising them?
NK- I started using animal a lot in my artworks as they are part of our life. They are also very attractive subjects because they are beautiful. I believe every human has their wild side which I interpret through animals.
I also want to bring awareness to people about animal extinction, especially caused by poachers and hunter. I’ve followed and joined a hunter online forum and feel sad every time I see them posted photos of animal they killed proudly.
JJ – How do you get inspired?
NK – I get inspired from many things; news, people around me and their relationship towards each other. A lot of time I got inspiration by talking with strangers or random people. I visit Stolen Space Gallery a lot and Signal Gallery. I guess I get a lot of inspiration from street art around the world and there are so much of it in London created by international artists. To name a few, Faith47, Remi Rough, and Anthony Lister.
JJ – In your painting ‘Worst thing of Screaming,’ there is a feeling of pop art in there; the Lichtenstein type of shapes. Tell us more about that particular painting, as it stands out to me in your most recent body of paintings.
NK – The starting point of that painting was based on an idea of relationships. There are many situations where no one listens to you even when you scream out loud and sometimes it make you scream even louder, which end up make you feel like a freak show.
JJ – You do commercial work as an illustrator. What do you enjoy doing more – that, or your personal work? Is there an overlap in ideas and style, or do you try and keep them separated?
NK – I always try to separate the idea and style between them, but I have to admit sometimes there’s a mix in some of them.
JJ – Your work has a collage feel to it. How do you begin a new piece? Do you actually cut and paste, or just play with objects and figures as you go along?
NK – I never thought my work has a collage feel but I heard some people said that they thought my work was a collage, especially “escape the game.” I guess I just play with objects, figures and imaginations to visualise my idea into a painting. Many times when I’m in the middle of painting, I come out with some graphic elements that I can incorporate with and I just play around with it.
JJ – Do you have any exhibitions or projects/events coming up which we should look out for?
NK – The exhibition that I confirm at the moment is in December but I am doing another live art on the Tuesday the 24th this month during Jam Sandwich at The Russet Cafe. It is a monthly music event which I paint live depending on that night performers.
JJ – Finally, what piece of advice would you give young artists who want to pursue visual/fine arts?
NK – If you’re happy doing it, keep doing it as you never know what might happen.
Related links
Artist Website: http://novemtokomo.com
Jester Jacques Website: http://www.jesterjacquesgallery.co.uk
