The post Nature of Things: Norway Taken Over by Sentient Objects first appeared on Dornob.

The post The Ice House: Crazy Crystal-Covered, Fully-Frozen Home first appeared on Dornob.

“We hope this will be a really empowering experience for people to start to see their world differently, see themselves differently, and understand how the types of skills that spies use can be relevant to their daily lives,” says Shelby Prichard, SPYSCAPE’s Chief of Staff. “We show how the world of espionage is all around you.”

Adjaye Associates consulted former members of renowned hacking collectives, station chiefs, and intelligence directors when designing the museum. The goal was to have visitors catch on to its mysterious atmosphere as soon as they walked through the door. The resulting space boasts a highly futuristic aesthetic, as characterized by dark concrete walls, polished concrete floors, dim rooms illuminated by LED lighting, and high-tech information displays. Smaller interior features like weathering steel drums, smoked glass, gray acoustic paneling, and mirror-polished steel only serve to further connect patrons with their inner undercover agents as they explore the various exhibits.

The museum has been open to the public since February 17th, 2018. Upon arrival, visitors are handed “identity bands,” digital wristbands that allow patrons to take part in a series of interactive, multisensory challenges meant to put their spy skills to the test. Once the tour is complete, the crowd is moved to the debriefing room, where everyone is given an assessment on which of ten total spy roles they would be best suited for.
“We worked for a couple of years on our profiling system with [a] former head of training for British intelligence, as well as some top industrial psychologists,” explains Prichard. “So it really is a very authentic look at how the spy world thinks about what it takes to be different types of spies.”

Before players are given their respective spy roles, they’ll watch a briefing on secret intelligence in the central theater. From there, they’ll move to an interrogation booth, where they’ll “learn the art and science of spotting lies,” and a room filled with 360-degree projections of both live and pre-recorded CCTV footage, which itself is meant to mimic a surveillance mission. Later on, the visitors’ agility and reaction times will be tested as they creep through a laser tunnel.

Apart from participating in the spy games themselves, guests are also encouraged to peruse a selection of spy gadgets and smart tech in the gift shop. If you’re feeling hungry, you might stop by the museum’s café, where you can enjoy a cup of coffee and a bookshop with over 1,000 rare and first-edition spy books. There are also multiple event spaces on-site, where organizations can host private parties for as many as 600 guests.

Admission currently costs $39 for adults and $32 dollars for children. If you’re planning on visiting, head on over to SPYSCAPE’s official website for more information.

The post SPYSCAPE Museum Invites Patrons to Be Undercover Agents first appeared on Dornob.

What will characterize our own time on Earth? Sadly, it seems like the most enduring thing we’ll leave behind is trillions of plastic particles that will still be present in every corner of the globe 1,000 years from now. London architecture firm Vatraa makes this point in vivid fashion with “The Plastic Monument,” a roughly 21-foot-tall Stonehenge replica standing in a plaza in southern Milan. Winner of National Geographic’s 2019 “Planet or Plastic” design competition, the sculpture is made out of 16,000 recycled plastic bottles.

“Taking the form of a trilithon, one of the oldest forms of structure inherited from our ancestors, the monument draws the attention to the consequences of our actions in the long run, to the fact that what we are doing today might stay on Earth forever,” say the architects. “The installation poses a stark contrast between a single-use, disposable material and the eternity of the trilithon. Made of pressed PET bottle bales — the raw material for the plastic recycling plants – it educates the public into the recycling process by illustrating its first steps, just before the material is shredded, washed, and melted into new bottles.”

Thousands of crushed bottles are held together in three stone slab-like rectangular shapes made of wire mesh, making it clear that the “monument” is made of single-use plastic trash. It sits on two solid steel blocks as a foundation and stands just slightly smaller than the real Stonehenge. That enables it to stand up to strong winds — and be disassembled for display in other cities in the future.

“When we think of what our ancestors left to us, we think of real assets made of brick or stone, like the pyramids, the Colosseum, or Stonehenge,” says Bogdan Rusu, founding partner at Vatraa. “But part of our legacy to the next generation might also be plastic waste…Hundreds of years down the line our great-great-great grandchildren might find disposable plastic items that we just got rid of today because it was so convenient to us.”

If you find that to be a depressing thought, then the monument has done its job. Whether our actual contemporary architectural creations someday become their own “ancient monuments” may not matter. Even if humanity survives the coming climate catastrophe, future generations will likely think of us in terms of the pollution we contributed to the planet rather than our more admirable achievements.

The Plastic Monument will remain on display in Milan until next October, when Vatraa hopes it will embark upon a world tour to spread awareness about the consequences of our collective actions.

The post Plastic Monument: Stonehenge Recreated in Milan Using 16,000 Discarded Bottles first appeared on Dornob.

He created 10,000 original pieces the size of a standard sheet of paper, each with an NFT twin. Each piece was truly unique, as no painting had a single repeated color in its dots. Every artwork was also signed by Hirst, numbered, stamped, watermarked, given a microdot, and included a hologram of the artist’s portrait on the back. Further utilizing modern-day technology for his first NFT project, Hirst fed his favorite song lyrics into an AI-enabled computer program to generate titles for all 10,000 pieces. Standout titles include “Totally gonna sell you,” “Laugh in our faces,” and “None of this mattered.”

The purchasing period began in July 2021. Buyers could opt for the physical or the digital copy of the piece, and the one they didn’t choose would be destroyed. They had a full year (until July 2022) to decide.

Interest in Hirst’s collection boomed for the first month, with 2,036 purchases and over $47 million in sales. However, over the course of the remaining 11 months, the collection’s gimmicky nature lost its shock value, causing floor prices and trading volumes to steadily decline. By the spring of 2022, “crypto winter” hit and sent the NFT market into a nosedive.

In the end, buyers were fairly evenly split. “The final numbers are: 5,149 physicals and 4,851 NFTs (meaning I will have to burn 4,851 corresponding physical Tenders),” Hirst wrote on Twitter, beneath a photo of himself despondently laying prostrate over boxes of his artwork.

That same day, Hirst also tweeted: “I have no idea what the future holds, whether the NFTs or physicals are going to be more valuable or less. But that is art! The fun, part of the journey, and maybe the point of the whole project. Even after one year, I feel the journey is just beginning.”

Partnering with HENI, Hirst put the pieces on display at London’s Newport Street Gallery from September 9th to October 31st. Everyday for an hour, the physical counterparts of purchased NFTs would be thrown into a fireplace for visitors to watch. The remainder were all burned simultaneously at the close of the show.

Public reception for the show was mixed. Artist Roy Tyson, known as Roy’s People, snatched up the tangible piece #4,967 entitled “What Am I To Know,” opting instead to destroy the NFT version. He says: “I’m a big fan of Hirst and I love the way he pushes the boundaries and doesn’t answer to anyone, doesn’t really sort of stick to any old-fashioned rules of the art world.”

On the other hand, detractors see “The Currency” as a shameless commercial ploy. Art critic Florence Hallett wrote in Britain’s i paper that the collection is “rather like a small child dangling teddy over the lavatory in a bid for the upper hand — only with considerably less sincerity and stupendous amounts of money.”

In his early days, Hirst himself said “I can’t wait to get into a position to make really bad art and get away with it. At the moment if I did certain things people would look at it, consider it ,and then say ‘f off’. But after a while you can get away with things.”

Known not only for his spots, but his art of taxidermized dead animals, Hirst is considered the richest living British artist today. More of his work can be viewed on his Instagram account.

The post Artist Damien Hirst Burns Physical Copies of His NFTs first appeared on Dornob.

The pieces are designed to be experienced in conversation with the city of Vierzon, where they each present a conversation with its past, present, inhabitants, and dreams for the future. Integrated within the landscapes of everyday life, the exhibition is divided into four themes: “The Utopia of Territories,” “The Third Feminism,” “Subversive Tenderness,” and “The World Built by Women.” The latter is a parallel exhibition bringing together three French collections (Centre Pompidou, Cité de l’architecture et du patrimoine, and FRAC Centre-Val de Loire) exploring the works produced by women architects.

The Biennale’s website explains: “The concept of ‘feminist democracy’ that we borrow from author Marie-Cécile Naves gives rise to several questions that lie at the heart of the Biennale: which cities and urbanism programs are devised by and for women? How can their productions emerge from their invisibility? What interpretation of the history of the arts can be seen through the lens of feminisms?”

“Entitled Infinite Freedom, A World for a Feminist Democracy and dedicated to the exclusive invitation of around fifty women artists and architects, the 2022 Biennale of FRAC Centre-Val de Loire is primarily intended as a festival geared towards a new imaginary founded on equality, in which various social, militant, and artistic readings cohabitate, with a view to instilling a new kind of common sense.”

The Utopia of Territories consists of works highlighting new dynamics of participatory democracy, such as women’s marches, set within highly visible urban locations in Vierzon. “While the geography of gender has demonstrated that urban space is a sexed territory where women have always maintained complex relationships with the city, this Biennale is intended as a site of symbolic appropriation,” the organizers explain.

The Third Feminism explores ways in which feminism can maintain its diversity and its heritage of participation in political, social, and anti-colonial struggles as interpreted through art. The organizers add “If this Biennale wants to overcome its singular relationship to the history of art and to use the concept of feminist democracy to update the interpretation of the discipline, it therefore needs to question the new practices of equitable citizenry, the role of women in the creation of cities and territories, while taking into account the specific history of Vierzonnaises.”

Subversive Tenderness focuses on “the contemporary alternative to the modernist avant-garde,” defining tenderness as the juncture between nature and culture. To subvert that is to flip it on its head with an exhibition that “occasionally makes us pay a visit to some of the beings that we refuse to look at. At other times, it reminds us of our recurring temptations to contain freedoms, or twist bodies to injure them. Especially those of women.”

The 2022 Biennale of FRAC is on display through January 1st, 2023, and a map of the public works can be found on the FRAC Centre-Val de Loire website.

The post 55 Women Artists Showcased in the Exhibit “Infinite Freedom, A World for Feminist Democracy” first appeared on Dornob.

Nomura’s latest exhibition, “Life Through Holes,” showcases her unusual artistic method at Hibiya OKUROJI for the 2022 edition of DESIGNART Tokyo. Consisting of a refrigerator, a dining table with four chairs, and an assortment of associated objects, the works obscure the seemingly rigid and artificial qualities of plastic, calling to mind sea creatures, spiderwebs, and other creations of nature. We often think of plastic as a manmade material that’s somehow separate from every other material on Earth, as if it crash-landed here from outer space. But Nomura’s works aim to remind us that it has the same origins as any other material we consider more desirable.

“I was fascinated by the way plastic products that seemed to be inorganic were given a new sense of life by harboring cells of light,” says Nomura. “Petroleum, the raw material of plastic, was born from ancient plankton carcasses under the heat and pressure of the Earth over many years. The act of making a hole is to reveal the origin of this material and reproduce it as a mental landscape.”

“Although the material called plastic is considered to be a disgusting material in terms of environmental problems, the brilliance of these cells of light illuminates the value hidden in our modern lives. What is the true value of materials and where is the true richness of the relationship between things and people in the present age where things are overflowing? As if to keep asking myself that question, I can’t help but keep drilling holes today.”

To create these objects, Nomura works with a soldering iron and an air filter mask, transforming ordinary objects like appliances and household furniture. Everything from disposable utensils to yogurt cups seem like entirely new objects once she’s done with them.

“Life Through Holes” doesn’t change the fact that plastic breaks down into tiny particles that end up in the furthest reaches of our planet, from our own digestive systems to those of creatures lurking in the deepest, darkest corners of the oceans. But it does prompt us to ponder whether we could change how we use this material, and thus, its impact. Are there potential reuses we just haven’t thought of yet? Could the new plastic-digesting bacteria currently under development help plastic re-enter a more natural life cycle?

Nina Nomura was born in Tokyo in 1993 and graduated from the Space Design Program at the Kuwasawa Design School in 2021. She received the MIKIKO award at SICF22 Spiral Aoyama that same year. You can follow her work on her website and on Instagram @_ninanomura.

The post Life Through Holes: Nina Nomura Melts Holes in Plastic to Give It New Life first appeared on Dornob.

The translucent white shingles are counter-weighted and attached to the exterior of an open-air gabled building frame using bolts that allow them to flutter up and down. When the wind blows or rain falls onto the shingles, they move, either slowly or rapidly, all together or in waves. This “shivering” makes the cabin seem like it’s directly responding to the weather conditions.

“She seems to have a personality: sometimes calm when the breeze seems to make her breathe, sometimes angry when the gusts agitate her in all directions…This animal character binds us to her and encourages us to spend time on the spot to observe its constant transformation,” the designers explain.

“It anchors visitors in the present moment. Its movements allow us to see, hear, and feel the wind more acutely. We are also connected to the surrounding trees, whose simultaneous agitation we perceive more clearly. Thus, Shiver House makes us aware of the natural world around us. By anchoring us in the present time and connecting us to nature, this cabin does us good!”

The movement keeps the installation in a constant state of transformation, holding visitors’ attention and hopefully creating a closer emotional link between them and the natural world where the hut is located. The structure builds on the success of previous iterations of Shiver House installed in Finland. This one is designed for longer-term use, and will sit within the park of Louvre-Lens for years to come.

The installation is the result of a collaboration between engineers Elliott Wood, NEON, and Odysee des Cabanes, a project that invites architects, landscape architects, designers, and visual artists to interpret landscapes through specially designed cabins, offering users the possibility of sharing moments of play, relaxation, discovery, or discussion.

NEON artist Viliina Koivisto and architect Mark Nixon founded their studio as a way to encourage playful interaction between art and everyday people. “We empathize and listen to ensure our projects resonate with people who use them,” they say. “We manipulate familiar materials in ways previously unimagined. We design with every sense in mind. We deliver once-in-a-lifetime emotional experiences.”

Inaugurated in 2012, the Louvre-Lens was created as a new off-site museum where an innovative approach to art could be developed from scratch. Located in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais region, the museum was designed by Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa from Japanese architecture studio Sanaa, and its main exhibition space, the Galerie du Temps, houses over 200 artworks on loan from the Louvre in Paris. Additional works like Shiver House V2 are located on its grounds.

The post Shiver House: Animal-Like Kinetic Structure Flutters in Response to Wind and Rain first appeared on Dornob.

“Like air taking shape uniquely within our bodies, our lives, and the world around us, this installation changes shape based on real-time, region-specific data as an abstract representation of how air quality impacts us all differently,” the creators explain.

“This interactive installation encourages its audience to reflect on their personal relationship to air quality both locally and globally. It also evokes a lasting, emotional response for those living with the greatest consequences of air pollution through the shared experience of a simple act — breathing.”

The kinetic structures change shape in response to data from local sensors and global data from an open-source API. Audiences who gather to watch the installations will be instructed to follow the breathing pattern of the structure, breathing in with every expansion and out with every contraction to see what it feels like to breathe the air in a particular location.

They’ll even be able to select a region of interest to control the installation’s movements. A QR code will lead the audience to an educational website offering more information and actions to take in their daily lives to reduce global air pollution.

Atta Society aims to deploy the first edition of the “When Air Takes Shape” installation in summer 2023 at various locations within British Columbia. In the future, they plan to take the installation around the world. Their recent Kickstarter campaign raised 214 percent of their goal with the support of 95 backers. They’ve already created their preliminary designs and prototypes, and the funds raised will be used to construct the final sculptures and deploy them in public.

“Within the current climate emergency, human livelihoods are at stake,” the creators say. “Those in less developed regions are especially vulnerable to environmental crises. As far as our world is from being a collection of isolated utopias, many privileged individuals do not understand the urgency, or possess the knowledge, to act upon climate change.”

“However, our consumption demands can increase the risks of individuals dying from air pollution in other parts of the world. As an alarming example, U.S. consumption is responsible for about 100,000 deaths occurring elsewhere in the world. Of those deaths, about 50 percent occur in China, with another 20 percent occurring elsewhere in Asia. Yet, consumerism persists, paralleled with the exploitation of individuals and the environment.”

The “When Air Takes Shape” project makes air pollution feel more personal, wherever you may live in the world. To follow this project and watch for future exhibitions, follow the Atta Society on Instagram @attasociety and on Facebook.

The post Shapeshifting Sculptures Show the Harsh Reality of Air Pollution first appeared on Dornob.

Newsubstance and the Unboxed crew moved the retired oil rig from its former location in the North Sea to the Somerset coast and transformed it into a new public art installation and visitor experience this summer. It was transported by sea on a barge the size of a football field and then lifted over the seawall by crane and set onto prefabricated legs.

The four-story, 450-tonne rig is set within a shallow pool on the beach. Its top platform hosts the garden, while a 6,000-piece kinetic installation featuring the work of Ivan Black and Trevor Lee shimmers across the front. The vegetation was chosen to stand up to the Atlantic gales and corrosive saltwater sprays. The waterfall, dubbed the “SEE MONSTER’s roar,” recirculates via the pool at the base, and the kinetic art moves along with the wind.

Lee’s installation, WindNest, was designed in collaboration with Land Art Generator initiative and consists of two rotating airborne pods that generate clean energy through wind and solar technologies, powering the irrigation systems for the “Garden Lab” on the upper platform. Black’s installation features 6,000 aluminum tiles representing the “monster’s scales,” fluttering in response to weather conditions. Three drone shows by SKYMAGIC light up the skies above the shores of the town, drawing people in to see the installation after dark.

The creators hope SEE MONSTER will inspire conversations about how our industrial history has shaped our climate (mostly for the worse), and what we can do about it.

“SEE MONSTER is a celebration of how we can use our past to shape our future,” the creators say. “Harnessing renewable energy from the great British weather, this reimagined platform will feature experiments, performances, gardens, and even waterfalls — showcasing local innovation and showing how creativity can challenge and change the status quo.”

“SEE MONSTER is being brought to life on the site of Weston’s iconic Tropicana lido by Leeds-based studio Newsubstance with support from Weston-super-Mare Town Council and North Somerset Council. Throughout the UNBOXED summer, it will stand as a vivid reminder of our shared past — and a symbol of our united journey towards a more sustainable future.”

As for Unboxed’s connection to Brexit, The New York Times explains that the $132 million festival was meant to display the best of British creativity after the nation voted to leave the European Union. It’s now being investigated as a “waste of money” by the government’s spending watchdog. The festival has attracted 238,000 visitors since it opened in March; organizers had predicted it would draw up to 66 million people from then until its closure in November.

The post An Abandoned Oil Rig Became a Massive Art Installation in England This Summer first appeared on Dornob.

Created by artists Ella and Nicki, Hugh Broughton Architects, Professor Lucy Berthoud, Dr. Bob Myhill, PEARCE+, and public input, Mars House features an inflatable gold foil structure designed to sit on the surface of the red planet, and a subterranean level beneath it. The prototype is currently on display in the English city of Bristol along with a four-month public program of workshops, events, and research that will ultimately help determine what the interiors of the house look like. For now, it’s just a shell providing space for small research groups to collaborate on projects that help us envision what a future life on Mars could look like.

“The two-story 53-square-meter house is powered by solar panels and designed to be lightweight and withstand the environmental challenges that would be faced on Mars — such as average temperatures of -63 degree Centigrade and exposure to galactic and cosmic radiation,” says PEARCE+ Architects. “The upper level is designed to sit on the Martian landscape and is formed using a pressurized inflatable gold-coated foil, making it lightweight enough to be transported to Mars.”

The architects note that: “in Bristol the foil is filled with air so it can be reused, but on Mars it would be filled with Martian concrete made of regolith (soil) and the water found below the surface, to provide protection from galactic and solar radiation. The house has a glazed elevation, with views towards Bristol’s Princes Wharf standing in for the Martian landscape. Inside, a hydroponic living room is designed to surround occupants with plants to aid relaxation. This will feed into a circular waste water system linking the plants with the ablutions and kitchen water systems.”

The entirety of the structure can currently be seen above-ground in the Martian House’s Bristol location, so we can imagine what the underground portion would look like as well. This area would occupy lava tubes that naturally exist beneath the surface of Mars, protecting inhabitants from high levels of radiation. It contains an environmental control room that houses all life support systems for the house, two tiny bedroom pods, a shower, and a low-water “Martian loo.”

All those who interact with the project in person will be welcomed to contribute to the design of its interior components, which include everything from furniture and appliances all the way down to toothbrushes. This level of public participation turbo-charges creativity, introducing a wide range of ideas that might just help us figure out real-world solutions for our quest to populate the most promising planet in our solar system. Check out the schedule of events lasting throughout the rest of October here.

The post Building a Martian House: Inflatable Installation Explores the Possibility of Life in Space first appeared on Dornob.

Located in a field outside Stockholm, One Tree Four Seasons is a collaboration between Ulf Mejergren Architects (UMA) and Finnish artist Antti Laitinen. The project encircles a solitary alder tree set on a small hill with a giant nest-like structure, which will be periodically modified to represent the four seasons. The team uses only natural materials they can find in the immediate area to build the installation, making the results seem almost like a natural growth upon the tree.

The first part was completed earlier this year and unveiled in May, displaying the starkness of the leafless tree in the cold winter and early spring seasons. The tree was already surrounded by rocks, thanks to an old agricultural practice involving clearing obstacles from the adjacent fields. The team gathered dead branches and wove them together to form a circular nest that’s open at the top, with a huge round window looking out. Curious passersby will no doubt see the structure and the opening and approach out of curiosity, perhaps climbing inside to discover that the floor is also woven.

In August, the creative team revealed Season II. This time, a new natural material was available for them to work with: hay cut and collected from the fields. Not only did they pack the hay into the woven branch structure to give it more solidity, they crafted it into a slightly curving upper wall that focuses a tight view on the canopy of the tree overhead.

They also integrated a circular hay bench lining the perimeter. Stacked bales became temporary stairs outside the entrance. As such, this enormous nest became an organic concert space. Local string quartet Julikvartetten was invited to conduct a performance inside, playing not to an audience of humans but to the tree itself, and any wildlife that might be nearby. Season III will be underway shortly, and one imagines that it will include some fall leaves, or perhaps corn stalks or other agricultural byproducts from the scene.

The fact that the work looks like a nest calls to mind the architectural works of certain animals and insects, from termite mounds to beaver dams. Structures built by animals can be quite elaborate, blurring the lines between nature and art. Projects like One Tree Four Seasons remind us that we too are animals. Plus, there’s a very particular sense of comfort that comes from building architecture that works with nature instead of against it.

The post Living Tree Converted into a Nest-Like Concert Space in Rural Sweden first appeared on Dornob.

Burning Man came back in a big way after a two-year COVID-induced hiatus. Not only did this year’s event in remote Black Rock City, Nevada draw an incredible 80,000 attendees and end with an epic eight-hour traffic jam, it also featured a record 88 official art installations. This year’s theme was “Waking Dreams,” aimed at “explor[ing] the transformative power of dreams, both literal and figurative, and celebrat[ing] the dreamers who channel this potent energy in eye-opening, often surrealistic, sometimes life-changing ways,” according to the festival’s organizers.

Here are 6 of our favorite works of art from Burning Man 2022:

Empyrean Temple

Every year, one monumental art installation is set ablaze along with the Burning Man effigy. This year, it was “Empyrean Temple” by Laurence Renzo Verbeck and Sylvia Adrienne Lisse, an architectural structure that’s revealed to be a compass rose beacon in the shape of an eight-pointed star when viewed from above. The installation represents “the region just beyond our physical realm that is the highest center of wisdom, and the source of energy-consciousness,” according to the artists. Visitors passed through portal gates and into the “multiverse” of the temple, where numerous navigational choices offer different experiences.

Paradisium

Made of reclaimed lumber and trees burned in the CZU Lighting Complex fire in Santa Cruz, an interactive grove of geometric trees sprouts out of the sand. “Paradisium” by Dave Keane and Folly Builders of San Francisco creates a play of shadows across the desert floor and offers climbable structures and walkways among the canopies. The artists explain that “Paradisium is a grove made out of trees, long fallen, that remind us of the forest’s beauty and our interconnectedness and interdependence with nature, while also fostering a sense of community and an investment in our shared future.”

Gaia

This colossal sculpture by Marco Cochrane and Julia Whitelaw measured 40 feet by 12 feet and was made out of stainless steel rods based on a “flower of life” pattern and covered in stainless steel mesh with LED lighting effects.

“Inspired by and in honor of nurturing energy… mother energy… love and connection: and the joy we feel when we act on the imperative to take care of each other and our planet,” the artists explain. “Julia’s vision for Gaia was inspired by the joy she and her children experienced those times when, as a young mother, she took her children to the beach and watched as they ran, jumped, dug, built castles, bickered, buried each other, and made new friends, and by her own memories of being that child.”

The Museum of No Spectators

Architect John Marx and artist J Abinthia Vermut created this spectacular open-air art gallery challenging the “elitist” nature of typical galleries. The “radically inclusive and interactive museum space” creates a space for everyone to make art and become an exhibiting artist. Located on the edge of Black Rock City, the unusual shaped structure invited guests to create their own art on the spot, contributing directly without gatekeeping.

The artists add: “When participants exit, they find themselves on a stage, the Theater of the Participant, which opens you back up to the vast potential of the Playa and the World beyond. This is the stepping-stone to becoming the change you want to make in the world…”

Catharsis

Point of View

A collaboration between Serge Beaulieu and Yelena Filipchuck, this piece is inspired by embroidery patterns from Filipchuk’s birthplace, Ukraine. “It is not possible for us to think of this year without thinking of her homeland and wanting to represent the beauty and spirit of Ukraine while working through the emotions of this challenging time in our artwork,” the artists explain.

The post 6 Unforgettable Art Installations from Burning Man 2022 first appeared on Dornob.

The corner of the building acts as the face, while the main entrance is now the mouth. The eyes are adorned with enormous blue eyelashes. On either side are two giant arms made of tubular rainbow fabric. Overhead, a second vaguely owl-shaped creature appears to pop up out of the roof, waving its arms. The rest of the facade is covered in a brilliant paint job by Brissonet.

On Instagram, the artist explains that the rainbow arms came from damaged sheets from Delta Hotels. Her father installed the plywood for the windows and helped mouth the puppet mouth, while local artist Philippe St. Denis helped paint, glue, and cut the puppets, and fabricated a rotating mechanism for the head on top to allow it to spin (its nose even twirled!). For the performances, the puppets moved and spoke to a live soundtrack of violins and drums. The theme of the show was digestion, hence the giant mouth.

“Puppet making, painting, laughter, a broken nose, and a concussion, it all happened far so quickly!” says Brissonet. “This project was the definition of a collaborative effort and would have been impossible to do alone. I was so fortunate to have the support of my family, blood and otherwise to help me. This process was so special, but far too short. All this effort for only two 15 minute shows. It felt like the Monks making mandalas out of sand, only to be blown away soon after it was finished. It has taken a minute to digest all of the blood, sweat, and love that went into this piece. My psychic intestines are still full.”

“I love to paint but most of all I love to create an experience, this is where I can reach full satisfaction of my work, when I appreciate interaction and when a piece of art is moving. I’ve always been fascinated by automated marionettes and folk art. I think it is the best art on the planet, especially when it can reach the imagination of children; nothing touches my heart more. This is the beginning of a new era, who knows what dreams can come true? Maybe one day we can transform an entire city into puppets, bringing it to life like never before!”

About Artist Danaé Brissonet

Danae Brissonet is an international artist from Quebec, Canada known for incredible public murals, masks, illustration, and puppetry. Her work is often inspired by colorful folk art from Mexico, Puerto Rico, India, Spain, and Morocco and invites the viewer to consider the power of symbolism, myth, and metaphor.

The post Montreal Puppet Mural Turns a Street Corner into a Ravenous Monster first appeared on Dornob.

Measuring a mile and a half long and nearly half a mile wide, the project is truly astonishing in scale. But what might be even more astonishing is the fact that it’s actually done, especially to those in the art world who thought it would remain an unfinished money-suck for the remainder of Heizer’s life. The 77-year-old artist first broke ground on “City” in 1970, building the first part, “Complex One,” over the following decade with a crew of workers. At first, he paid for it himself, raising the rest of the funds from art institutions and collectors over the ensuing decades. Heizer and a group of supporters also founded the nonprofit Triple Aught Foundation in 1998, which contributed $30 million.

Long enamored with the idea of monumental art, Heizer got the idea for “City” after visiting Egypt with his father. The influence is evident in the structure of Complex One, which resembles that of the stepped pyramid Zoser. The raised earth structures of “Complex Two” are also reminiscent of Egyptian pyramids, as crisp and unblemished as they once must have been. Another monument, called “45°, 90°, 180°,” is made up of rows of huge triangles and rectangles standing on a concrete plaza. They are all in fact modular pieces of what would be a single wedge, if they were ever assembled.

Photographs of the finished project reveal these ancient influences, but also associations that hit a little closer to home. Its shapes and proportions recall those of 20th-century modernist architecture, and taken as a whole, they could almost be seen as future ruins of contemporary society viewed by our distant descendants. It’s a reminder that as a species, we and our creations are simultaneously enduring and fragile. It wouldn’t take long for the desert winds to completely cover our cities in dust after we’ve gone.

Most of “City” consists of natural materials like dirt, rock, and clay sustainably sourced from the Great Basin landscape, in which the piece is set. In 2015, former President Barack Obama designated 700,000 acres of the desert containing and surrounding the project as a national monument, protecting it for future generations.

Not many people will actually get to experience “City” in person. Tickets are limited to six per day, at least for now. Those lucky enough to get their hands on one will have to fly into Alamo, Nevada, where they’ll be picked up and driven to the installation. Once dropped off, they won’t be led on a guided tour or follow any marked paths. The project is meant to be experienced as if you wandered in on foot and roamed around in awe and wonder, having no idea what you’ve found. “I am not here to tell people what it all means,” Heizer told The New York Times. “You can figure it out for yourself.”

The post After 50 Years, Artist Michael Heizer’s Mysterious “City” in the Nevada Desert is Complete first appeared on Dornob.

The mixed-media art installation explores how COVID-19 has impacted children and young adults around the world, expressed through commissioned pieces by composers, songwriters, and poets and recorded by the Young People’s Chorus.

A wide array of art forms come together in this project: video, sculpture, music, film, poetry, and spoken word. 500 singers with the Young People’s Chorus join the 15 composers and songwriters, seven poets, three choreographers, and two filmmakers to bring the stories to life. The exhibition aims to provide a powerful and intimate portrayal of the emotional strength, resilience, and joy these young choristers have faced since the pandemic first began in the spring of 2020.

“It was important to us to help our youth process their emotions — from confusion to fear to hope — through art while allowing listeners and viewers a glimpse into their hearts and minds during this time,” says curator Francisco J. Núñez, artistic director and founder of Young People’s Chorus.

Just like the rest of us, the members of the youth chorus have gone through a whirlwind of emotions throughout the pandemic. Pieces in the exhibit include songs like “Cabin Fever,” expressing what it felt like to suddenly be alone at home with stressed family members and no access to friends and old routines. “My Rainbow in the Window” is about finding small joys even during quarantine. “Power to the People” says “Just because we’re stuck at home doesn’t mean we’re stuck in our minds; just because we can’t hold each other doesn’t mean we stop the smiles. Fifty states protesting together, look at that a strong celebration. They won’t die in vain, we’re gonna fight, it’s time to save our nation.”

Participating artists include composers Samuel Adler, Derek Bermel, Thomas Cabaniss, Paquito D’Rivera, Aneesa Folds, Gordon Getty, Michael Gordon, Michael Harrison, Ted Hearne, Yuka C. Honda, David Lang, Elizabeth Núñez, Francisco J. Núñez, Jim Papoulis, and Paola Prestini. The exhibit is free and open to the public daily at the CIA at Copia, 500 1st St, Napa, California.

“We are thrilled that the public response to our AloneTogether installation at The CIA at Copia has been so positive that we have been asked to extend the exhibit through September,” says Núñez. “AloneTogether is a dynamic multimedia project that will give viewers a powerful and intimate portrayal of the range of emotions YPC choristers faced during the early days of the pandemic, from fear and loneliness to hope and joy. Art has given our youth a powerful vehicle through which they can process these complicated emotions and share them with the world. This is the power and beauty of art and what we do at YPC.”

The post The Young People’s Chorus of New York City Gives Voice to All Our Complicated COVID Emotions first appeared on Dornob.