KAWS COMPANION on holiday in Hong Kong
“COMPANION, a 121-foot-long inflatable sculpture by street artist @KAWS, launched today at Victoria Harbour in Hong Kong. The reclined, monochrome figure is the largest to date for the American artist, with recent previous iterations of the project installed at the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall in Taipei, Taiwan, and on Seokchon Lake in Seoul, South Korea. The figure was purposefully designed to be in a peaceful repose, its crossed-out eyes gazing at the sky above.”
Photo @harimaolee
“I was thinking of all the tension in the world, and I wanted to create work that would make people think about relaxing. And there’s nothing more relaxing than lying on your back in water and looking up at the sky”
Photo by @NK7
Photo @cheukyh
The work was launched by Hong Kong-based creative studio AllRightsReserved for the annual Hong Kong Arts Month, and will continue to occupy the harbor until March 31, 2019
Lee Broom is celebrated as one of United Kingdom’s most successful, theatrical, and respected, lighting designers.
Park Life lighting show by Lee Broom
Lee Broom draws a parallel between the 18th century and present-day social attitudes in his latest lighting installation, Park Life, for Space Furniture.
We’ve been following Lee’s carrier path since his debut on London Design scene more than 10 years ago. Attracted by the way he works with light and materials we can’t skip his recent milestone “a whirlwind tour of the Indo Pacific with Space Furniture, his exclusive retailer in Australia, touching down in Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand“
“And so 2019 marks Lee Broom’s second visit to Australia, and the Park Life installation sees it become an unforgettable moment in time for all”
Park Life draws on the very British history of the Pleasure Garden, at its most popular in the 18th century.
“Conceptually, Park Life draws on the very British history of the Pleasure Garden, at its most popular in the 18th century. According to Lee, they were typically places for the aristocracy and the middle class to see music, art, fashion and dine and drink. Like an architectural display, they were designed with miniature waterways, mazes and pagodas. Although it was a period of high culture they became infamous for facilitating debauchery.” - continue reading on @habitusliving
1UP - Bangkok Ghost Tower ╳ Modeselektor - One United Power
The new guerrilla graffiti work of world famous 1UP street art group becomes an unofficial music video for Modeselektor “One United Power”. The 1UP (@up_crew_official) Crew hit the famous Bangkok Ghost Tower for the third time. In 2011 it was painted for the first time, but it got buffed 3 years later. The Crew had to come back to paint it a second time. 2017 it got buffed again and the crew booked new tickets to Bangkok in 2019
Local Preacher aka Thisset
Russian artist Semeniuta Slava (known us by Digital Decade collaboration) works non-stop creating new visual senses depicting the rise and fall of our digital generation
Santa Fe Opera illustrations by Stuart McReath
London-based illustrator Stuart McReath was commissioned to create posters for new season of Santa Fe Opera
An Uncommon Place by Reuben Wu
We’ve been following Reuben Wu for quite a long time since he started doing his “An Uncommon Place” series including latest Lux Notis, Dreamscapes and Aeroglyph projects.
Western Taiwanese by Mariia Ominina
Mariia is a poster designer from Russia, she works as a digital artist, but mostly creates posters. Also, Mariia is a student of the world-famous poster artist Peter Bankov.
For the past few years, Mariia has traveled and worked extensively in Asia. She explored cultural differences, the reasons for the immigration of Western people who come to live in Asia, and the difficulties they face living in Asian countries.
Mariia's travels and explorations resulted in a three-month solo exhibition entitled "Western Taiwanese", which opened in Dounan City in November 2018. For this exhibition, the artist prepared a series of poster, and also for the first time worked in video art and installation formats.
In her posters, Mariia tried to visually reflect her impression of Yunlin County, where she lived at the time. She used a variety of visual research methods to capture cultural landscapes while creating the style of her posters. For example, she used Google Earth footage for the visuals, and Mariia also worked with local historians in the archives department. Mariia has created a vibrant palette of 6 colors along with a dynamic composition that together reflects the brilliance and quirkiness of Taiwanese nature.
Wang Chia Wei, curator of this exhibition, says Maria's exhibition was a completely new way to see Taiwanese culture. She also added that these posters are more like hokku, where the artist expresses deep meaning in simple words.
Mariia Ominina's project "Wester Taiwanese" is a fresh look at the world of poster art, where the artist expresses herself not through direct visual clues, but via vague images or meanings. Mariia managed to capture the connection between meanings and the visual component in the paradigm of postmodern aesthetics, where the classical "laws" and "norms" in design have ceased to be decisive. Her posters are lively and interesting, plunging into the confluence of new-old art, that borders between meaning and visuality; conceptualism and avant-garde.
FREIGHT
A story of weight within us
Director Sava Zivkovic - “FREIGHT started out as a pitch for a client project. We were tasked with creating a short film that could demonstrate the capabilities of an upcoming real-time ray tracing technology. There were no creative limitations, everything regarding the story or the art direction was left to us, which at time seemed like a dream project finally coming to fruition.
We’ve assembled the core team of longtime friends and collaborators, Milan NIkolic, Nebojsa Jez and myself, and developed the pitch for the project, consisting of the script, character concept art and a detailed previz, as well as some keyframe renders. A pretty strong start for any project. Unfortunately due to many variables the client couldn’t proceed with the project, which left us with a completely developed idea, one that we felt really strongly about, but without client funding to produce it.”
EDITION Hotels ╳ Sila Sveta ╳ Times Square
Robotic art projects and 3-D billboard installations by Sila Sveta are attracting New Yorkers to Times Square
“Times Square is contemporarily known as the one-stop destination for tourists and the one spot New Yorkers avoid with more vigor than jury duty. Legendary Studio 54 founder and luxury hotelier Ian Schrager (@ianschrager), however, is seducing New Yorkers back to the area with the commissioning of two public-facing art projects located on the Jumbotron billboard on the corner of 47th and Broadway in celebration of the opening of The Times Square EDITION (@timessquareedition) “
“We wanted to bring something unforgettable to Times Square and create an iconic moment to mark the opening of The Times Square EDITION. The activations will be unique visual experiences that the public can take part in to celebrate this momentous occasion.”
“The new billboard project features a glowing display of urban media art that fuses classic depictions of art and nature with modern technology. Schrager is collaborating with Sila Sveta, the New York-based multimedia design studio that has produced installations for the MET Gala, to bring back the sophisticated glitz and high romance that Times Square was once known for in the 1940s and 50s. What is now blocks of fast food chains and naked cowboys was once a destination for New Yorkers themselves, lined with nightclubs where one could spin to the sounds of Doo-Wop at the start of the evening then end it with a nightcap accompanied by Frank Sinatra.”
Text by Document Journal (@documentjournal)
“Billboards are an important medium in contemporary public art. We want to augment the architectural environment with these new site specific works for the neighborhood”
Vans Faces by Leo Natsume
“Vans isn’t longer just a skateboarding brand, is become a broader lifestyle brand. The Old Skool and Classic Vans inspired me to create a series of figures that represent this new lifestyle and also explore new principles, organic and geometric shapes that are also associated with the products.”
UCCA Dune
Designed by Open Architecture the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art opened in Qinhuangdao, China. “The curvilinear form of UCCA Dune winds over 930 metres underground, and includes multiple galleries, terraces, and viewing areas.. The decision to bury the museum partially underground was an environmentally conscious one. With the museum designed to sit beneath the dunes, the views of the sea are preserved. Unlike many areas along the sea, the area surrounding UCCA Dune will be safe from development, providing a visual sanctuary for sea views for years to come.” via @Minimalissimomag
Pokras Lampas ╳ DLT
World leading calligraphy artist Pokras Lampas breaks fashion frontiers with his new capsule collection made in collaboration with Saint-Petersburg Fashion Store “DLT” (formal store of Russian Empire Guards Society, 1908-1916). For this case, Pokras, famous for his love to huge scales, live-painted a 30sq meters of denim and cloth during the fully packed event. The concept of collection lays in the intersection of ready-made thing, brush strokes, the work of artist and the high tempo of modern time. No doubts exclusive hoodies and cardigans are going to be sold out in a few hours today. To show the connection with a place, in his case - Saint-Petersburg, Pokras denied online sales for this collection. But world-wide fan base can still purchase his merch on @pokrasofficial
Watch Now
Unacceptable Behavior
Presenting a film inspired by thoughts from actress - Destiny Nolen (@miss_destiny_nolen). Directed by Clément Oberto, Unacceptable Behavior is a light poem about youth and loneliness. It is narrated by Georgia Feroce and guided by a subtle and sensitive score, composed by John Tejada (@johntejadaofficial). Clément Oberto created a film which follows a woman on the edge, someone who feels too much, a fragile and strong soul, always on the verge between bursting into tears or into generous and beautiful smiles.
“Our heroine wanders through the sublime landscapes of the American West. More than a portrait, this is a generation testimony, solar and vibrant. The story of young adults ultra-connected and yet still alone, victims of their hypersensitivity, trying to find harmony in this delicate balance between remains of childhood and promises of adulthood.”
Clément Oberto is French director and producer living in Los Angeles. His work revolves mostly around the feminine figure in music videos, commercials and Art films.
Raphaël Vicenzi Collage Art
Reflecting the inner world or internal landscape is how artist Raphaël Vicenzi says about his body of works mainly done in collage art technique
Elodie Milan Photography
Elodie Milan is a french photographer very inspired by paintings from The Renaissance.
She sacralizes her friends and empowered them with lights from Caravage and sometimes thanks to their clothes, an other big theme in her work
A Brutalist Tropical Home in Bali
Bali-based Patisabdhika Studio and architect Daniel Mitchell recently completed this gorgeous brutalist house. Named A Brutalist Tropical Home in Bali, the multi-level 5,500 square feet (512 sqm) house is located in a small valley nestled within rice fields on the south coast of the island. (P.s. for those who still have misconceptions of Brutalism as “brutal”, it is nothing to do with it - just “raw” and “cement” means a lot for Brutalism, but it’s still debatable)
Photography by Tommaso Riva (@tommasorivaphotography)
The Echoing Sound of Waves
Ambient photographer Jan Erik Waider (previously) shares new series of mediative shots of harsh but beautiful Icelandic nature under poetic title “The Echoing Sound of Waves"
Digital Abstractions by Philip Lück
Digital artist Philip Lück focuses mainly on abstract artworks with a hint of realism. You can follow his experiments on Instagram and support on Patreon
Matthias Freissler Photography
Minimalistic photography of architectural visual stories is a main interest of Japan-based and Germany-raised artist Matthias Freissler. If you like clean forms, light and magic - follow Matthias globally
