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Posts Tagged ‘Sculpture’

How to Photograph Architecture as Sculpture

24 Aug

The post How to Photograph Architecture as Sculpture appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.

Architects design buildings based on form as much as functionality. Many of these creative structures serve as works of art as well as mere brick and mortar buildings. Viewing subjects for their form as well as their function, and capturing that beauty with creative eyes and a little careful planning, can deliver stunning results. In this article, you’ll learn how you can photograph architecture as sculpture.

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A statue of Wilbur Wright stands in front of the Student Union building on the campus of Embry Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida.

Rule One: Observe before you shoot

Too often we are struck with the initial appearance of a subject and immediately start shooting. However, this knee-jerk snapshot approach rarely provides the kind of result that it could if we took our time. Take the time to walk around the subject and observe it from several different angles. Those angles will provide different vantage points, reflections, and shadows that will change and influence the framing you use for each shot.

Investigate the uniqueness that each structure presents and appreciate the visual statements the architect is making. Structures are more than a collection of connected boxes with passageways and windows. They are the physical housing of the community. We should study the features that make each structure unique. Throughout time, architects have designed structures that reflect social attitudes and serve the full spectrum of cultures from very conservative and business-like to modern and avant-garde.

Image: London’s amazing architecture along the Thames.

London’s amazing architecture along the Thames.

If you carry optional lenses in your bag, consider how each will render the scene. Don’t hesitate to stop long enough to find out. Lenses not only provide a distance variable, but they also change the dynamics of dimension. Longer lenses tend to compact the range much more than wider lenses.

Remember, backgrounds play a large role in the process. It is easy to get carried away with the subject and not see the effect that items in the foreground and background have on the final result. You can shorten major post-production chores, and even eliminate, by carefully seeing and shaping the background.

Rule Two: Think before you shoot

Digital cameras tend to override the cardinal rules of photography by allowing us to haphazardly capture dozens of shots without thinking them through. Remember, photography is a discipline and technical science as much as it is a process of documentation. Don’t allow yourself to excuse sloppy shooting.

The basic tradeoffs of exposure should run through your mental checklist as you think through each shot. Here’s where “Auto” settings can work against you as a photographer.

Briefly weigh the big three factors behind correct exposures before you click the shutter: Shutter speed, ISO, and Aperture each contribute to the shot, and each affects the result.

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Interior of Student Union at Embry Riddle University

The most important of these three variables in architectural photography is the aperture. Aperture controls the depth of field (DOF), particularly in long lenses. Since buildings rarely move around and daytime outdoor lighting is usually ample, shutter speed is of little consequence in the final analysis. As is ISO, but your choice of framing and DOF will make all the difference.

Rule Three: Plan your shot before you shoot

Make it a point to develop specific intent for each shot and develop at least a mental shot list of the project. Without this exercise, you’ll end up with a multitude of lookalike shots that you’ll have to cull through. Ask yourself if you want to capture the entire scene or just highlight a particular aspect of the scene?

Image: The 19th century stone structure of the Chicago Water Tower stands in contrast to the gleamin...

The 19th century stone structure of the Chicago Water Tower stands in contrast to the gleaming metal surface of the Trump Tower, also in Chicago.

Rule Four: Account for Keystoning

Buildings are always taller than the camera lens and thus always distort the parallel nature of the vertical lines. The only way to avoid this is to keep the camera axis parallel to the horizon. The moment you shift the lens skyward, the vertical lines will keystone. This is both normal to the human eye and advantageous to adding drama to tall buildings, but the camera lens can exaggerate it.

If you’re fortunate, and a bit creative, you can shoot the building from the inside (or atop) another structure. This will allow you to keep the vertical surfaces parallel.

Image: Seeing this domed rooftop from an adjoining property delivered a unique view. If I’d ca...

Seeing this domed rooftop from an adjoining property delivered a unique view. If I’d captured this dome from the ground, the actual shapes and features would have been distorted.

The other option, and the one most utilized, is to adjust these angles in post-production. Almost all imaging software provides the ability to straighten the lines by either automatically or manually stretching the image using the software’s Transform function. However, be aware that every time you distort an image’s shape, you reassign pixel values which can affect the sharpness of your image.

Rule Five: Assess White Balance

The general assumption is that you should capture outside photos in Daylight mode. But this isn’t always the case. Outdoor lighting changes constantly. Images captured either in the shade or in mixed lighting (dusk with street lighting, windows illuminated with tungsten lighting, or interior shots that include sunlight coming from outside) can create problems. The best way to address this issue is to capture your images in RAW mode. Doing so, allows you the latitude to experiment with the color temperature during post-production.

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Even after extensive damage suffered in World War II, Dresden, Germany still hosts a great number of historical and cultural buildings.

Rule Six: Carry a tripod

There are many good reasons to carry a travel tripod when shooting architecture. Exposures can vary greatly, and a tripod eliminates the possibility of camera shake during longer exposures or shooting to match precise angles of structures.

Since buildings don’t move much, a tripod allows you to lock down the focus and the steady the camera even at strange angles. Tripods also allow you to use your camera’s timer for hands-free exposures.

Image: Genoa Archway

Genoa Archway

Rule Seven: Choose the right lens for the shot

Wider-angle lenses allow you to capture larger buildings in areas of limited access. However, extreme wide-angle lenses (both zoom and non-flat field) can also introduce undesirable issues like barrel distortions that bow straight lines. Moderately wide-angle lenses and reasonable distances from the subject will most times address these issues.

Rule Eight: Pay attention to textures and geometry

The array of interesting textures, colors, fixtures, and surfaces used in building materials is quite diverse and makes for very interesting detail shots. Textures are the fabric of life and vary wildly both inside and outside modern architecture.

Architects are perfection artists who love geometry, and good geometry is the foundation of good structure.

From the earliest days of piling and arranging huge stones into pyramid shapes to today’s massive sports arenas, you can see the mathematical beauty of creative geometry everywhere. Look for geometric design in the biggest and smallest elements of architectural structures.

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The Interior of the Frauenkirche cathedral in Dresden, Germany is graceful in structure and beautifully finished in pastel colors.

Rule Nine: Break the rules

Don’t be scared to see your subject from very strange vantage points. This includes looking both straight up from the floor and straight down from balconies. You may look a little silly to passersby, but chances are you’ll never see those people again, and they may well marvel at the photos you produce. The result of your creative vantage point will let your viewers see life from a fresh angle.

Almost everybody takes pictures from eye height (which is quite boring), and most of us are between five and six feet tall, so this means that most photos appear…average and “normal.” Get un-normal and show people life from a fresh viewpoint.

Image: Many of the European cultural and government buildings include beautiful cultural symbols and...

Many of the European cultural and government buildings include beautiful cultural symbols and statues sculpted with old-world craftsmanship.

Rule Ten: Look for contrast and balance

This applies to subjects as well as tone curves. Today’s buildings are focused on issues that reflect environmental and social issues. Pay attention to the juxtaposition of natural and human-made elements that are designed to coexist in total harmony. Colors and textures emphasize cooperation between human achievement and nature. The balance of the practical and artistic aspects of modern engineering reflect a renewed sense of respect between progress and responsibility in today’s world.

Conclusion

Most of all, take the time to appreciate the marvel and beauty of human creativity. The more you look, the more you’ll appreciate the ingenuity and genius of today’s architectural masterpieces.

Don’t rush through this process. Exercise the same level of care and skill that you observe in the design and structure of the buildings and interiors that you capture, and you’ll produce some amazing pictures. Shoot inspired.

 

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The post How to Photograph Architecture as Sculpture appeared first on Digital Photography School. It was authored by Herb Paynter.


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40 kg ‘Fake Leica’ steel sculpture by Liao Yibai appears on eBay for $100,000

10 Jan

A smaller version of the stainless steel “Fake Leica” sculpture made by Chinese artist Liao Yibai (and found in the Leica Store LA) has appeared on eBay with a buy it now price of $ 99,995 USD. The auction was posted by Leica Store Lisse in the Netherlands, which is also accepting offers from potential buyers via the online auction.

Though this is a smaller version of the original, the “Fake Leica” in the auction is quite hefty at 40kg / 88lbs, resulting i $ 350 in shipping cost—then again, if you’re already spending almost $ 100K on the thing, what’s an extra $ 350 for shipping?

The sculpture measures about 44,8 x 76,2 x 48,9cm / 17 x 30 x 19.25in and is very rare, having the serial number 8/12. This sculpture, as with the original, is highly detailed.

This doesn’t appear to be the first time Leica Store Lisse has listed this particular auction. Leica Rumors reported back in early 2016 that the Netherlands store was selling a small “Fake Leica” sculpture with the serial number 8/12. In its most recent auction, the store notes that a different “Fake Leica” sculpture sold in November 2013 through Westlicht Auction for 96,000 Euro (~$ 115K USD by today’s exchange rate).

Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)

 
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Underground Illusions: Anamorphic Parking Lot Turns Flat Paint into Sculpture

06 Jul

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

You’re driving through an underground parking garage when suddenly, the colorful geometric shapes splashed all over every surface pop out into three dimensions. Try not to crash your car! When optical illusions line up right, they can be really disorienting, and it’s always cool to see them carried out on a large scale. Argentinian artist Elian Chali got to take over an entire parking lot in the Saint-Gervais Mont Blanc region of France, transforming it into a trompe l’oeil canvas.

“This artwork, which uses basic geometry and primary colors, makes use of the architectural factors where it inhabits,” says Chile. “Each element adopts a new function and the space becomes a huge sculpture. The relationship with the environment is not easy to achieve, therefore not only the walls will be intervene, but the painting will invade everything that you find in your way in order to offer to the users of the parking, the possibility of breathing inside a work of art.”

 

It’s a pretty cool effect, with some triangles stretching dozens of feet and crossing ceilings, support pillars and walls to end on the floor. Presented by 2KM3 Contemporary Art Platform and curated by Hugues Chevallier and Zoer, the piece comes together as an optical illusion when you hit just the right spot while driving through.

Chali is known for applying his signature vivid style to buildings around the world in the form of massive murals, often taking up entire multi-story facades. Each one takes its respective environment into account in its composition, paying homage to the history of the building and its setting, the materials it’s made of, and the ways in which it has aged or weathered. Keep up with his work on Instagram.

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Helping Hands: “Support” Sculpture Braces Venetian Architecture From Below

21 May

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Historic architecture meets modern art on the canals of Venice, where a pair of gigantic hands emerge from the depths to lend support above the waterline.

Designed by Lorenzo Quinn, “Support” was put into place a month in advance of the 57th International Art Biennale but is already drawing massive crowds ahead of its official debut.

It was prefabricated and shipped into positioned down the Grand Canal, then assembled and positioned so that it appears to support the Sagredo Hotel, a structure dating back to the 14th century.

Like many historic buildings in the city, this one rises straight up from the water — also like others, it is threatened by the prospect of higher sea levels as well as sinking and settling of the ground below.

“I wanted to sculpt what is considered the hardest and most technically challenging part of the human body. the hand holds so much power – the power to love, to hate, to create, to destroy” says the artist.

“Venice is a floating art city that has inspired cultures for centuries, but to continue to do so it needs the support of our generation and future ones, because it is threatened by climate change and time decay.”

"Cose" interessanti. #biennaledivenezia #venezia #lorenzoquinn #biennalearte2017 #manigrandi #solocosebelle #ENERGIA??????

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Le mani sono strumenti che possono tanto distruggere il mondo quanto salvarlo e trasmettono un istintivo sentimento di nobiltà e grandezza in grado anche di generare inquietudine poiché il gesto generoso di sostenere l'edificio ne evidenzia la fragilità. #venezia#venice#casagredohotel#mani#scultura#arte#support#lorenzoquinn#igersvenezia#igersveneto#loves_united_venice#loves_venezia#loves_veneto#veneziaunica#veneto_best_pics#veneto_in#loves_united_veneto#venetissimo#ig_venice#veniceinlove#loves_united_italy#loves_united_team#loves_united_details#volgoitalia#labellavenezia#volgoveneto#loves_veneto#venezia??

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Stunning #venezia #venice #fondacodeitedeschi #rooftoop #canalgrande #biennalearte2017 #lorenzoquinn

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“Reflecting on the two sides of human nature, the creative and the destructive, as well as the capacity for humans to act and make an impact on history and the environment, Quinn addresses the ability for humans to make a change and re-balance the world around them—environmentally, economically, socially,” writes the Halycon Gallery, which represents Quinn.

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Art Sinks to New Depths: 25 Wet Works of Sub-Aquatic Sculpture

09 May

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

Temporarily submerged in a swimming pool for snorkelers to explore or permanently sunken into the sea as a diving destination, these subaquatic works of art take on a whole new dimension under water. Artists create faux shipwrecks, artificial reefs, submerged art shows and other water-themed works, often with environmental messages.

Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable by Damien Hirst

Ten years of work culminate in a massive museum show in Venice as artist Damien Hirst displays ‘Treasures from the Wreck of the Unbelievable,’ based on a fictional account of an ancient shipwreck. The sculptures were lowered into the ocean so their ‘discovery’ by scuba divers could be filmed, and then brought back up again. No one ever called Hirst – who’s known for his outlandish and often absurdly expensive spectacles – unambitious.

Submerged Sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor

Looking at the many sculptures by Jason deCaires Taylor that have been submerged into the sea and transformed into artificial reefs, you can’t help but wonder whether these items might remain long after we living humans have rendered ourselves extinct, waiting to be discovered by alien explorers. The sculptor’s work revolves around such issues as immigration and the Syrian humanitarian crisis, and many exhibitions – like The Raft of Lampedusa in the Museo Atlantico, the first underwater contemporary art museum in Europe – are open to divers.

Underwater Pavilions by Doug Aitken

Artist Doug Aitken created three geometric swim-in, swim-out pavilions that are now moored to the ocean floor in a dive park off Avalon, California. Each twelve-sided structure is lined with mirrors, giving them a shimmering appearance that almost doesn’t look real. Produced by Parley for the Oceans and presented in partnership with the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, the installations “engage the living ecosystem as the viewer swims into and through the sculptures, which create reflective abstractions. The work operates as an observatory for ocean life, creating a variety of converging perceptual encounters. The sculptures will continously change due to the natural and manmade conditions of the ocean.”

Underwater Sculptures Made of Trash by Forlane 6 Studio

Discarded items found on the beach are transformed into surprisingly beautiful and poignant works of art by Forlane 6 Studio in this underwater photo series. The objects represent the careless way in which human activity has invaded virtually every corner of the earth. “When submerged, the objects seem to metamorphose and become organic creatures,” say the artists. “Their role in space is no longer fixed and static.”

Rapa Nui Reef by Dennis Macdonald

Intended as an underwater replica of the famous Easter Island sculptures, Rapa Nui Reef was supposed to be a dive site off Deerfield Beach in Florida. The sculptures were cast, shipped and loaded onto a barge for installation – but technical difficulties destroyed the project. The barge flipped over, destroying the statues. Oops.

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Art Under The Surface 25 Works Of Sub Aquatic Sculpture

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21st Century Figurative Sculpture: 33 Modern Renderings of the Human Form

28 Mar

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

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Michelangelo’s David may always represent a pinnacle of artistic achievement in figurative sculpture, but modern artists are adding some brilliant 21st-century elements to the mix in the form of glitches, kinetic parts, innovative methods and materials, and context from the digital era.

Hollow Humans by Park Ki Pyung

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They appear to be impossibly thin veneers of stone, but these eerie sculptures by South Korean artist Park Ki Kyung are actually resin on a steel frame. The figures appear incomplete or fractured “to describe condition of emptiness,” says the artist. “I also use shape of human body with excluded front face, so that I can delete unique characteristics of each person. I describe images of ancient battle scene to show violence against self.”

Anatomical Sculptures by Claude-Olivier Guay

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Each of these paneled human heads dramatically opens to reveal a matrix of wires inside, hand-bent by artist Claude-Olivier Guay with no more than a piece of pliers. In one remarkable case, a human torso shows us its skeletal framework, but what’s inside isn’t what it seems: the wire bends itself into an animal shape and gets down on all fours before transforming back into human form.

Wood Sculptures by Willy Verginer

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A child clutches a leaking gas can, families swim in tainted water and men pray over barrels of oil in this series by Italian sculptor Willy Verginer highlighting environmental degradation. The sculptures are made of wood and minimally painted for a graphic appearance.

Dissolving Children by Lene Kilde

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Limbs are often all that remain of children that have otherwise disappeared in the minimalist wire mesh sculptures of Norwegian artist Lene Kilde. Though the works may appear haunting and even mournful, the artist intends for the blank spaces to be filled in by the viewer’s mind, perhaps with their own images or memories.

Pixelated Wood by Hsu Tung Han

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Bodies in motion seem to be dissolving into pixels before our eyes, embodying a clash between the digital and the analog. Artist Hsu Tung Han crafts walnut, teak or African wax wood into human figures interspersed wit blocks. In this case, the glitch effect feels less about corrupted data and more about existential and spiritual matters, as if the figures aren’t entirely tethered to the physical plane.

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21st Century Figurative Sculpture 33 Modern Renderings Of The Human Form

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Las Pozas: Surreal Concrete Sculpture Garden in the Jungle of Mexico

04 Oct

[ By SA Rogers in Destinations & Sights & Travel. ]

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Stairs spiral up to the sky in strange configurations, going nowhere, in a tangle of surrealist sculptural structures in a Mexican jungle. Why is this series of concrete wonders hidden within the lush vegetation of Xilitlha, and who put it there? The answer lies within the mind of Edward James, a 20th century art collector described by Salvador Dali as “crazier than all the Surrealists together.” If Dali is calling you crazy, that probably says something, and photos of James’ creations reveal a visionary thinker on par with the artists he so admired.

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James, a poet and well-to-do heir who was once painted by René Magritte, was a passionate and early supporter of Surrealism, sponsoring Salvador Dali in a crucial early period of his career during which he produced some of his most valuable works. A 1978 documentary called “The Secret Life of Edward James” shows off some of his personal art collection, as well as his quirky refurbishment of Monkton House, a small 20th century house plastered with surreal interior designs. He was certainly an interesting character, which explains how Las Pozas came about.

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Built more than 2,000 feet above sea level about seven hours (drive) north of Mexico City, ‘Las Pozas’ was named for the natural pools and waterfalls that characterize the site. James saw it as the ideal romantic spot for his vision of a “Garden of Eden set up.” Between 1949 and 1984, he built dozens of towering concrete structures around the pools, each of them given names like “The House on Three Floors Which Will in Fact Have Five or Four or Six,” and “The House with a Roof Like a Whale.”

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The sculptures were conceived by James and his guide Plutarco Gastélum, who helped him scout the site, after his living orchid garden decades in the making was destroyed by a blizzard. The concrete ‘flowers’ would be everlasting, much hardier than anything organic he could grow. It took a crew of about 150 people to build them all. It cost more than $ 5 million to construct, a sum James raised by selling his collection of Surrealist art at auction.

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After James’ death in 1984, Las Pozas was opened to the public, and it’s know owned by Fondo Xilitlha, a foundation overseeing its preservation and restoration.

Top photo: Wikimedia Commons; all other photos: Victor DeLaqua, Julia Faveri and Herbert Loureiro/ArchDaily

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METALmorphosis: Kinetic Sculpture by Controversial Czech Artist

21 May

[ By SA Rogers in Art & Sculpture & Craft. ]

david cerny 1

A giant metallic head splits into segments and rotates in a ‘metamorphosis’ worthy of its subject, author Franz Kafka. All 42 of its layers spin independently, catching the sunlight on their reflective stainless steel edges, magnifying the strange transformation as the head briefly blurs into something more abstract and then comes together again. The 45-ton sculpture was installed in a Prague plaza in 2014, visualizing the inner workings of a psyche the sculptor may identify with, himself. It’s perhaps the tamest and least controversial piece Czech artist David Cerný has ever put out for public consumption.

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Entitled ‘K’, the sculpture has a nearly-identical twin called METALMORPHOSIS in Technology Plaza in Charlotte, North Carolina, which even had its own live webcam feed for a while so anyone in the world could watch passersby interact with it at any given moment. The Charlotte version is not based on Kafka, and sits in the center of a fountain, occasionally spitting water. Its mirrored exterior almost makes it seem like an optical illusion in certain lights, like some kind of apparition made of the sky itself.

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Born in Prague, David ?erný first gained notoriety in 1991 when he took it upon himself to paint a Soviet tank serving as a war memorial in his home city bright pink. A number of his statues feature grown men peeing, and the literally masturbatory ‘Nation for Itself Forever’ had to be perched on the roof of the National Theater to keep it from being defaced.

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Crawling babies with bizarrely punched-in faces scale the Czech Republic’s highest tower and wander blindly around parks, while the nation’s most revered saint, St. Wenceslas, is depicted riding a dead horse. A permanent exhibition at FUTURA gallery Prague features ladders leading up to two white posteriors; climb up and stick your head inside to view a video of two Czech politicians spoon-feeding each other to ‘We Are the Champions.” Czech out a tour of the irreverent sculptor’s works in Prague if you’re ever in the city to see them all.

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When Art Attacks! Giant Spherical Sculpture Escapes Museum

21 Apr

[ By Steph in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

Screen Shot 2016-04-20 at 2.43.25 PM

How do you stop a 15-foot-tall, 250-pound ball when it’s rolling down the street, running over cars and treating the city like a giant pinball machine? Employees at the Toledo Museum in Ohio had to figure out the answer to that question really quickly one day last August when a storm swept through the city, dislodging the giant sculpture from its perch on a downtown rooftop and sending it barreling through the streets as if it had a mind of its own. It even pauses at an intersection and then makes a left turn, as if trying to determine the best escape route, as the frantic museum workers run after it.

An observer who happened to be on an adjacent rooftop captured much of the ensuing chaos and put the clips on Instagram and YouTube. Luckily, the ball is inflatable, so there was no risk of it actually crushing the cars it rolled right over, though it did bend a few street signs and freak out a few drivers. The ball itself, created by artist Kurt Perschke, sustained a little bit of damage on its adventure, but returned to the museum to finish out its residence in Toledo.

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The sculpture has traveled around the world, lodged in every imaginable urban nook and cranny, from alleyways in London and bridges in Paris to the Montreal Biosphere and Chicago’s Grant Park. It’s currently en route to Memphis, Tennessee to begin its next residency.

Bopiliao St in Taipei.

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“Through the RedBall Project I utilize my opportunity as an artist to be a catalyst for new encounters within the everyday,” says Perschke. “Through the magnetic, playful and charismatic nature of the RedBall the work is able to access the imagination embedded in all of us. On the surface, the experience seems to be about the ball itself as an object, but the true power of the project is what it can create for those who experience it. It opens a doorway to imagine what if?”

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That last statement is especially true when the question is, “What if the ball gets loose and runs around the city?” It’s kind of a shame it didn’t get to travel farther before it was captured and returned.

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Portable & Potable: Water-Purifying Sculpture Cleans East River

03 Jul

[ By WebUrbanist in Art & Installation & Sound. ]

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Combining practical water purification and the fun of watching hidden processes come to life, this gigantic structure installed at MOMA PS1 in New York City features a dazzling array of plants and pipes made to be watched and enjoyed by people.

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Developed by Andrés Jaque’ and his architecture firm, winner of the 2015 Young Architects Program, this mobile filtration plant (dubbed Cosmo) takes in polluted water supplied by the city (from or) matching pollution levels of the East River and renders it clean and drinkable.

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Filtering out particulates, balancing acidity levels and introducing dissolved oxygen, the array of spiralling tubes can process nearly 1,000 gallons of water a day, with all its functions on display.

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Two portable four-wheeled rolling vehicles below can be pushed to wherever the party may be. The design brief called for shade, seating and water, the last of these clearly dominates this particular winner.

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“This year’s proposal takes one of the Young Architects Program’s essential requirements–providing a water feature for leisure and fun–and highlights water itself as a scarce resource,” said Pedro Gadanho, Curator in MoMA’s Department of Architecture and Design. “Relying on off-the-shelf components from agro-industrial origin, an exuberant mobile architecture celebrates water-purification processes and turns their intricate visualization into an unusual backdrop for the Warm Up sessions.” (Photography by Miguel de Guzmán).

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