The Prairie Chicken comes alive at night...

Today in 3-D fundamentals, Ron took us on a little walkabout around the campus to look at all the sculptures that were commissioned around the time of the '88 Olympics. Here's a few of them.

"Rhythm One" - Drahanchuk - 1970.

The figures were sculpted by Ann something...finding out... The arch was designed by Diamond Architects.

Kinetic sculpture park by Katie Ohe.

"The Prairie Chicken" - George Norris.

There's tons, tons more art on campus if you ever want to wander around one lovely summer day and take it all in! But keep your eyes peeled, some of it is a little hidden.

Meredith Dittmar

These cute little polymer clay creatures totally made my day.

Meredith's homepage.

Louise Nevelson - 1899-1988

We watched a film on Russian artist Louise Nevelson in sculpture class last week and I was completely in awe of this woman. The film was made in the 70's, when she was 80, and she has such a strong energy and presence when she works. She's funny as hell and has such conviction in everything she does. I tried to find clips of the video we watched but couldn't so instead I'm posting an interview she did on American Architecture Now. It's a bit long, about a half hour, but it's totally worth it. She says the most amazing things.
She worked primarily with objects she found on the streets of New York - old wooden crates, discarded banisters from the school across the street from her house and some of her later work was recreated on larger scales using sheet metal and glass.




She's quite amazing.

-Once her friend and patron Howard Lipman showed her an early American rocking chair that he had just acquired. He asked Nevelson's opinion of the chair. "I couldn't care less about the chair," she said, "but look at its shadow."-

"I have made my world and it is a much better world than I ever saw outside."

"Anywhere I found wood I took it home and started working with it..to show the world that art is everywhere, except it has to pass through a creative mind."




Links to more of her work.

Brian Dettmer

Brian Dettmer carves into books revealing the artwork inside, creating complex layered three-dimensional sculptures. Amazing!

Vladimir Kush

This phenomenal Russian artist dubs his work "metaphorical realism."

More paintings.
Homepage.

Jean Dubuffet

French painter and sculptor. July 31 1901 - May 12 1985

Manoir d Essor - Lousiana Museum of Modern Art - Denmark.

Monument à la Bête Debout - 1984 - Chicago

Jardin d'email - Kroller Muller Sculpture garden - Otterlo, Netherlands

Grand Jazz Band (New Orleans) - 1941

Galeries Lafayette - 1961

Electroland...

I stumbled upon (literally. great add-on) this website a number of months ago and I go back and look through it probably once a week.
Cameron McNall and Damon Seeley create huge public art all over the globe incorporating light, sound, images, architecture, motion and interactivity into each piece. Their work creates a sense of play and, as said before, interactivity missing in day to day life. These projects are a way to catch people off guard and wake them from the drone of monotony.
They proposed a project last year for Calgary, which I couldn't get a photo for so you'll have to go to their website (link at bottom) to see it. "Eleven differently coloured glass interactive sculptures mark each one of the main train stops along 7th Ave. When viewed as a group they lend a cohesive identity to the transit corridor; individually, each displays unique interactive patterns when people approach them. The sculptures will be installed over a three year period during phased corridor construction."

"Enteractive" in Los Angeles. The lights on the side of the building correspond with lights on the sidewalk below and as people move and interact on the sidewalk, the wall of the building lights up.

City National Plaza, L.A. This one didn't get completed as the client decided not to continue with it. Too bad.

Urban Nomad Shelter, L.A. This was the first I saw of Electroland and was immediately intrigued. The shelters are inflatable which McNall and Seeley see as both a "social and humanitarian act." The wide distribution of the bright cocoons was hoped to foster a "dialog about the invisibility and marginalization of the homeless." On the humanitarian side, the shelters provide portable and inexpensive ways to protect against weather and other hardships the homeless face.

These are the only images I was able to get due to a savvy website design...check out Electroland's website for more projects.