This city has never appeared on any official maps – Nadav Kander
Nadav Kander – The Polygon Nuclear Test Site I (after the event), Kazakhstan, 2011
Introduction
If it were possible to take a picture of the entire earth’s surface, the mosaic of human co-existence would be a sight to behold. Some areas are military grounds, mining cities or tourist destinations while others are education hubs just to mention a few. It is hard to appreciate that in the midst of all that are secrets as deep as the mystery of death. In the Dust series, as created by Nadav Kander’s, images of crows illuminated against the light of the moon in the darkness symbolizes how difficult it is to hide the truth. These images appear in the first three spreads, perhaps to prepare one’s mind to the secrets about to be uncovered.
Properties torched in the name of art – Ian Strange
Ian Strange – Film still from Suburban
Suburban by Ian Strange
Suburban is a complex film and photography installation that was created by New York-based Australian artist Ian Strange. Suburban was created by Strange as a result of a collaboration with a film crew and volunteers from different parts of America including Alabama, Detroit, New Hampshire, Ohio and New York. Over the course of three months Strange and the film crew photographed and filmed 8 different sites that featured singular suburban homes from different states.
Walls covered with hundreds of red tags – Barry McGee
Barry McGee – Detail of mural on Houston and Bowery, New York, 2010
Photo Sabeth718
Barry McGee’s tag mural in New York
In August 2010 Barry McGee (aka Twist) and Josh Lazcano (aka Amaze) painted a mural on the iconic corner of Houston & Bowery in New York’s Lower East Side, covering the wall with hundreds of red tags, filling it up with the names and crews of different graffiti writers.
Yue Minjun & The infectious power of laughter
Yue Minjun – Untitled, stainless steel sculpture, 95x197x143cm
About Yue Minjun & his inspiration
Yue Minjun was born in Daqing in Heilongjiang, China in 1962. For most of his life, Yue moved from place to place, because his family had to move from oilfield to oilfield to find work. Before starting to work as an electrician, he graduated from Hebei Normal University in 1989, where he studied oil painting. 1989 was the same year in which China was left shocked by the infamous student-led demonstrations and the suppression of such on Tiananmen Square. These movements played a large part in the inspiration and mood of Yue’s work. In order to fight the dark mood of the hour, the dark reality of the time, he created vibrant self-images embodying an almost mania; The laughing image.
Ai Weiwei gives world his middle finger
Ai Weiwei – Study of Perspective, Tiananmen, 1995-2010, C-Print, 32,5×43,5cm
Overview
Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and activist. He has been vocal and openly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights. His work has captured global attention and served to bring attention to social injustices, human rights violations and systemic violence.
How do 37,000 inflated balloons look like when put in a museum? – Martin Creed
Martin Creed – Work No. 247. Half the air in a given space, 2000, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, 2011
Introduction
Martin Creed’s Work Half the Air in a Given Space, is a brilliantly fun way to experience interactive art. As an audience member, you find yourself pushing your way through a space, whether it be a room or a hallway or a lobby, filled (only halfway) with up to 37,000 balloons. You as an audience member are completely surrounded by marshmallows, and although the image is joyfully preposterous, however, as you get into the space you find you feel a mixture of emotions including exhilaration, disorientation, but don’t be surprised if you feel a little bit claustrophobic.
What is globophobia?
Half the Air in a Given Space can be described as an interactive installation (which is easily an understatement if anything). This is every child’s dream or every globophobic’s worst nightmare (globophobia is the fear of balloons), basically, a space that’s filled with of hundreds or thousands of balloons of the same color. Half a room’s entire volume is filled with balloons, and visitors become a part of the art by walking through the balloon filled room.
For those who are not globophobic or claustrophobic, this piece is supposed to evoke the feeling of deep celebration and remanence of childhood memories. If you have no problem with balloons or small spaces, you can be pretty much guaranteed that you will leave the installation with a smile on your face from the touch of nostalgia you have emerged from.
different versions of Half the Air in a Given Space
In 2012, Creed installed four versions of this work in neighborhoods throughout the city, each site featured a different colored balloon. Thus not only are audience members who brave the balloons submerged in a room half filled with air, but they are submerged in the color, in a supernatural world in which their senses cannot fully be relied on, a world in which beauty and playfulness is combined.
Photos of Half the Air in a Given Space
Martin Creed – Work No. 200. Half the air in a given space, 1998
Courtesy the artist and Hauser © Martin Creed
Martin Creed – Work No. 200. Half the air in a given space, at Tate St.Ives, 2011
Photo by Rosa Park
Martin Creed – Work No. 200. Half the air in a given space, at Tate St.Ives, 2011
Photo by Rosa Park
Martin Creed – Work No. 200. Half the air in a given space, at Tate St.Ives, 2011
Martin Creed – Work No. 204. Half the air in a given space, 1999, dimensions variable, City Gallery, Historic Water Tower, Chicago, 2012
Photo: Nathan Keay, © MCA Chicago
Martin Creed – Work No. 247. Half the air in a given space, 2000, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, 2011
Martin Creed – Work No. 247. Half the air in a given space, 2000, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, 2011
Martin Creed – Work No. 247. Half the air in a given space, 2000, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, 2011
Photo: Moby
Martin Creed – Work No. 247. Half the air in a given space, 2000, Museo de Arte Contemporanea de Vigo, 2011
Martin Creed – Work No. 329. Half the air in a given space, 2004, Rennie Collection
Martin Creed – Work No. 329. Half the air in a given space
Martin Creed – Work No. 360. Half the air in a given space, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 2015
Photo by Evan Chakroff
Martin Creed – Work No. 360. Half the air in a given space, Henry Art Gallery, University of Washington, Seattle, 2015
Martin Creed – Work No. 965. Half the air in a given space, 2008, multiple pieces, The Cleveland Museum Of Art
Martin Creed – Work No. 965. Half the air in a given space, 2008, multiple pieces, The Cleveland Museum Of Art
Martin Creed – Work No. 1562. Half the air in a given space, THEMUSEUM, Kitchener, Canada, 2015
Martin Creed – Work No. 1562. Half the air in a given space, THEMUSEUM, Kitchener, Canada, 2015
Martin Creed – Work No. 1562. Half the air in a given space, THEMUSEUM, Kitchener, Canada, 2015
Martin Creed – Work No. 2497. Half the air in a given space, Park Avenue Armory, NYC, 2015
Martin Creed – Work No. 2497. Half the air in a given space, dimensions variable. Phoenix Art Museum
Courtesy the artist and Hauser & Wirth
Related works
- Public Delivery’s golden balloon project
- Philippe Parreno’s helium-filled balloons create striking installations
- Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa creates larger-than-life breathing lotus flowers
- Impressive inflatables by FriendsWithYou
- Hans Hemmert creates huge yellow latex balloons that manage to fill up entire rooms
- Large inflatables in Hong Kong by international artists such as Choi Jeong Hwa, Paul McCarthy, Cao Fei, Tomás Saraceno, Jeremy Deller and others
You won’t find these tapestries in any church (NSFW) – Erin M. Riley interview
Erin M. Riley – Self Portrait 2, 2015, Hand woven tapestry, hand dyed wool on a cotton warp, 182.9 x 121.9 cm
Is there a better reflection of a culture than the creatives living in it? From painters to photographers to poets, the voice of our moment is often told most aptly and timelessly through what they create. The same goes for Erin M. Riley. She has taken a look at both her own and the collective conscious of the individuals of today and laid what she sees for all to witness.
Most visited arts non-profit online. Established in 2011 in Seoul, South Korea. Projects in 101 countries.
