Thu 8 May 2008
1979 Michael & Leda moved themselves and their paintings from Provincetown MA to rural land in Cornville Arizona. There they began the first mixed media structure which they later called Eliphante. They continued building and sculpting on the 3 acre environment.
Thanks to Earl and Rhonda Brown for the tip!
Wed 30 Apr 2008
The French city of Nantes recently became host to extremely strange and fascinating sculptural display: “Les Machines de l’Ile Nantes”, designed by François Delarozière and Pierre Orefice.
Sat 26 Apr 2008
A sleepy east side street scarred with abandoned houses and weed covered lots in Detroit's depressed lower east side has become the center of a controversy involving a volatile mingling of ruins, art and politics.
Begun in the eighties by artist and Heidelberg Street resident Tyree Guyton the Heidelberg Project, as it came to be known, developed into a block long environment consisting of free standing found-object constructions and abandoned buildings and trees adorned with found objects. Much of the area and works are are simplistically painted upon with multi-colored polka dots being the signature icon.
Via Detroit Yes
Tue 15 Apr 2008
Artists Madeline Gins and Arakawa say that their house in East Hampton, N.Y., opposes death and may extend life. Originally called the Bioscleave House (Lifespan Extending Villa), they say its architecture makes people use their bodies in unexpected ways to maintain equilibrium, and that will stimulate their immune systems.
The couple also built nine “reversible destiny” loft-style apartments in Mitaka, Japan.
The house on Long Island, which cost more than $2 million to build, is their first completed architectural work in the United States - and, as they see it, a turning point in their campaign to defeat mortality.
The house, which is still unoccupied, was commissioned in the late 1990s by a friend who sold the property to an anonymous group of investors after the project dragged on and costs mounted. But it is ready, Arakawa and Ms. Gins said, to begin rejuvenating whoever moves in.
In addition to the floor, which threatens to send the un-sure-footed hurtling into the sunken kitchen at the center of the house, the design features walls painted, somewhat disorientingly, in about 40 colors; multiple levels meant to induce the sensation of being in two spaces at once; windows at varying heights; oddly angled light switches and outlets; and an open flow of traffic, unhindered by interior doors or their adjunct, privacy.
All of it is meant to keep the occupants on guard. Comfort, the thinking goes, is a precursor to death; the house is meant to lead its users into a perpetually “tentative” relationship with their surroundings, and thereby keep them young.
A House Not for Mere Mortals from the New York Times
Immortality House Audio Slideshow
(Thanks to Earl and Rhonda Brown for the tip!)
Wed 9 Apr 2008
I wrote an article for this months issue of MAKE Magazine (http://www.makezine.com/) about folk artist Martin Sanchez and the environment he created out of found objects (including a beer-bottle chapel) and I’m going to be featuring some of those photos with commentary this Thursday 4/10 at See Sound Lounge on 1st and Blanchard in Belltown at 6pm.
Pecha Kucha Night was conceived in 2003 as a place for designers, architects and artists to meet, network, and show their work in public, and it has spread virally to over 100 cities across the world.
Give a mic to an architect or an artist and you may be trapped for hours. The key to Pecha Kucha Night is its patented system for avoiding this fate. Each presenter is allowed 20 images, each shown for 20 seconds each - giving 6 minutes 40 seconds of fame before the next presenter is up. This keeps presentations concise, the interest level up, and gives more people the chance to show.
Pecha Kucha (which is Japanese for the sound of conversation) has tapped into a demand for a forum in which creative work can be easily and informally shown, without having to rent a gallery or chat up a magazine editor.
http://www.pecha-kucha.org/cities/seattle
Artists and presenters for the evening are Marlow Harris, Alex Steffen, Cameron Hall, Sage Saskill, Elizabeth Buschmann, Karen Lorene, Jesse Harris, Dawn Clark, Ross Leventhal and Michael Franz Horner
Fri 4 Apr 2008
The Liberace Museum was founded April 15, 1979, by the late entertainer Liberace. The Museum features “Mr. Showmanship’s” dazzling jewelry, rare antiques, unsurpassed wardrobe, unique and historical pianos and his custom car collection.
Highlights include Liberace’s famous sequined, bejeweled and rhinestone-studded costumes, feathered capes and fur collection, plus his incredible pianos and amazing car collection.
He was very popular in the 1950’s, especially with the ladies!
In 1966 Liberace opened Liberace Interiors and Objects d’Art,” in Hollywood, California. No surprise for he had quite a flair for decorating, and spared no expense when it came to one of his many homes. He even offered his interior design services to clients!
He had several homes around the country. Here are a few pictures from his Hollywood Hills home, completments of Bob’s World of Liberace.
Bob’s tribute to the
Glitter, the Glitz, and the Camp of America’s most flamboyant entertainer, the one and only “Mr. Showmanship®”, Liberace!
is not to be missed and feature incredible photos of Lee Liberace’s many homes.
Christmas was Lee’s favorite times of the year and he spent thousands of dollars decorating his home. He had custom Christmas cards made for himself every year, sometimes costing up to $4 a piece, and he had a mailing list of 7,000.
Bob’s Liberace Christmas Card Collection
Sun 23 Mar 2008
The theme of the Seattle Times Peeps contest was “Newsmakers” and this year’s competition proves that scandal and marshmallow Peeps go together like Easter and bunnies. Britney Speeps, Amy Winepeep, and Larry Craig Peep are just a few you’ll view on the Seattle Times website.
Obama was a favorite with this depiction by Seattle artist Mike Leavitt.
Click HERE to view a slide show of 22 winners.
Another favorite is The Jesus of Peeps (JoP), created by SeattleTwist contributor and artist Janet Galore, is 4.5 ft tall x 3.5 ft wide, from 6 colors of Peeps. What a lovely way to commemorate the death and resurrection of Christ.
t e l e m e t r y: Transmissions from the Galores
Sat 23 Feb 2008
One of many wonderful details….
Slideshow of Purple Palace Art House
Like toilets? Check out Urinal Journal.
Thu 10 Jan 2008
Photo from Chihuly’s Boathouse Studio. View from entering the hotshop under the Perisan ceiling in Seattle.
Sun 6 Jan 2008
Wed 2 Jan 2008
Seattle-area artist Ries Niemi presents a vision of cell phones as a life form, manipulating humanity for their own purposes. Ries says he purchased, sight unseen, this collection of objects from a mini-storage auction. In this new exhibit, Niemi examines just how exactly that cell phone got into his pocket, and who is really in charge.
Niemi cuts and pastes pop culture in a variety of mediums, including: digital imaging, embroidery, wood, paper, textiles and metal. In his installation, pages from old books, fossils, textiles, metallic objects, even furniture and clothing document the surprising centuries long attempts by cell phones to take over the world.
Ries loves his phone. Ries hates his phone.
Working in a wide range of media, Niemi has shown widely around the country, and works extensively in public art, including a new piece on Pine Street adjacent to the Paramount Theater, “Eat, Drink, and Be Merry.”
Located next to the Paramount Theater on Pine Street, the sculptures are 3 totem poles for the 21’st Century, collaged from images of contemporary culture, food and drink.
Ranging in height from 16 to 18 feet, and 8 feet in diameter, these glittering stainless steel figures are anthrophomorpic but not human. They are made from different textures of forged and fabricated stainless steel.
The site is a small urban park whose reason for existance is the Vent Shaft for the Sound Transit tunnel under Capitol Hill.
Ries’s new show is at Punch Gallery January 3 – February 3, 2008
Opening Reception: 5-8pm
First Thursday, January 3, 2008
Artist will be in attendance the first and final Saturdays of the month.
Thu 13 Dec 2007
Every year since 1992, artist Phil Kline has presented UNSILENT NIGHT, an outdoor ambient music piece for an infinite number of boomboxes. It’s like a Christmas caroling party except that people don’t sing, but rather carry the music, each person playing a separate track that is a “voice” in the piece. In effect, they become a city-block-long sound system.
The more tracks that are played, the bigger and more amazing the sound is. In recent years, UNSILENT NIGHTs in New York and San Francisco have attracted crowds of over a thousand people, with hundreds of boomboxes… it’s spectacular. If you’d like to participate, just check the schedule in your city. If you’d like to participate but don’t have a boombox or a music player with speakers, you can just show up and join the parade. Everyone is an important part of the procession.
Tue 13 Nov 2007
Sun 4 Nov 2007
Since 1994, the Museum of Bad Art has been dedicated to bad art. It is only through the efforts of the worldwide Friends of MOBA that we have been able to carry out our mission: to bring the worst of art to the widest of audiences.
MOBA maintains this web site as well as a bricks-and-mortar museum in the basement of the Dedham Community Theatre in Dedham Square, MA. Through traveling exhibits, special events, and changing exhibits, we share the best bad art ever assembled in one museum.
Thu 4 Oct 2007
For those heading to Baby Tattooville this weekend, be sure to check out folk artist Martin Sanchez’ incredible art installation he created on almost an entire city block in Riverside, California, just a few blocks from The Mission Inn.
Pictured here is his amazing chapel, built entirely out of beer and soda pop bottles and other assorted found objects.
More photos of the Martin Sanchez art installation on Unusual Life.
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