We’re absolutely loving these clever and graphic billboard alterations by Parisian street artist OX. Not only do they cover up the ugly advertising that we are bombarded with on a daily basis but they also interact with their surroundings in witty visual plays that construct and deconstruct space, depth and optical illusion. (via)
You’ve likely already noticed: this isn’t your typical font. Instead of using pixels or vectors, photographer Anastasia Mastrakouli uses her own body to create a steamy alphabet (pardon the pun). Mastrakoukli positions herself behind wet glass partly hidden as if in a shower. She emphasizes certain parts of her body, and in turn certain parts of letters, by placing herself closer to the glass. The result is an eye-catching font – one in which the medium may grab more attention the the message it spells. Check out her website to see the rest of the alphabet.
Photo by Wilk
Already a huge presence in Australia, Flume has been gaining a lot more attention in the US, especially with the recent release of his self-titled debut on Mom + Pop Music. I was lucky enough to catch his recent sold out performance at the Echoplex in Los Angeles.
Truth be told, I don’t go to a lot of EDM shows, but after hearing his album I was hoping to see some of the guest vocalists that are heavily featured on his debut. WIth the likes of George Maple, Chet Faker, Moon Holiday, and Jezzabell Doran all appearing on his record, it would have been extra special to see some of them perform live. Unfortunately that didn’t happen, BUT I did manage to dance my ass off with a crazy sold out crowd to his ear-shattering beats.
Songs like “Insane” featuring the before mentioned Moon Holiday had the crowd singing along and jumping wildly to every beat. He’s currently in the midst of a US tour with shows coming up at Portland’s Mississippi Studios on March 31st and a sold out show at Brooklyn’s Music Hall of Williamsburg on April 2nd among others. In May he’ll be back in Australia for his first headlining tour titled, The Infinity Prism Tour with Chet Faker supporting. Check out the video for Left Alone and definitely try to catch him live before he heads back down under.
Pavel Maria Smejkal lives and works in Slovakia. From 2009 to 2011 he created a series entitled Fatescapes in which the main subjects are removed from famous photographs and iconic images. What remains is the often eerie landscape in which the event unfolded. From Raising The Flag on Iwo Jima to Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston, these strange images are inherently important and memorable even though the central focus has shifted. In his own words: “In Fatescapes, I remove (using a classic tool of digital work today Adobe Photoshop) the central motifs from historical documentary photographs and the main subject of these motifs, human bodies. I use images that have become our cultural heritage, constitute the memory of nations, serve as symbols or tools of propaganda, and exemplify a specific approach to photography as a document of the historical moment. I explore their purpose and function, and I ask about the future of this magic medium, and about human existence. Aware that their authenticity is not unquestionable, I return to these key images after they have been reinterpreted numerous times from various perspectives, and by manipulating their content I explore their purpose, function, and future.” (via)
The project I’m Google from artist Dina Kelberman is strangely and hypnotically familiar. You’ve likely searched one topic on Wikipedia or Google that set off a long chain of searches each slightly related to the one preceding it. Hours later you’re nowhere near you began. In a way I’m Google is a visual representation of this in the form of a tumblog. Countless seemingly mundane photographs slowly transform in color, composition, content. However, slight changes over time build large ones; balloons slowly become crater lakes. It’s a familiar journey, and I’m Google is a fascinating visualization of it. [via]
Daniel Rozin lives and works in New York City. From his bio: “As an interactive artist Rozin creates installations and sculptures that have the unique ability to change and respond to the presence and point of view of the viewer. In many cases the viewer becomes the contents of the piece and in others the viewer is invited to take an active role in the creation of the piece. Even though computers are often used in Rozin’s work, they are seldom visible. Many of his pieces have video cameras, motors and computers on board and produce a soothing sound as the viewer interacts with them.” (via)
Beautiful/Decay has partnered with premiere website building platform Made With Color to bring you some of the most exciting contemporary artists working today. Made With Color allows you to create a website that is professional and easy to use with just a few clicks and no coding. This week we bring you the beautifully grotesque paintings of Christian Rex van Minnen whose clean and sleek website was built using the Madewithcolor.com platform. See Minnen’s solo show entitled “Welsh Rats” at Robischon Gallery in Denver Colorado running through May 4th 2013.
“Welsh Rats” is a complexly layered presentation of new and recent paintings by emerging, New York-based artist Christian Rex van Minnen. Extolling his lavishly ornamented personal vocabulary of subtle and outrageous grotesqueries, van Minnen’s unsettling and disfigured, yet comical portraits hang alongside still life paintings of twisted tulips and hyper-real glistening entrails. Equally tangential, the exhibition title of “Welsh Rats,” is the Anglicization of the German word ‘Weltschmerz’ a reference by John Steinbeck in “East of Eden” meaning “world pain.” This sincere yet somewhat naive American (mis)interpretation of weighty European concepts of the past, reflects the confusion of language and history which is crucial to van Minnen’s artistic stance. This extends not just to the artist’s perception of European culture and painting but, also to how Native American and other ancient histories are also assimilated through art. Likened to a modern Archimboldo, van Minnen states, “I find myself either suppressing or indulging of my own desire to associate personal narrative to the raw visual information inherent in the material and process. Construction, destruction and reconstruction are symbiotic elements in the creative process allowing the image to fluctuate between abstraction and representation, truth and illusion, personal and archetypal.”
Russian physician turned turned artist Leonid Tishkov’s latest project consists of a portable crescent moon photographed in nostalgic and sentimental scenes all over the world. Creating images in china, new zealand, taiwan, the arctic, France and beyond, Tishkov’s global ongoing project tells the story of ” a man who met the moon and stayed with her forever.” (via)
