Modern Guru
Modern Guru is a translucent ovoid with four huge digital eyes, floating above a ceremonial ring of LEDs. From his mouth flows a ream of absurdist messages, and in a statement about the true nature of lived experience, a new message is delivered when visitors take a photo of Modern Guru – a missive produced only for those who seek to photograph life rather than live the moment. This immersive new media art installation uses the intersection of art and technology to explore modern paths to happiness through unique interactions with characters along a mystical journey of discovery. Visitors are asked to commit to the path – a tight and winding trail with subtle points of connection along the way – a glowing landscape of oversized, whimsical mountains that chant incantations and blink innocently from digital eyes.
Having communed with the Guru, visitors then weave their way back through this warped and strange world full of illusions and delusions, perceptions and deceptions, all the while bathing in luminescent light; embracing big, gentle forms; and following their own path up the pink tongue staircase to meet the one who oversees the whole fantastic dominion, the Sun God.

Thalassic Masks
The Thalassic Masks project focuses on rethinking the protective mask, transforming a medical product, born in a state of emergency, into a design statement expressing contemporary identities.

allegoria sacra

This piece by AES+F takes the Italian Renaissance art piece Allegoria Sacra in order to show a modern representation of perjury. There are political and religious tones but there is not an overt statement trying to be made. AES+F are asking their audience to take a deeper look at how we see the Western and Eastern worlds, and how all people are judged.

Emobot
Catala’s work investigate emotions and empathy in our technological information-driven society. His computer generated Emobot appears at once familiar and strange as it utters simple statement about its feelings. The visually mesmerizing figure might serve as an avatar onto which we relate to the expression of strong feelings when they are delivered digitally-an increasing prevalent cultural phenomena. Listening to a not-quite human presence express its vulnerability may have less impact in us than hearing a real person communicate similar emotions. Nevertheless, the deliberate and repetitive manner in which Emobot articulates powerful sentiments affords us ample opportunity to reflect on the existential quality of their meaning.

泰里·卡拉汉
טיירי קלהאן
タイリーキャラハン
Тайри Каллахан
Chromatic Typewriter
The little Chromatic Typewriter, a conceptual art piece, is out in the world and the feedback has been great. Although it does not paint, I’ve decided I can at least re-type my artist statement with the thing, so long as I can limit it to a paragraph. It ought to be equally decipherable as any other artist statement I’ve read lately.
I’m super excited about it. The reaction to the piece has been pretty special. It seems to be making a lot of people happy and it has started some great discussions on the translation of art into words and words into art.

Anarchitecture

splitting house

“Of the many shows at the fabled 112 Greene Street gallery—an artistic epicenter of New York’s downtown scene in the 1970s—the Anarchitecture group show of March 1974 has been the subject of the most enduring discussion, despite a complete lack of documentation about it. Anarchitecture has become a foundational myth, but one that remains to be properly understood. Stemming from a series of meetings organized by Gordon Matta-Clark and reflecting his long-standing interest in architecture, the Anarchitecture exhibition was conceived as an anonymous group statement in photographs about the intersection of art and building. But did it actually happen? It exists only through oblique archival traces and the memories of the participants. Cutting Matta-Clark investigates the Anarchitecture group as a kind of collective research seminar, through extensive interviews with the protagonists and a dossier of all the available evidence. The dossier includes a collection of Matta-Clark’s aphoristic “art cards,” the 96 photographs that were produced by the various participants for possible inclusion in the exhibition, and images from a recently unearthed video of Matta-Clark’s now famous bus trip to see Splitting in Englewood, New Jersey.” Mark Wigley

Botanical Pavilion
To realize the ‘Botanical Pavilion’, Kengo Kuma worked alongside Geoff Nees — a melbourne-based artist and curator who has also worked on a number of architectural pavilions. Made in the japanese tradition of wooden architecture, where pieces interlock, held by tension and gravity, the structure at the NGV triennial features a tessellated interior lined with timber collected from trees felled or removed over several years at Melbourne’s royal botanic gardens. Some of the trees used within the architecture pre-date european settlement, while others signal the development of the gardens as a site of scientific research and botanical classification. Prioritizing natural phenomena over scientific order, the botanical species used are color-coded, rather than following any taxonomic order. this approach offers a statement by the designers against the reductive nature of science during the colonial era — a mindset at odds with many indigenous cultural beliefs and knowledge systems.

Graduate Fashion Week 2018

“One of the boldest statement pieces of the week, even more so than the fluorescent collections! Neyazi’s huge puffy fat suit resembling garment was incredibly unusual. The ballooning dress took on a very unique silhouette.The models were send down the runway wearing headpieces which matched the round bunched bottom shaped dress. The brown, beige and burnt orange colour pallet evoked a bonfire and the huge blown up dresses adhere to a fire form.” Chloe Alexandra Lawrence

FILE SAO PAULO 2017
HYPERGRADIENT
“Hypergradient” analyzes the different interpretations of an impartial consistent statement. The installation repeatedly changes between two states: the “statement” state and the “interpretation” state. The statement state displays a sequence of characters of a distinct semiotic system, which can be described as a deputy for all known semiotic systems. These single characters are grouped to strings and then form string orders into an abstract proposition.

Vincent Lapp is dedicated to creating mindful fashion, raising polemics, tackling society absurdities, and engaging in essential struggles such as sustainability. His graduate collection was developed as a statement against fanaticism and religious obscurantism following a satirical approach.

Flowers for Africa
Flowers For Africa the artist mined archives related to African de-colonization to compile a list of flowers associated with individuals, nations and/or resistance movements; an image library that became the basis for meticulous sculptural recreations of individual flowers, or entire bouquets. As Kapwani described of the series, in a statement that reads as apt in relation to her overall approach: “What I’m trying to do is to acquaint myself with these various historic times, and questions, and more generally an interest I have in power dynamics. With this project I have chosen to look from the African continent at these global questions of power dynamics. This project is a way for me to acquaint myself with different archives, consulting documents and simply pondering on those moments. In this process, this was the most natural gesture which emerged”

Kiesler’s longest-running project was Endless House, a single-family dwelling whose biomorphic form and lack of corners strongly contrasted with the hard geometric edges that defined most modern architecture of the time. He sought to design a structure responsive to the occupants’ functional and spiritual requirements. He developed his ideas for the house over several decades, creating numerous sketches and models. Although plans were made to build a to-scale model in MoMA’s Sculpture Garden in 1958, they did not materialize, and the project remains unrealized. Nonetheless, Kiesler’s Endless House concept was highly influential and stands as a strong expression of his bold statement: “Form does not follow function. Function follows vision. Vision follows reality.”

video

the Valley of the Gods
Valley of the Gods weaves together three narrative threads, mixing with the world of myths inspired by the Indian tribe legends about the ancient hero Ullikummin. “I am fascinated by the beauty and poetry of this mythology. It illustrates the contrast of primitive America with the current, equally surreal culture of America’s myth. With the culture of mass media and dreamed-up film illusions. It is summarised, among others, by the phrase ’sky is the limit’, demonstrating that everyone can become enormously rich”, director Lech Majewski said in a statement.

Body Systems I
British-born artist Rachel Garrard creates a range of multi-disciplinary work that explores the great unknown, looking to quantum physics and other theories of the universe for inspiration and guidance. Both her video performance pieces and works on paper capture, despite their earthly limitations, the infinite nature of life on this planet and beyond. In a personal statement on her blog, the artist explains “that exploring the outer reaches of the universe can be similar to exploring the inner reaches of the human psyche and that both are governed by the same forces.

[…]Her first collection reflects her inspirational playground of sculpturing leather by moulding it to the body, twisting buckles, leather straps creating volume, a fabric made out of medical bandages and all over ruffled silk. This fashion statement comes along with a high level of quality and handcraft. A lot of the pieces are fully studded by hand and profoundly processed. The vegetably tanned leather is hand painted and one dress consists out of more than 100 meters auf silk strips. By adding accessories such as leather headpieces and armcuffs, she balances a striking inspiration to a high level of contemporary fashion.

Draped Column
Standing ten feet tall and suggesting an elegant obelisk as much as a shower curtain, this curious sculpture raises questions: Is this a functional object? What function is implied? The title refers to an architectural element or a memorial, but this totem defies gravity and it unclear what could be memorialized. Instead, it exists as a conundrum, a surreal manifestation of an object of the imagination that shouldn’t be able to exist, but does so with its imposing, tangible presence. Draped Column holds our attention and our curiosity as a fully realized poetic statement.

Be the Inside of the Vase
Part I: Million Dollar Baby
Part II: Break the Vase
“I often invite viewers to participate, drawing strength from the audiences’ emotional vulnerability, and feelings of uneasiness, to complete the performance as a whole,” Morgan explains in her artist statement. “Here, my emotions become entwined with the audiences,’ creating a symbiotic relationship based on control and power.”

laberinto cromatico
Dutch artist Krijn de Koning has created a labyrinthine walkway between brightly coloured walls on a terrace at the Turner Contemporary gallery in Margate, England.
The first public commission in England by De Koning, the Dwelling installation comprises a series of angled walls punctured with doorways and windows that create a trail for visitors to navigate through.Situated on the south terrace of the David Chipperfield-designed Turner Contemporary, the walls are positioned between the exterior of the gallery building and the site boundary.The elements slot between existing structures, incorporating changes in floor level and abutting permanent concrete balustrades.“The artist’s site-specific works – part architecture, part sculpture – challenge the viewer, offering new possibilities to navigate and experience the space the works inhabit,” said a statement from the gallery.Perpendicular surfaces, including door and window recesses, are all painted in different colours.The bright tones reference traditional seaside pavilions and beach huts, a common feature along the UK coast.The maze is open to the sky so shadows move across the surfaces of installation through the day.Architectural features including windows and doors are different sizes and positioned at various heights, allowing some to be clambered over or crawled beneath.

Versions
Versions ist ein laufendes Projekt von Oliver Laric, das sich mit historischen und zeitgenössischen Ideen in Bezug auf Bildhierarchien befasst. Es wird vorgeschlagen, dass gegenwärtige Methoden der kreativen Produktion die Hierarchie eines authentischen oder auratischen „Originalbildes“ in Frage stellen. Anstatt ein primäres Objekt zu privilegieren, schlägt Versions eine Neuausrichtung für die Bilderzeugung vor, bei der Bootlegs, Kopien und Remixe im Zeitalter der digitalen Produktion zunehmend „Originale“ an sich reißen.
Versionen nehmen verschiedene Formen und Iterationen an, darunter eine Reihe von Monologen im Dokumentarfilmstil über montierten Bildern und Videoclips, Polyurethanabgüsse, die auf reformationsgeschädigten religiösen Figuren basieren, eine neu herausgegebene Bootleg-Veröffentlichung von Margaret Biebers Ancient Copies (ein akademischer Text, der sich mit dem Thema befasst) Protraktion der griechischen Ästhetik in die römische Kunst) sowie andere Skulpturen und angeeignete Gegenstände, die die zeitgenössische Bildzirkulation und ihren Austausch durch gegenwärtige und historische Bedingungen erklären.
Das Projekt dient als konzeptioneller Bezugspunkt für den Rest von Larics Praxis, in der eine abgeflachte Bildwirtschaft für die kreative Produktion abgebaut wird und dabei die Konsequenzen für die Hybridität in der zeitgenössischen Kultur untersucht werden. Aktuelle Soloprojekte umfassen: Versionen bei MIT List Visual Arts Center, CAS Annual Award im Lincoln Museum, Art Statements Einzelpräsentation auf der Art | 43 | Basel, Getränkekritik in der Skulpturhalle Basel, Frieze Projects auf der Frieze Art Fair 2011.

Multiple Identities, Sustainable Development
The focus is on multiple identities. There are pale, milky plastic pipes attached to the ceiling of the concrete interior, inside which, moved by fans, roll white balls. One after the other. If the one arrives, a new one is sent to another tube.Such works breathe inner unity. This closeness is sometimes a closeness, if not encryption. Because the language of contemporary installation art is foreign and difficult to read. The viewer’s gaze likes to evaluate subjectively and is always shaped by environmental influences such as culture, trends, styles, beliefs, experiences and politics. This makes the interpretation uncertain, it becomes subjective, often tempting to misconduct. Because anyone who claims that the work of art is created in the eye of the beholder and means that everyone, regardless of where they come from and how educated, can make a valid statement about a work of art is wrong. What Marcel DuChamp meant is that it unfolds in the eye of the beholder. But this development should not mean that simply opening the eyes also brings with it knowledge and insight. These qualities are developed through active participation, through perception. This, in turn, is not only feasible through the visual stimulus in the eye. It is possible, however, if you know who the artist is, what he is doing, what he wishes to express and with which underlying design principles the view is guided in what way to what. Only then does the processing take place, a connection of the causal relationships, which ultimately leads to art in the eye of the beholder. To an inner feeling outside of the spontaneous feelings.

MENSKE

Even the standing room only tickets have sold out, and the raging mass of disappointed kids looks like they may start a riot: the atmosphere before Ultima Vez’s performance is akin to a rock concert. Choreographer superstar Wim Vandekeybus’s company has toured the world with their trademark vocabulary of acrobatic, extreme, often violent movement, soaked in multimedia and energetic music. Menske (meaning approximately ‘little human’), their latest work, has all the typical flaws and qualities of classic Vandekeybus. On the conservative end of political intervention, Menske is an explosive concoction of brash statements about the state of the world today, a sequence of rapidly revolving scenes of conflicting logic: intimist, blockbuster, desperate, hysterical. The broad impression is not so much of a sociological portrait, but of a very personal anguish being exorcised right in front of us, as if Vandekeybus is constantly switching format in search of eloquence. Visually, it is stunning, filmic: a slum society falling apart through guerrilla warfare, in which girls handily assume the role of living, moving weapons. A woman descends into madness in an oneiric hospital, led by a costumed and masked group sharpening knives in rhythmic unison. A traumatised figure wanders the city ruins dictating a lamenting letter to invisible ‘Pablo.’ Men hoist a woman on a pole her whole body flapping like a flag. “It’s too much!” intrudes a stage hand, “Too much smoke, too much noise, too much everything!” And the scene responsively changes to a quiet soliloquy. At which point, however, does pure mimesis become complicit with the physical and psychological violence it strives to condemn? Unable to find its way out of visual shock, Menske never resolves into anything more than a loud admission of powerlessness.

Art-Statement-Art

Эллен Янцен
Disturbing the Spirits

Disturbing The Spirits, explores the photographers recent interest in the healing power of nature. In her series’ statement, the St. Louis-born photographer questions, “As human actions impact the natural environment, can artists heal nature? Does art bring special powers to the table? If so, what are they? What is ‘art’? What is ‘nature’? What needs healing?”

جنيفر روبل
제니퍼 루벨
ジェニファールベル
Portrait of the Artist

Jennifer Rubell, the American artist and niece of Studio 54 co-founder Steve Rubell, brings a maternal touch to this year’s Frieze Art Fair with her autobiographical piece Portrait of the Artist. The pristine white nude, cast from steel-reinforced fibreglass, reclines like an odalisque at the Stephen Friedman Gallery stand. The sculpture is a replica of Rubell’s own eight-months-pregnant body, except it is eight metres high: the large belly, which is carved out to leave an egg-shaped void, can accommodate a fully grown adult. Spectators are able to clamber into the artwork and curl up inside as if they are the artist’s unborn child.Rubell’s intention was to create a monumental gesture of unconditional motherly love. There is a feminist statement here, too: Rubell has appropriated a style and scale historically reserved for male leaders to show, she says, “an emotion that is intensely personal and un-heroic”. The artist adds that watching members of the Frieze audience enter in the sculpture’s womb is “tremendously satisfying” – in her eyes the enlarged form was “incomplete until the first viewer entered”. Amid the hustle of Frieze’s mini-city there is something undeniably appealing about the opportunity to put your feet up in the foetal position in the name of art. Not to mention the comfort factor.

airborne
Whirlwind Statement Piece

تاكاهيرو ماتسو
松尾高弘
타카히로 마츠오
Такахиро Мацуо
Phantasm
file festival

To explore a fantasy world experienced sometime and somewhere in our memory. Phantasm is an interactive installation in which participants light up in a small dreamlike world in space. As you take hold of a glowing sphere that releases a pale light, the area lights up in pale blue light, and white butterflies appear from nowhere as a soft piano melody flows. Butterflies fly slowly and gloriously, gathering toward the sphere, and chase you as you move the sphere. The sphere is the key to the real world and fantasy. Participants can experience the nostalgia of playing with butterflies by moving around or holding the sphere in the air. Beautiful white butterflies draw wing strokes in the air as if they are symbols of a fantasy world; they delicately lead you into their world. If you cover the sphere with your hands to shut out the light, the butterflies gradually disappear, leaving silence and lingering light, bringing you back to reality. You will find yourself perplexed as if it were a fleeting dream. Technical statement of “Phantasm” LEDs are used as the light source for the sphere which is the interface, so that the sphere glows in uniformity and allows the interaction of participants hiding the light or releasing the light with their hands. Light, color tone, and the position of the sphere are monitored with a sensor camera placed on the ceiling, and by connecting with real time CG, the butterfly movements (appearance, disappearance, gathering, and chasing) become possible.