Danbusha

Japanese artist Shintaro Ohata (previously) currently has two new sculptural paintings on view at Mizuma Gallery in Singapore. Ohata places vibrantly painted figurative sculptures in the foreground of similarly styled paintings that when viewed directly appear to be a single artwork. In some sense it appears as though the figures have broken free from the canvas. These artworks, along with several of his other paintings, join works by Yoddogawa Technique, Enpei Ito, Osamu Watanabe, and Akira Yoshida, for the Sweet Paradox show that runs through August 10th. (via F*ck Yeah Painting, My Modern Met)

Bookshelf Dioramas, Marc Giai-Miniet

Either/Or Newmarch. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2014.

Either/Or Newmarch, detail. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2014.

Either/Or Newmarch, detail. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2014.

Zeno of Elea. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2013.

Zeno of Elea, detail. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2013.

Zeno of Elea II. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2013.

Zeno of Elea II, detail. Cut paper, 20″x20″, 2013.

Either/Or Tetragon 6.7.1. Cut paper, 8″x10″, 2014.

Either/Or Tetragon 6.7.1, detail. Cut paper, 8″x10″, 2014.

Virginia-based artist Eric Standley (previously) brings a whole new meaning to the term “cutting edge” with his methodical stained glass windows created entirely from laser-cut paper. Standley stacks well over 100 sheets for many of his pieces which involve months of planning, drawing, and assembly. The artist says his inspiration comes from the geometry found in Gothic and Islamic architectural ornamentation which he somewhat jokingly calls “folk math.”

Standley currently has work as part of “Fold, Paper, Scissors” at the Mesa Arts Center in Arizona, and is an included artist in the upcoming book Mandala Masterworks by Paul Heussenstamm. You can see many new pieces from the last several years on his website.

Check yourself

In orbit, International Space Station

What day is it?

Sulky Sue

“Rules are meant to be broken.”

Photo by Gina Sanderson

Photo by Gina Sanderson

Photo by Gina Sanderson

Photo by Gina Sanderson

Indonesian artist Ono Gaf works primarily with metallic junk reclaimed from a trash heap to create his animalistic sculptures. His most recent piece is this giant turtle containing hundreds of individual metal components like car parts, tools, bike parts, instruments, springs, and tractor rotors. You can read a bit more about Gaf over on the Jakarta Post, and see more of this turtle in this set of photos by Gina Sanderson. (via Steampunk Tendencies)

St. Mark’s Bookshop

Artist Isaac Cordal (previously) is well-known for his creation and placement of miniature cement figures in public places around the world as part of an ongoing series called Cement Eclipses. While the meaning behind each tiny sculpture is intentionally ambiguous, it’s impossible to look at each piece without imagining a story. The pieces often appear in scenes of mourning or despair, as part of what Cordal says is commentary on humankind’s disregard for nature and as foreshadowing of potential consequences. From his artist statement:

Isaac Cordal is sympathetic toward his little people and you can empathize with their situations, their leisure time, their waiting for buses and even their more tragic moments such as accidental death, suicide or family funerals. The sculptures can be found in gutters, on top of buildings, on top of bus shelters; in many unusual and unlikely places.

These new skeletal works are part of a 2013 series he created in Chiapas, Mexico, and he also had work this summer at ArtScape 2014 in Sweden. You can see more over on Facebook. (via Supersonic)

While climbing Mt. Fuji in 2012, photographer Kris J B managed to capture this crystal clear shot of the mountain’s shadow at sunrise. The 12,388 ft. Fuji is notoriously shy and is often obscured by low hanging clouds or fog. This was the photographer’s 4th attempt to climb the mountain, an ascent in 2011 left him with a tantalizing, but ultimately unsatisfactory photograph of the mountain’s perfectly triangular shadow stretching out toward the horizon. In 2012 he arrived prepared and returned with this amazing shot.

After posting it online two years ago, K B’s image spread like wildfire and he quickly lost control of his rights. The photo was used widely without his permission, a story he recently shared with PetaPixel. K B now lives and works in England, and you can follow more of his photography on his website and over on Facebook. Image courtesy the photographer.

Through his meticulous rendering of detail and dramatic use of perspective and colour, Combes explores the relationship between architecture and the human form, transforming everyday objects and situations into extraordinary images that are absorbing and often haunting.

Today’s French lesson

Giddy up

Dorkly

Trichoptera (caddis larva) building case (studio view), 1980-2000. Material: Gold, pearls, turquoise. Length: 2.5 cm. Photographer: Frédéric Delpech. Image courtesy of the artist and Art:Concept gallery, Paris and MONA Museum of Old and New Art.

Right now, in almost every river in the world, some 12,000 different species of caddisfly larvae wriggle and crawl through sediment, twigs, and rocks in an attempt to build temporary aquatic cocoons. To do this, the small, slow-moving creatures excrete silk from salivary glands near their mouths which they use like mortar to stick together almost every available material into a cozy tube. A few weeks later a fully developed caddisfly emerges and almost immediately flies away.

After first learning about caddisflies, self-taught (and self-professed amateur) artist Hubert Duprat had a thought. Had a caddisfly ever naturally encountered a fleck of gold in a river and used it to build a home? And then one step further: what if a caddisfly had only gold and other precious stones or jewels to work with?

Trichoptères, French for the scientific name of the caddisfly, is Duprat’s answer to that question. For years the artist has been collaborating with the tiny insects, providing them small aquariums of gold, turquoise and pearls that the the larvae readily use to construct their temporary homes. Regardless of how creepy crawly you might find the insects, it’s impossible to deny the strange beauty of the final product, tiny gold sculptures held together with silk. Encountering them void of any context, one would assume they were constructed by a jeweler.

Duprat currently has a solo exhibition at the Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania which runs through July 28th, and it should be notced thath is work with caddisflies is only one small aspect of his art practice.

Trichoptera larva with case, 1980-2000. Material: gold and pearls. Dimension: 0.5 x 1.9 cm. Photographer: Frédéric Delpech. Image courtesy of the artist and Art:Concept gallery, Paris and MONA Museum of Old and New Art.

Trichoptera larva with case, 1980-2000. Material: gold and pearls. Dimension: 0.5 x 1.9 cm. Photographer: Frédéric Delpech. Image courtesy of the artist and Art:Concept gallery, Paris and MONA Museum of Old and New Art.

Trichoptera (caddis larva) case. Photographer: Fabrice Gousset.

Trichoptera (caddis larva) case on pedestal. Photographer: Fabrice Gousset.

Trichoptera (caddis larva) case. Photographer: Fabrice Gousset.

Trichoptera (caddis larva) case on pedestal. Photographer: Fabrice Gousset.

Trichoptera (caddis larva) case. Photographer: Fabrice Gousset.

Trichoptera (caddis larva) case on pedestal. Photographer: Fabrice Gousset.

A huge thank you to the Museum of Old and New Art and photographer Fabrice Gousset for providing the images for this post. If you liked this, don’t miss the work of (via ARTREBELS)

Lucie Houdkova

Andrée-Anne Dupuis-Bourret

Marine Coutroutsios

Alexander Korzer-Robinson

Geraldine Gonzalez

Mia Pearlman

Cecilia Levy

Just published by Gingko Press, Paper Play is a new 256-page book exploring the use of paper in contemporary art and design. The book features no less than 82 designers and artists who use paper in sculptures, jewelry, street art, installations and everything else you can imagine. I started listing out all the artists we’ve featured here on the Colossal who are included in the book, but it got a bit unwieldy after a dozen. Pick it up here.

Are you ready for marriage? (1970)

For a major retrospective of Dutch furniture designer and architect Gerrit Rietveld, the team at Studio Wieki Somers collaborated with chocolatier Rafael Mutter to create Chocolate Mill. The piece was comprised of a giant cylindrical chocolate block that was carefully organized in 10 stacked layers, with flavored shapes used to create different geometric patterns. As a crank-turned blade similar to a cheese slicer grazed shavings off the top, the hidden layers were slowly revealed. You can watch a timelapse of the piece in the video above. (via Designboom, Design You Trust)

Don’t you want to be happy?

Calvin and Hobbes

Modern Toss

le Tour, Tim George

Hedi Xadt

Daniel Danger

John Dunfee

In his mid-20s, James Golding was diagnosed with cancer. In the hospital, he weighed 84 pounds and was given a 5% chance of living. Five years later, he embarked on a journey to France to break the record for most distance ridden on a bike in 7 days. This video follows Golding through his record-breaking attempt.

The video was produced by the same team that did the lovely Experiments in Speed video.

Jo Fitzpatrick‎

UK sculptor Robin Wight creates dramatic scenes of wind-blown fairies clutching dandelions, clinging to trees, and seemingly suspended in midair, all with densely wrapped forms of stainless steel wire. The artist currently has several pieces on view at the Trentham Gardens and sells a number of DIY wire sculpting kits from his website where he also discusses in great detail how each piece is built. See more over on Facebook. (via Reddit).