Ninadarkangel

Lisbon-based street artist Bordallo II (previously) recently completed work on two new bird installations, an owl and heron, created from painted trash and other objects affixed to a wall. You can see additional new works by following on Facebook.

>> The title of the post is how the imaginary postcard would have gone if I had gotten my wish to stay on… and on… and on… It will surprise nobody that I’ve returned from my too short first-time trip to Marrakech in Morocco longing to go back.  The natural oohs and aaahs that the intensely vibrant yesteryear city incites are fully warranted.  I’ve just had to wait a while to experience it.  Despite my tardiness to the joys of Marrakech, I’ll still be rounding up my three day stay, with much thanks to Black Tomato Travel, with a hefty post once I’ve sorted through the bajillion of pics we took.

Yves Saint Laurent in Marrakech in 1969

For now, I’m keeping it short and sweet.  Let’s kick it off with “Love”, the theme of Yves Saint Laurent’s greeting cards, which he would create out of collage every year to send to close friends and clients to ring in a new year.  Their designs are on displayed at the Galerie Love Saint Laurent within the beautiful Jardin Majorelle, which Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé rescued in 1980 and used as his Marrakech bolthole.  It felt like a pilgrimage of sorts, visiting the beautifully landscaped gardens on Rue Yves Saint Laurent, a tranquil world away from the dusty bustle of the Medina, where Saint Laurent’s ashes were scattered when he died in 2008.  Except instead of feeling sombre like you would at a grave, it was celebratory of Saint Laurent’s love of this garden, carefully restored, cultivated and maintained by Berge and Saint Laurent, and of his overall love of this mysterious city, where he felt the creative freedom to dive into an extremely colourful oeuvre in the 1970s, furiously sketched out in felt tips, and fuelled by his tight knit circle of muses wafting around.

The exuberant and often witty graphics that Saint Laurent designed as greetings cards, exploding with colour and fun, moments of frivolity captured in his turbulent emotional life.  The beautiful merchandise in the Boutique Majorelle (no normal souvenir shop) – took inspiration from the cards and so it is I came home with a pair of embroidered leather slippers, spelling out LOVE, the only emotion I was ever going to feel for this city.

Switzerland-based illustrator and artist Christo Dagorov created this unusual series of pencil drawings that transform the texture of lips into trees, the aerial layout of a city, and even other human forms. You can see more of his work here. (via I Need a Guide)

Sir David Attenborough has added his voice to the campaign demanding U.K. company Soco International stop exploring for oil in Virunga National Park. Established in 1925, Virunga is Africa’s oldest national park and home to some of the world’s last mountain gorillas. The iconic filmmaker and naturalist has raised urgent concerns over various threats to the park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and the subject of a powerful documentary, to be released on Netflix this Friday 7 November, 2014.

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Post tags: Africa, conservation, corruption, Democratic Republic of Congo, documentary, elephants, gorillas, habitat destruction, intimidation, mining, oil exploration, resource extraction, Sir David Attenborough, UNESCO, Virunga, Virunga National Park, world heritage site

Binding. Quilling dimensions: 17″ x 20″.

Small Red Rug. Quilling dimensions: 9″ x 12″.

These astonishing renderings of symmetrically designed carpets are the beginning of a new paper sculpture series by artist Lisa Nilsson (previously) who arranges quilled strips of hand-cut mulberry paper at remarkably small scale. The new paper works are a departure from her earlier exploration of anatomical cross-sections and show a marked leap in her nearly unbelievable vision of paper quilling, something All Things Paper’s Ann Martin boldly states “has never been seen in its hundreds of years as an art form.” Unlike a traditional rug that might be woven row by row, Nilsson instead starts at the very center and progresses slowly outward, a tedious process that takes several months to complete a single piece. If you want to learn more, head over to All Things Paper to read an interview with Nilsson about her process.

We’ve seen vehicles with solar roofs that provide an extra boost of power, but the gorgeous Mercedes Benz Vision G-Code takes energy generation to a whole new level. The secret is the car’s paint, which is designed to generate power for the vehicle as an alternative fuel source. The Sports Utility Coupe is just a concept right now, but even if the vehicle doesn’t make it into production, the clever technology could be used to power cars in the future.

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Post tags: clean energy car, mercedes benz concept car, Mercedes Benz G-Code, Mercedes Benz Paint powered car, Mercedes Benz Sports Utility Coupe, Mercedes SUC, Mercedes-Benz, paint powered car, renewable energy car, solar energy car, Sports Utility Coupe, wind energy car

Artist Emil Alzamora (previously) explores the human body through his figurative sculptures that distort, inflate, elongate, and deconstruct physical forms in order to reveal emotional situations and narratives. Alzamora works with a variety of materials including bronze, gypsum, concrete, and other ceramic materials to create pieces with smooth, almost non-descript surfaces to instead draw attention to shape and scale. Born in Peru, he began sculpting in the fall of 1998 in New York at the Polich Tallix fine art foundry, and has since exhibited in galleries and museums around the world, most recently at Expo Chicago and the International Sculpture Symposium In Icheon in South Korea. You can see more of his work on Facebook and on Instagram. (via Dark Silence in Suburbia)

OK, so the spider isn’t fixing the leaf, but that doesn’t make it any less amazing (and no, it’s not Photoshop). Paris-based photographer Bertrand Kulik stumbled onto this tiny spider who managed to construct its web inside a leaf with a giant hole and snapped these photos at just the right angle. (thnx, Alex!)

Read the rest of Diem Chau Carves Pencil Tips Into Incredible Miniature Animal Sculptures!

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Post tags: Crayola Carvings, Diem Chau, eco design, eco-art, green design, pencil carving, pencil sculptures, recycle art, sustainable design

Axel Taferner

Shawn Hoke

Gigi Altarejos

Gigi Altarejos

Gigi Altarejos

DUMBO Arts Festival

DUMBO Arts Festival

DUMBO Arts Festival

As part of this year’s DUMBO Arts Festival, sculptor Tom Fruin installed his famous plexiglass house, Kolonihavehus, in Brooklyn Bridge Park. The multi-colored house was lit from inside and temporarily inhabited by performance duo CoreAct who engaged in a collaborative physical performance that is described here by DUMBO:

The colorful glass house is inhabited by two performers, who portray everyday dilemmas and lifestyle paradoxes in a subtle manner. They have lost the ability to meaningfully discriminate, and are trapped in a long chain of procrastination, mirroring our current social patterns.

You might also recognize Fruin’s other renowned sculpture in DUMBO, Watertower. (via My Modern Met)

Using nothing but wire, sculptor Clive Madison creates tangled trees that grow from wooden bases into dense clusters of leaves and branches. Each piece is made by hand without glue or solder, using single strands of wire that start at the base and terminate at the top. You can see many more pieces on his website, and several are available through Lee Champman Gallery. (via Ghost in the Machine)

This past weekend a mass of 35,000 walruses congregated on a remote Alaskan beach – and now authorities are concerned that the animals could stampede. This would put many of the animals at risk of death by trampling – especially juveniles. In response, the Federal Aviation Authority has re-routed flights, and the media, tourists and bush pilots have been asked to keep away from the site in an effort to not startle the animals. The animals are believed to have come ashore because arctic sea ice is currently at its sixth lowest level since satellite monitoring began in 1979.

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Post tags: 2014, 35000 walruses, alaska, Climate Change, global warming, habitat loss, mass walrus haulout in Alaska, NOAA, retreating sea ice, sea ice, stranded walruses, usfws, walrus haulout

Athens-based Fabulous Cat Papers offers a wide range of hand-made notebooks with embroidered Japanese paper covers featuring anatomical, floral, and geometric designs, all stitched by hand. What you see here is just a peek, see much more here. (via Demilked, Lustik)

Exploring sketches and artworks by freelance illustrator Mattias Adolfsson (previously here and here) is an exercise in discoverey with a twist of insanity. The pieces are almost impossible to take in all at once, and represent a collection of bizarre stories, exaggerated characters, and manical devices, all byproducts of Adolfsson’s uniquely dense imagination. Collected here are some posters and sketchbook spreaders from the last year or so, but you can see plenty more in his Flickr stream and in this 2013 interview with Nonsense Society. He also has prints and other items available in his Etsy shop.

Earlier this summer, storm chaser Alex Schueth managed to capture a timelapse of a rare cloud formation called a undulatus asperatus during a storm over Lincoln, Nebraska. The rolling pattern formed by the clouds almost gives the impression you’re underwater looking up at the surface at waves. (via PetaPixel)

Since 2001, artist and illustrator David Zinn has stalked the streets of Ann Arbor, Michigan, creating temporary illustrations with chalk and charcoal. Zinn improvises each piece on the spot and makes use of found objects, street fixtures, and stairsteps to create trompe l’oeil illusions. These are some of our favorite pieces from the last few months, but you can see plenty more on Facebook and in his 2013 book Lost & Unfounded: Street Art by David Zinn. All photos courtesy the artist. (via Street Art Utopia)

Actor and environmental activist Leonardo DiCaprio delivered a brief but powerful speech Tuesday morning before world leaders gathered in New York City for the United Nations Climate Summit. DiCaprio, who on Sunday participated in the People’s Climate March — the biggest climate march in history with an estimated 400,000 concerned citizens hitting the streets of Manhattan to demand climate action — humbly implored the international community to “answer the greatest challenge of our existence on this planet” before it is too late. The recently appointed UN Messenger of Peace issued a bold challenge to the attendees, saying that “you can make history or be vilified by it.”

Read the rest of Watch Leonardo DiCaprio’s Powerful Speech at the UN Climate Summit (Video)

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Post tags: clean energ, climate march, Leonardo DiCaprio, People's Climate March, un climate summit

In an ongoing series titled “Dreams,” Chinese sculptor Wang Ruilin creates surreal animals that don’t act like animals at all. Their backs, and sometimes their antlers, function as arcs that carry monumental elements of nature like lakes and mountain cliffs. It’s like an animal-version of Noah’s Arc without people. “Leaving individuals behind is painful”, admits the 29-year old sculptor, but it allows us to reduce confusion and see the value and force of life.

Ruilin’s copper sculptures are the result of Eastern classical painting and imagery that’s been combined with past experiences. He recalls a life-changing incident when, at the age of 4 or 5, he encountered a painting of a horse by the artist Xu Beihong. He became obsessed with the vigorous animal and has ever since identified with it. The artist describes his creative process as digging deep into his heart and excavating “works that originally exist from various experiences.”

Ruilin’s “Dreams” series was most recently part of ART Beijing earlier this year. You can see more of his work on his website or follow him on Behance.

Early last month, Spanish artist Pejac (previously) created a fun silhouette artwork commemorating the 40th anniversary of French high-wire walker Philippe Petit’s daring walk between the Twin Towers in New York. In Pejac’s version, a tightrope walker painted in black acrylic on an interior window is shown walking along an airplane contrail several miles away in the sky. The fun optical illusion caught the attention of Sasha Bogojev over at Hi-Fructose who discovered the artist has been creating similar silhouette artworks since 2011. Seen here are a few of our favorites. Photos by Paco Esteve and Silvia Guinovart courtesy the artist. (via Hi-Fructose)

Ballerina, 2011. Grey Bardiglio Marble. 190 x 45 x 52cm

Irish sculptor Kevin Francis Gray works primarily with bronze and marble to create idealized figures draped with fabric in the style of Neoclassical or Baroque figurative sculptures. Though, unlike gods or royalty that one might expect to see rendered in such incredible detail, Gray instead creates anonymous depictions of regular individuals he encounters near his studio in London, often people struggling with addiction or other difficult, real-world issues. From an essay about Gray’s work by Rachel Wilf:

The resulting works portray these subjects—often with personal histories marred by contemporary demons such as addiction—with dignity and importance, yet they also express a somber, contemplative quality emphasized by the artist’s consistent shrouding of his subject’s faces.

While some artists now rely on laser cutting or other machines to cut from marble, Gray instead works by hand, from start to finish, chiseling away just like Gian Lorenzo Bernini or Giuseppe Sanmartino might have done in the 17th or 18th century.

Gray studied at the National College of Art & Design in Dublin, the School of the Art Institute in Chicago, and received an MA in Fine Art from Goldsmith College in London. He’s now represented by Pace Gallery where he had his first exhibition with them earlier this year. You can see much more work in his online gallery.

Ballerina, 2011. Grey Bardiglio Marble. 190 x 45 x 52cm

Ballerina, 2011. Grey Bardiglio Marble. 190 x 45 x 52cm

Ballerina, 2011. Grey Bardiglio Marble. 190 x 45 x 52cm

Ballerina Bust, 2012. Black Carrara Marble. 41 x 35 x 35cm

Temporal Sitter, 2012. High Polished Bronze, Bardigilio Marble. 89.9 x 89.9 x 169.9cm

Temporal Sitter, 2012. High Polished Bronze, Bardigilio Marble. 89.9 x 89.9 x 169.9cm

Temporal Sitter, 2012. High Polished Bronze, Bardigilio Marble. 89.9 x 89.9 x 169.9cm

Temporal Sitter, 2011. Carrara Marble. 94 x 80 x 80 cm

Temporal Sitter, 2011. Carrara Marble. 94 x 80 x 80 cm

Temporal Sitter, 2011. Carrara Marble. 94 x 80 x 80 cm

Photo by roaming-the-planet

Photo by roaming-the-planet

Photos by roaming-the-planet

First a Boeing 747, and now an industrial complex on a Vancover island; it seems no canvas is too large for Brazilian graffiti artists Os Gemeos who were invited to the Vancouver Biennale to turn six multi-story silos on Granville Island into their trademark ‘Giants.’ The murals on the 70-foot towers are now the largest paintings ever attempted by the pair, an astounding feat considering Os Gemeos completely donated a month of their time to create the non-profit art project. An Indiegogo fundraising campaign to recoup costs associated with painting the silos has been extremely successful. You can see more over on Arrested Motion.