Archive for the ‘Things That Might Be Art’ CategoryJeremy Lin Action Figure
Posted:
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
in Art, Jailbreak Collective News, mashups, pop culture, Things That Might Be Art
1
Known for his artistry on the court, rookie sensation Jeremy Lin has taken the world by storm, inspiring millions with his story and his brilliant level of play. Created by Seattle sculptor Mike Leavitt and sold exclusively by Jailbreak Collective, the Jeremy Lin Action Figure commemorates Lin’s ascension to heroism by mashing Lin with the ‘80s G.I. Joe “Storm Shadow” character. It’s a hand-sculpted, one-of-a-kind piece priced at $2,500, and is the newest addition to Leavitt’s “Art Army” series, which sold out in 2011 at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York. The 9” tall Lin figure is made from polymer clay (Fimo & Sculpey), elastic cord, stryofoam & steel armatures. It has nine moving parts, including removable accessories (a ‘regulation’ basketball and a birch wood ball & chain) and comes with a bamboo wood base with steel foot pegs for a sleek display option. Hand-painted details display the Taiwanese flag’s sun (w/ basketball) logo and “Lin Seventeen” (on his back). Check out some detail shots after the jump.
Let’s smash some normal objects like sunglasses and flashlights, frisbees, etc. into tiny pieces. We’ll use hammers, blenders and other great mangling methods. We’ll put the pieces into little bags and sell them. But first, let’s use 3D imaging to map the objects and give the buyer a way to redefine their relationship with the idea of owning of an object, especially when so many things are “owned” virtually. This is the general concept of D/struct, an art installation/consumer product line by Lucas Maasen and Raw Color. They took 60 plactic items, crushed them until they were nothing but a bundle of tiny pieces of their former selves and then packaged them. Each bag has a QR code, that a person can scan to access the 3D digital version of what the object once was. You can buy the packs on their web store. Here is the description of the concept from the D/struct: Music and movies are detached from their physical carriers and can be borrowed or bought from shops and digital libraries. This restructuring is now beginning to manifest in the world of physical product. The technology of 3D scanning and 3D printing causes a decoupling of the shape of the product and the material it is made. This is certainly an interesting exploration. On another level, an artist friend of mine thinks it would be a great idea to buy famous works like Van Gogh’s Starry Night, burn it and sell hundreds of tiny vials of the ashes – fully confident that there is a market of consumers who would buy them. I tend to agree. I digress, but the same idea of the placebo of ownership applies. Follow the jump to see a video of a D/struct blender pulverizing what appears to be a plastic toy toolbox.
These mouth-shaped urinals at a Rolling Stones museum in Lüchow, Germany have some women’s rights groups up in arms. The functional sculptures were designed by a woman, Dutch artist Meike van Schijndel and based on the Rolling Stones logo, the “Tongue and Lip Design,” created by art designer John Pasche in 1971 (which he originally modeled after Mick Jagger‘s mouth). Despite, some are bothered by the inherent femininity of the mouths and are speaking out against them, claiming sexism. Local activist Roda Armbruster was quoted in Spiegel as stating, ”Why does it have to be a woman’s mouth? If it had been based on the emblem of the Stones with the tongue, it would have been OK. But the tongue’s been left out and they really look like women’s mouths.” Ulli Schröder, who opened the museum after collecting Stones memorabilia for decades, said, ”That’s not a man’s mouth or a woman’s mouth, that’s art. They were damned expensive and they’re staying where they are and that’s final.” Check out some more shots of the controversial urinals after the jump.
British artist Chris Thornley (aka “Raid71“) started the organization Arts V Cancer after he was diagnosed with “a very rare, incurable non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma at the age of 37.” Arts V Cancer is Thornley’s attempt to use his art to raise money and awareness to help others. Since 2011, he has been designing and selling prints like “Panther Pink” (pictured above), with all proceeds going to organizations that research cures or otherwise help those those affected by cancer. So far, Arts V Cancer has featured only Raid71′s designs, but is seeking other artists to join the fight and donate their work for the cause. It seems like a worthy one. Check out three more of Raid71′s designs below.
Artist Bartholomäus Traubeck created this piece, titled “Years,” by rigging his record player’s tone arm with a PlayStation Eye camera so he could take a disc of wood – a thin cross section of a tree – and listen to it as if it were an LP. The rings of years are picked up by the camera and and translated through Ableton Live to give them life in sound. The result: a beautiful, sad and eerie piano concerto. YEARS from Bartholomäus Traubeck on Vimeo. via Boing Boing
UK news publication The Guardian collected this gallery of photos of newsworthy events from 2011 reenacted with Legos. While I’ve seen a lot of year-end round-ups floating around (as with every year at this time), none struck me as entertaining as this. Also, one of the photos in the gallery seems to be from the same Occupy Wall Street Lego piece we posted about from Zucotti Park earlier this year. Although, they’re missing some arguably major events (read: Gabrielle Giffords shooting, Snowpocylapse, Egyptian protests, Joplin tornado, gay marriage in New York, Hurricane Irene, 10th Anniversary of 9/11, floods in Thailand, etc.), the results are nonetheless clever and poignant. Besides, the world looks like more fun through Lego colored glasses. Are there any events from 2011 you’d like to see recreated in Lego? [viaNeatorama] This animated short film is directed by Sean Mullen for Giant Creative animation studio. It depicts two artists having canvas envy, with each attempting to one-up the other while painting a sunset. Without giving too much away, it results in an inadvertant collaboration. Sometimes collaboration is by careful cooperation; other times it is by beautiful accident. This video’s theme indirectly reminds me of a recent referential game of catch between Jailbreak Collective collaborator Jason Freeny and the artist Ron English. Stay tuned for more about Jason Freeny as we gear up to release his exciting CAPSL designs in the new year.
These figures by self-described “Evil Arts Organization” Suckadelic depict a Cybertron version of the Occupy Wall Street conflict. With obvious references to the classic Transformers tussle of Autobots (the 99%) vs. Decepticons (the 1%), Sucklord is the leader of the 1%’s battle for cyber domination over occupation. These were released at a show yesterday on the Lower East Side, complete with accompanying trading cards. My only question is, in the war for a fair shake, the Decepticons have Megatron played by, perhaps, Goldman Sachs, but does OWS have an Optimus Prime? I guess I always pictured the OWS answer as more of a Voltron-type mashup of powers. Regardless, I like the metaphor.
[via The World's Best Ever]
This series of ads was designed by Team Detroit for an enrollment campaign for Detroit’s College of Creative Studies. They cleverly depict teens in situations common to anti-drug PSAs. The art direction and production value of these is pretty fantastic. I’ve included some of my favorites below, but you can check out a few others here. I wish more schools would be so creative in their advertising. These keep it edgy while targeting parents to confront their kids and encourage them to follow their real passions. “I learned it by watching you, alright!” Good stuff.
I couldn’t help being drawn to this stool made by British environmental design studio, FAT. It’s made of soft foam rubber (like a stress ball) and appears more or less actually comfortable. I tend to like the idea of this quite a bit: take a classical icon like Hercules, known for his power and godlike stature, his image often made of stone, towering over viewers of his effigy in a sculpture garden somewhere, but make his bust into something as common as a comfy place to sit. From the product description: “The bust of Hercules, usually something solid both in its material and the culture it represents becomes unexpectedly soft, deforming a recognizable object into stranger shapes when it is sat on. It uses the plasticity of rubber to suggest a more uncertain and doubtful state.” |
