Tag Archives: art

beach creatures and subway monsters

15 Jan


Inhabitat

I saw the following two videos and couldn’t wait to share.

The first is a very innovative project that straddles the line (point?) between art, design and technology. Theo Jansen makes wind-powered, almost self-animating creatures move on legs powered by what he calls a reinvention of the wheel. If you watch the second half of this video, he shows footage of a 3 ton metal creature being pushed along by one man. I think this is an invention that will definitely have many applications down the line. He also shows the creature detecting environmental conditions like high wind or water and taking measures on its own to deal with them. And all built with cheap materials like plastic tubes, plastic ties and lemonade bottles. It can even “store” wind in the bottles for later use!

The second is a fun bit of street art by Joshua Allen Harris, who installs inflatable garbage bag creatures on subway grates on New York streets so that when a train passes, the creature comes to life.

I wish there were more art projects like this – simple but inventive ideas that you can experience in everyday life without going into galleries and museums where art is cordoned off and you’re reprimanded for approaching it. It’s not abstruse – everybody gets it and is cheered by it!

Brodsky

4 Dec


Alexander Brodsky

This is an image from his Canal Street Subway Project in NYC that I came upon while flipping through PLOP: Recent Projects of the Public Art Fund.

From the press release:

Russian artist Alexander Brodsky transformed the Canal Street Subway Station into a Venetian canal, incorporating a shadow puppet style to create the illusion. The gondolas were made out of tin; wooden cutouts were placed in a shallow tank of water gently rocked by waves. Lights and faint sounds of music and lapping water were used to enhance the experience. The rear wall of the installation was filled with a perspective drawing of an ancient Venetian street, creating a sense of depth.