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Arts Archive: Arts

July 4, 2009

Fireworks Animation by PES

Just in time for the 4th, here's an adorable fireworks animation by PES.

July 2, 2009

This rad wind-powered knitting machine knits a long tube while the wind blows. It uses a vintage sock knitting machine. I love it as a visualization of how windy it's been in the last few hours/days. Via knitgrrl.

July 1, 2009

Circuit Board Latch Hook Rug

I'm so in love with this circuit board latch hook rug from Red Tarts, I'm not sure what more to say other than ... wow.

June 29, 2009

Girlie Gundam

The images of this pink girlie Gundam created by a Taiwanese fan are blowing me away this morning. Look at those garters!

June 25, 2009

Banksy Versus the Bristol City Museum

In the UK, lines outside Bristol's City Museum & Art Gallery (estimated to be an hour wait time) are testimony to the popularity of notorious street artist Banksy. The museum is proud to present a unique collaboration between the city's foremost cultural institution and one of the region's most infamous artists. Most widely recognized for his subversive stencil art, Banksy needs no introduction to many. And of course in true Banksy fight-the-power style, admission is free. The exhibit will run until August 31st. Wish I was on the other side of the pond for this one! Since the installation seems beyond words, check out the trailer for some flavor:

June 23, 2009

Pyrotechnics Art

Rosemarie Fiore makes a different kind of fire art. She uses controlled detonations of fireworks on paper to disperse bursts of saturated color. Her recent work is entitled Pyrotechnics Firework Drawings 2009, and Rosemarie explains her process:

I bomb blank sheets of paper with different fireworks including color smoke bombs, jumping jacks, monster balls, fountains, magic whips, spinning carnations, ground blooms, rings of fire, and lasers. As I work, I create imagery by controlling the chaotic nature of the explosions in upside-down containers.
When the paper becomes saturated in color, dark and burned, I take it back to my studio and collage blank paper circles onto the image to establish new planes and open up the composition. I then continue to bomb the pieces. These actions are repeated a number of times. The final works contain many layers of collaged explosions and are thick and heavy.

She's also made art with a lawnmower, a car windshield wiper, a pinball machine, and a waffle iron.

Rosemarie Fiore

June 22, 2009

From Sketches to Softies

Handmade Romance recently shared her process of creating a softie from the sketches all the way through the final creation. It's a great look in to all the thought and work that goes into creating a piece of art.

[ via kootoyoo ]

June 18, 2009

The Artwork of Cody Vrosh

At Maker Faire Bay Area's Bazaar Bizarre, I met Cody Vrosh and got a glimpse at his amazing paintings and prints. Cody's style is way dreamy and truly original. His paintings caught my eye not only because of their unique flavor, but because they are painted in a somewhat translucent manner on pieces of wood. Gorgeous eye candy is available on his website gallery, and select prints are available on his Etsy page.

June 12, 2009

Wellington Dreams Animation

Andrew and Melissa Frueh made this animation with handmade environmental elements and a needle-felted elephant. It's called Wellington Dreams. So sweet! Via Handmade in PA.

June 11, 2009

Moxie and Dana Robson Opening at Bluebottle Tonight

Tonight the Bluebottle Art Gallery in Seattle is hosting an art opening reception for Tiny Repetitive Motions, a show featuring the amazing woolly art of our beloved miss Moxie and the sweet embroidery of Dana Robson. This collaborative display showcases work that "explores the intersection of craft and art, focusing on humanity and its collective nature." The reception tonight is from 6 to 8 p.m., and the exhibit runs through June 30th. Moxie's work will also be featured in the Fiber Arctic exhibit, which opens at Schmancy in Seattle tomorrow, June 12th.

A Look at Extreme Pottery Making in China

Garth Johnson of Extreme Craft is in China this summer, studying ceramics. He posted about how craftsmen create the giant ceramic pots that I've often looked at and wondered, "How on earth do they do that!?" Check out his post to see how the pots, hand-thrown, are created.

June 10, 2009

Common Sense Knitting and Crochet Exhibit in Austin

Austin artspace, testsite, has recently opened up an interactive exhibit with Brooklyn-based artist, Sheila Pepe. Pepe is known for her intense crochet-based installations, and Common Sense follows suit.

In the rooms of testsite, Pepe will install massive networks of crocheted yarn- skeins of yarn available for constructive re-use by testsite's visitors. Throughout the exhibition's duration, visitors are "encouraged to become interpreters, collaborators, to sit down and literally unravel Pepe's crochet stitches, and then use the same yarn to knit items for personal or domestic use, i.e. scarves, hats, socks, mittens, slippers, purses, cosies, potholders, etc. This collaborative effort removes art from a solitary, hermetic experience to one that is social, communal, and interactive--a renewal of old-fashioned notions of togetherness that are being embraced by current generations." Over time, during open hours as well as a variety of workshops, participants will dismantle Pepe's installation and creatively repurpose its materials towards practical ends.

As the installation physically deteriorates over the course of time, traces of its presence will remain: wall drawings from Pepe's ongoing Doppleganger series, created by the artist in collaboration with Dunbar. These sketches, "made according to a sequential method of intuitive object making, shadow casting, and interpretive drawing," create a playful, impractical counterpoint to the more utilitarian function of the dismantled and repurposed yarn.

There are several workshops going on throughout the month-long exhibit, including weekly open knitting instruction. Jenny Hart, artist and founder of Sublime Stitching, will be speaking at the exhibit this weekend on the subject of the role of functional media as art. For more information and a complete schedule of related events, see the testsite website.

June 5, 2009

Columbine Cross Stitch

This piece is called "Nothing Much Happened Today (for Eric and Dylan)" and is by artist Noelle Mason. It's been ~~lovingly~~ carefully stitched by hand, and who knows how long it must have taken. My interpretation: those long hours pay homage to the community around the Columbine High School shooting. I'm sure each stitch was spent deeply considering the implications of the image. The piece measures 50 x 66 inches. Via Radical Cross Stitch.

June 4, 2009

The Knitting Orchestra From Art Yarn

The Knitting Orchestra from Art Yarn had its first performance Monday night in Manchester, England.

The Knitting orchestra is a curious experiment looking at all those parts between making a stitch, the rhythmic patterns, the gestural actions and an investigation into the many varied yarns, needles and techniques that can be used in knitting and crochet activity.

My Little Zombie Ponies

I'm loving these zombie My Little Ponies by Flickr user dbx1. They were made with the "decorate your own" kit. Via BoingBoing.

June 3, 2009

Flashback: Aerosol Artistry

One of my favorite DIYs from the pages of CRAFT is one that was born from a desire to see a process in action, executed by veterans. In CRAFT Volume 04, "Aerosol Artistry" did just that. ST!ZO accompanied and documented two of Chicago's highly respected graffiti writers, OMENS and REVISE CMW, as they masterfully transformed a dull brick wall into a mural of respectable proportions. What CRAFT readers got to see was layer by layer of the art.

Here's a little background intro by ST!ZO:

The beginnings of graffiti can be traced back to the late 60s when graffiti artists like TAKI 183 and Julio 204 used magic marker and spray paint to tag their names in the boroughs of New York City. By the mid-70s, graffiti artists moved to subway cars, painting them from top to bottom. Some people looked at it as vandalism and a sign of urban decay, but as time passed graffiti became accepted by many as a true art form.

Today, many business owners ask graffiti writers to use their buildings as canvases for the artists' imaginations. REVISE CMW and OMENS let me document their collaboration on their most recent wall project, on the West Side of Chicago. Following is an explanation of the process they go through to create the pieces that they are known for.

Though it's nearly impossible to describe how to make each and every letter in this piece, watching the process gives a window into how amazing pieces like this are created. Of course, not every graffiti writer uses the method of graffiti application explained here. Graffiti is a free-form art and there are no rules in the way of its application.

Check out the how-to here in our Digital Edition to get the written details, and fine-tune your can control by watching the masters at work.

Fluid Sculpture Dress at Maker Faire

Here's one of the pieces I was looking forward to seeing at Maker Faire this year. Rachel Hobson managed to snap a few photos, and I got to meet the creator of this fluid-pumping dress made from surgical tubing. From the Casual Profanity site:

There was one question I got frequently that is worth answering, and that is: “how did you think of this”?

Forgetting for a second that we’re talking about a dress made with tubes and a pump and not, for instance, something useful. I would like to propose that the origin of this, and most any idea, is a bit absurd and mostly irrelevant.

What is vital though, and of greater influence on any project, is how it perpetuates.

The Maker Faire is what motivated me. The receptive, forgiving, and care-full group of people represented there and on the internet is of much greater consequence to my project than whatever random elements fused at its conception.

More:

Knitted Plastic Tubing makes Fluid Sculpture

LED dress for Bachelorette

Karen Curley and Lindsay Broomfield made this LED dress for the band Bachelorette using a LilyPad Arduino and some LilyPad sewable LEDs. Check out the Flickr set. Via Fashioning Technology.

More:

June 2, 2009

Inspiration in Unlikely Places, With Unlikely Medium

It's fun to try to guess exactly what you are looking at in the picture above, and it's mind-blowing to discover what it actually is and hear the story behind the artist who created it. Jeffery Ruddell shares a beautiful story of one man's urge to create, and his artwork that comes from a most unlikely medium. Ruddell's exceptional story telling skills combined with the inspirational nature of this gentleman's work make this a piece you absolutely must read.

June 1, 2009

Jill Bliss' Summer Sunday Afternoon Nature Drawing Workshops in June

Jillblissworkshop
If you are in the Portland, OR area you won't want to miss the Summer Sunday Afternoon Nature Drawing Workshop with Jill Bliss. Workshop dates are June 7, 14, 21, or 28

From Jill's blog:

This intimate workshop is a hands-on opportunity to learn Jill's intuitive drawing techniques while learning how to understand, appreciate and translate the world around you through drawing. Drawing can become second nature to everyone, and everyone has the ability to draw! It just takes a positive attitude, a little understanding, and some practice.

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