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Heartbreaking by Lois Andison

'Heartbreaking' from olgakorpergallery.com

This one goes out to Josh.

Heartbreaking, a kinetic sculpture by Lois Andison, is a device that gradually works its way through every possible word that can be spelled with the letters H,E,A,R,T,B,R,E,A,K,I,N,G (in that order). Terrence Dick over at Akimbo called it, “the closest thing I’ve seen that’s come to a perfect marriage of word and art.”

'Heartbreaking' from olgakorpergallery.com

Lois Andison was born in Smiths Falls, Ontario. She currently lives and works in Toronto, Ontario. Her kinetic sculptures/installations investigate the intersection of technology, nature and the body. Using movement to initiate an exchange with the viewer, Andison’s work poetically explores social and technological concerns through the construction of the hybrid art object.

'Heartbreaking' from olgakorpergallery.com

She has a number of other interesting data-driven types of works available to view on Olga Korper Gallery.

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Casino Luxembourg: This is Not a Casino

I recently came across some documentation of a visual arts exhibit at Casino Luxembourg called, in English, “This is Not a Casino.” The show features a plethora of sculptural and installation work that seemingly plays games with the viewer/participant.

For instance, the above image is a pool table that could never be used as such. Also included in the exhibit are a trampoline with no room for a person to jump and a basketball net with an almost endless veil of a net attached to the rim.

I really enjoy work like this, work that mocks those who think that art exhibits should be superficially gratifying and easy to digest.

Via: We Make Money, Not Art

Continue reading “Casino Luxembourg: This is Not a Casino”

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Numen/For Use’s Tape Installation

Ever wonder what 530 rolls of self-adhesive tape would look like if you used it to create a spiderweb? It would probably look much like Numen/For Use‘s Tape Installation in Odeon, Vienna. While I always appreciate projects that are so ambitious and visually stunning, I’m growing wary of excessive waste. Clear packing tape is, for the most part, not recyclable (due to its adhesive) and using 530 rolls for a temporary project is a bit tough for me to grasp.

While I don’t mean to sound like a worrier, I’m just concerned about projects that are so overwhelming to the viewer that he or she can’t stop for a minute to think about the implications of production. We (BCL) have used plastic products in some of our projects in the past, but questions about waste were usually addressed. The most I can hope for is that artists keep asking these important questions when they decide to take refined materials and transform them.

There are a couple of images of this massive installation after the jump.

Continue reading “Numen/For Use’s Tape Installation”

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Zeke Moores: Bronze Dumpster

Zeke Moores makes badass metal sculptures from metal. He does this in Windsor; we’re lucky to have him (and his partner, Lucy, who we’ve written about before) in this city.

He has an extensive background in metal fabrication and working in a foundry, and he teaches at the University of Windsor. His work explores the social and cultural economies of everyday objects, and in particular, his Bronze Dumpster is going to be testing some of those economies as it slowly travels to alleyways across the city over the course of the summer.

Hopefully we’ll get to play with Zeke and Lucy sometime soon.

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Os Gemeos Parade Balloons

osgemeos

We’ve talked many times in the past about the need to do a parade of one kind or another here in Windsor, so when I saw this latest work by the Brazilian street art duo, Os Gemeos, and Plasticiens Volants, I had to post it.

The entire outdoor festival / parade entitled, LOST ART: ESTRANGEIRO looked incredible!

Leave it to a city like São Paulo to pull this off. Shouldn’t we be passing inflatable balloon sculptures back and forth across the Detroit River? Or at least across EC Row?

[via PSFK]

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Anne Percoco’s “Indra’s Cloud”

Anne Percoco's "Indra's Cloud"

Since we do have “access” to a fairly large river–one which separates us from Detroit, Michigan–a project such as Anne Percoco‘s “Indra’s Cloud” could work to highlight similar pollution issues in our area. Our river is not generally used for bathing, but the one pictured has been used for years and is now raising serious health concerns. Anne’s commentary on the issue came in the form of a raft consructed from used plastic bottles and bound with recycled labels, which were used as rope.

In her words, “I created a mobile public sculpture which brings to life a local myth and draws attention to the severely polluted condition of the Yamuna River.”

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Benedict Radcliffe’s “Lambo!”

Benedict Radcliffe's "Lambo!"

In the spirit of combining parades, cars, and clever sculpture, I bring you Benedict Radcliffe and Ben Wilson’s “Lambo!” functional sculpture. This project is basically a steel 3D contour drawing of a Lamborghini Countach that can be driven by two-person peddle power. I think “clever” isn’t quite strong enough to properly describe this work. Would anyone like a Lamborghini that doesn’t require any gasoline? In their words, “the work questions the combustion engine, celebrates bicycle efficiency and the striking design of the Lamborghini arguably one of the most iconic super cars of all time…”

Continue reading “Benedict Radcliffe’s “Lambo!””

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Public Sculpture Tackle

Public Sculpture Tackle

Public Sculpture Tackle rethinks interaction with public sculpture. Performed by the Bruce High Quality Foundation, the work is pretty much what it sounds like; artists in the BHQF wear makeshift-athletic gear and attempt to tackle public sculptures in Manhattan, which is, by nature, “on the defense.”

I keep thinking about what public sculpture looks like in Windsor and wondering about what it means to have a sculpture ghetto garden. Public sculpture should be integrated into the streets.

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Bike Rack Sculptures

Bike Rack in Parkdale

With the recent addition of new bike racks in downtown Windsor, which I’m happy to see, and with the recent addition to some of those racks with some yarn bombs, downtown feels a bit more like a place, rather than just an any-space-whatever.

I’m also aware though, that Tecumseh has had an ongoing bike rack design competition, which has obviously been successful elsewhere. Above, there’s a photo from a recent installation of a bike rack sculpture in the Parkdale area of Toronto. With so, so, so many talented sculptors and artists in the city, this should be standard practice. Why doesn’t Artcite try to work with the city to have a small bike rack sculpture competition for the downtown core?

Alternatively, we here at Broken City Lab are working on brainstorming new ways to turn any piece of infrastructure into a functioning, safe, and secure bike rack.

[via Worldchanging & spacing]

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Billie McLaughlin’s Untitled

Huron Church

Installed alongside Huron Church Road, this large sculpture was made by Billie McLaughlin for Rod Strickland’s Advanced Sculpture class. The project requirements involved sourcing all the material for the work from existing sources (a zero-footprint sculpture). The 9 ft tall wooden gas mask was made from 100% reused wood, salvaged from the garbage of our community.