“Take a look at Brussels” by TBWA for client SNCF (French Railway System) in Paris is a fantastic way to increase tourism. The cutout for your head really draws in curious passersby, and the charming Belgians on the other end are sure to woo you into buying a train ticket. I’d like to see this as an entire campaign.
Tag Archives: modern art
Step Inside your Individualized Colorbox
Brought to life as a Kickstarter project, Colorbox is an awesome way to “get inside art.” Created in part by Gabriel Mott, your motions dictate what happens to projected colors and lights once you step inside a giant white box. Anyway, Kickstarter seems to be a great platform for interactive art, which can require some very expensive materials such as projectors, cameras, and technology. Good to know…
You Want This: Digital Rug
NTT Learning Group created this large-scale interactive rug that makes walking seem a whole lot more interesting! Watch the flowers sway as this little girl tests it out. Then try to tell me you don’t want this for yourself…
Art that Reflects the Universe
Here are three pieces featured in last February’s Kinetica Artfair that take inspiration from our very own Universe. From the movement of atoms within matter to an understanding of space, time, and nothingness, these projects draw from the fibers that make up our worlds and, as a result, are very cool.
András Mengyán, Polyphonic Visual Space (2011)
“In his current work, Mengyán attempts to find the answers to three questions: a. ‘How is it possible (if it is possible at all) to comprehend simultaneously, the multifaceted nature and qualitative changes and aspects of a perceived environment?’ b. ‘Is there any means of visually expressing this simultaneous perception?’ and, c. ‘Is our three dimensional awareness adequate to comprehend all of these?’ The weighing up of the possibilities of providing an answer led him to a sort of solution, which in short he refers to as: Polyphonic Visual Space or ‘Simultaneous Spatial-View’.” (Kinetica)
Tom Wilkinson, Green Ray (1999)
“Recognising that all matter and physical objects are made of particles in motion with vast gaps of nothingness between their composite atoms, Wilkinson is interested in the movement of energy and the pattern that are created in the process. The spherical form is of particular interest as Wilkinson considers it to be the purest form in the physical world, the shape all matter, when fluid, gravitates towards.” (Wilkinson)
Martin Bricelj Baraga, Darkstar (2012)
Teaser trailer:
“DarkStar is a developing interactive sculpture for public space that generates an audiovisual interpretation of its direct and indirect surroundings. The installation reacts to the space it is situated in and the people around it but also to the movements of the stars.
Unlike ‘traditional’ monuments, DarkStar does not pay tribute to historic figures (politicians, soldiers, religious leaders, etc). Instead, DarkStar is an organism that pays homage to the city, space and time.
The illuminated part of the monument rotates in a full circle every minute. This means that DarkStar functions as a clock that only counts minutes and so marks the ever faster passage of time. The installation is a huge dome that reflects moon phases. The size of the illuminated section of the moon is transferred into the illuminated part of the Star which reflects the movements of the people within the space.”(Bturn)
Sources: Image, András Mengyán, Tom Wilkinson, Martin Bricelj Baraga, Darkstar, Bturn
Covering your Walls with Crayon=not Just for Kids
What you are looking at is ADA, Karina Smigla-Bobinski’s giant interactive crayon ball that allows adults to indulge their inner toddler. A transparent globe is filled with helium, covered in charcoal sticks, and sent off into a pure white room for utter destruction. If you’re looking for a more artful description, check out the artist’s statement here. While I’m sure it’s got some deep meaning behind it (or not, whatever), all I can really think about is how fun it must be to channel your inner child and just go to town on those walls via the biggest balloon you’ve ever got your hands on. I mean, those walls are really just begging to be tampered with. Check out this girl’s smile at 01:00, you can tell she’s loving it:
Karina Smigla-Bobinski is a Munich and Berlin-based artist who works with digital, analog, and mixed media. She has some very interesting public video installations and light installations. View the entirety of her portfolio on her professional site.
Sound Sculptures on a Mind-Boggling Scale
This installation has me speechless–and it’s a good thing, because I wouldn’t want to pollute it with the sound of my voice. Watch the video below and you’ll know exactly what I mean. Artist Zimoun has taken seemingly mundane objects and put them together in “architecturally-minded platforms of sound” for an overall beautiful result. I say no more. Watch the video!
Van Gogh Starry Night made Interactive!
Made interactive by Petros Vrellis. As written on Creative Applications:
“Petros Vrellis has created an interactive visualisation and synthesizer that animates Vincent Van Goghs “Starry Night”, using openframeworks to create a simple and elegant interaction. A fluid simulation gently creates a flowing fabric from Van Goghs impressionist portrait of the Milky Way and night sky over Saint-Rémy in France using the thick paint daubs as the particles within the fluid.
A touch interface allows a viewer to deform the image, altering both the flow of the particles and the synthesized sound, and then watch it slowly return to its original state. The sound itself is created using a MIDI interface to create a soft ambient tone out of the movement of the fluid that underscores the soft movement. Beauty through simplicity at its finest and most playful.”
Try on Your Virtual Angel Wings!
Cinimod Studio and Dominic Harris made “Ice Angel,” an interactive LED screen that gives you wings when you flap your arms around like a bird. Super cool in theory, but in practicality the message gets a little garbled. As you can see from the video below, what’s keeping participants from enjoying it fully is the half-second lag. As this audience member quickly realizes, the lag seems to go away if you go really, really, really slowly. But what kind of angel wants to move slowly? No human angel, that’s for sure. Seems like something that could be fixed.
Here’s what the creators had to say:
“Ice Angel blends the act of youthful playfulness when creating snow angels with modern digital manipulations,making the viewer assume the role of both performer and portrait subject.
As the user moves their arms a new wing shape appears, unfurling from the shoulders, moving and displacing virtual snow. The wings are created dynamically and are linked to the participant. The artwork has a ‘memory’, capturing a hidden view of the participant and their angel wings, and this specific angel identity remains linked to that participant in any future encounters with the artwork.
The merging of angel mythology and the natural phenomenon of light travelling to earth creates an intriguing intersection. In modern terms, light is our messenger, allowing us to view the universe. An angel’s form is inherently human, yet an angel always originates from beyond.”
Sources: Ice Angel from Cinimod Studio on Vimeo, Dominic Harris
Kinetic Playground: Why didn’t they have this when I was 6?
The super-creative folks at Seeper put together “Kinetic Playground,” a light display controlled by kids on a see-saw. Dude, don’t kids have enough toys already? I wanna play with the colored lights…wah. The exhibition was held by the River Thames in London on November 21, 2011.
“Atomic: Full of Love, Full of Wonder” is a Physical Bitmap Grid
“Atomic: Full of Love, Full of Wonder” is artist Nick Savvas’s 2005 exhibition containing thousands of colored suspended balls. This is cool, definitely interactive, but is there a way to push the boundaries even further?
L.R.'s Bizarre Bazaar 