Rubbish Art

// January 13th, 2012 // View Comments // featured

Collecting junk from the local dump and bringing it back home as ‘art’ might make most people hold their breath and politely ask you to return it, but upcycling is a booming trend. Dutch photographer Alexandra Brand is an enthusiastic fan, claiming that she enjoys the idea of creating harmony from chaos.

Arranging her found objects into a harmonious whole in preparation for a photograph is a meticulous process, each shot requiring considerable effort to set up – often an entire day. But Brand’s selective colour palette and meticulous positioning of objects makes her work both intriguing and easy on the eye.

17^th Century Dutch art is known for its soft colours and lighting, reflecting the character of the Dutch landscape itself, but in the 19^th Century Van Gogh upturned that tradition with his bold colours. But in Brand’s work at any rate, Holland’s flat landscape and delicate light have reasserted themselves.

Brand is a fine artist reflective of her Dutch artistic ancestors, except she uses very modern tools – and what we could controversially call a modern trend – as her chosen medium.

Hired? Absolut-ly!

// September 28th, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired, b-legendary, b-scene, featured

I think it’s fairly safe to say that everyone who has ever had a job interview will always remember THAT question.  And by this I mean the one that induces the sweating/stuttering/speechlessness resulting from the thought, ‘I really have no idea how to answer this’.

For me, this question was, ‘If you could hire any brand to represent you, which would it be and why?’ and my answer constituted a great deal of mumbling, several ‘ums’ and a fair few ‘ahhs’, before I came to the swift realisation that I would have to settle with a defeated smile and an attempt at some form of light-hearted humour.

If I were to be asked the question again now of course I would reply – with an air of smug self-satisfaction – that the brand would be Absolut Vodka (and no, it’s not because I am a university student and have a particular fondness for the product…)  

Why?

Absolut is…CREATIVE

As the tagline states, ‘It all starts with an Absolut Blank’ – but it is clear that Absolut’s newest marketing campaign did not stay that way for long.  Launched in July 2011, and comprising of 18 artist collaborations from a variety of different specialities including drawing, painting, print-making, film-making, sculpting and digital art, the Absolut Blank campaign seeks to ‘inspire artists all over the world by turning their iconic bottle into a blank canvas to be filled with creativity’.  Among the artworks are collage imagery by Mario Wagner, light installations by UVA, colourful graphic design by Aesthetic Apparatus, paintings by Dave Kinsey and mural work by Good Wives and Warriors.  Adam Boita, Marketing Manager at Pernod Ricard UK stated, ‘We brought together artist collaborators from a variety of disciplines and watched the journey from pure white canvas to exceptional pieces of art. The result depicts how artists and creativity are inspired through Absolut’. Watch the TV advert here.

Absolut is…INNOVATIVE

Last week, the company launched its free Absolut Blank app for iPhone 3GS, 4 and iPad2.  Using the camera and microphone, the app creates images and sounds inspired by the content that it has been fed with by the user – to produce an evolving piece of art.  The creation can then be uploaded to the Absolut Blank App Gallery and shared with friends on Facebook.  As Mark Hamilton, Global Marketing Director at Absolut, asserted, ‘The Absolut Blank app is both highly innovative and very addictive, it really changes your surroundings’. Want to see for yourself? Download it here and let us know what you think!

Absolut is…COMMITTED

This is not the first time Absolut has turned to artists when it comes to marketing campaigns. The company has a long history of dedication to contemporary art, with Andy Warhol (a teetotaller, he allegedly used Absolut as cologne!) being one of the first artists to paint for the brand in 1985.  According to Anna Malmhake, Vice President of Global Marketing, ‘It’s not about temporarily sponsoring something for one year, it’s 30 years of history’.  And, as a way of demonstrating this long-term commitment to creativity, the Absolut Art Award has been in existence since 2009.  Malmhake described the annual €30,000 prize as a small way for Absolut Vodka to show their gratitude to the world of contemporary art, presented to ‘an artist that we think is doing something really new and exciting and pushing the boundaries’.

It is at this point, of course, that I’m given a pat on the back by my interviewer for giving an excellent answer to such a tricky question.  Either that or I’m showed to the door and sent in the direction of Stockholm, the location of Absolut’s head office…

Looking for original artwork for your latest campaign like Absolut?  Submit a brief to the Creative Services Exchange today!

Hugh Byrne – Clouding the division between dream and reality

// September 23rd, 2011 // View Comments // b-scene, featured

Hugh Byrne is a UK-based artist, known for creating unique and distinctive pieces using photomontage techniques.  Employing Photoshop as a tool to manipulate his images, Hugh successfully blurs the distinction between the real and the imaginary – his inspiration deriving from his own dreams and an interest in science.  Currently Hugh works as an artist for SNAP, a project which seeks to engage disadvantaged young people with creative art.  Hugh is a new member of b-uncut and this week’s featured artist in the b-uncut “Special Exhibition” gallery.

 What was your very first artwork?

I created my first piece of artwork when I was in the Infants’ school, around the age of 7 – well, it’s the first one I can remember. I drew a dinosaur-lizard type creature.

Which is your favourite piece?

My favourite often changes and is usually the most recent one I’ve completed.

What inspires you?

The life around me is a strong source of inspiration for my art. A third of our lives we spend sleeping and I like to tap in to that world to see other states of mind, other ways of being and capture in my work different conceptions of time.

Tell us about your methods? When did you first start using Photoshop?

I started using Photoshop in 1998. Previously I spent ten years working primarily in photo-montage, with equipment as basic as scissors and glue that went alongside my duties as the darkroom supervisor in 33 Arts Centre, the first place of its kind in Luton. Comparing the work I did with montage techniques of the past to what I am able to achieve in Photoshop today, the quality looks remarkably similar; the developments in digital media have not in any way lessened the impact of my pre-digital artwork of yesteryear.

What memorable responses have you had to your work?

Some time ago I did a photo shoot for a local man who was ready to journey to the US to become a Bounty Hunter. The photographs I took have since been around the world, all the way to The New York Times. Now thirteen years later, the Bounty Hunter is back and we are working together once more: I have recently directed him in a photo shoot to produce stills and artwork for the release of his new book. Alongside this, I have arranged for him to meet a film crew to shoot footage of an episode from his life, for which we have the use of three helicopters in the itinerary.

What do you think is the artist’s role in society?

I believe an artist is very important to the functioning of any society. From my own personal experience as a community artist, I helped start a project over thirteen years ago that incorporated arts, painting, filmmaking, photography and set design; the project is still going strong to this day as a branch of Luton Community Arts Trust under the name of SNAP. With the help of other artists I am able to work with young, disadvantaged individuals by providing them with a safe and creative place to be in and a friendly and welcoming environment. From my time with this innovative community project, it is clear that being creative – and being encouraged to express one’s creativity – is incredibly therapeutic and benefits mental well-being. I find it helps people think and allows them to be in a position to make more positive decisions in life.

And finally…most embarrassing moment?

I was travelling from Luton in to London to take photographs in the Natural History Museum. On leaving it was quite chilly, so I made the journey in a large coat. Then came the time to travel on the underground, which was very warm in the first place but with my big coat it wasn’t long before the sweat began to pour. I had a magazine in my hands to read away the time – what I didn’t realise was that every time I wiped my brow with my hand, I was wiping the ink from the magazine over my face. People’s reactions to me were very strange to the point of madness, until I got home and looked in the mirror: I laughed my head off…. I looked like Rambo’s camouflage!

To find out more about Hugh’s work with SNAP, visit the website www.snap33.co.uk.

New York is Alive with Soundsuits

// September 22nd, 2011 // View Comments // b-inspired

In a world that seems increasingly beset by gloom, doom, and general darkness the work of Nick Cave stands out with it’s bright colouring and distinctive shapes.

Nick Cave’s first Soundsuit was created from twigs, but now they’re made from pretty much anything that he thinks will work including dyed human hair, sisal, plastic buttons, beads and feathers. Each suit is a riot of form and colour, as you’d expect from someone who was  the Chair of the Fashion School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

Cave is predominantly a performance artist, each Soundsuit is designed to fit him and he trained as a dancer. The Soundsuits are visually compelling when they are in repose, as Cave sometimes exhibits them. But it is when they have an inhabitant that they come alive. The movements of the wearing are exaggerated by the suit, resulting in a cacophony of of expression. The wearers view is restricted by the construction of the suit, so they must rely on it and the viewer to interpret their gestures.

This symbiosis of putting on anothers skin can be interpreted in many ways, not least because Cave is both black and gay. But the aspect of putting on anothers skin suggests that you are unhappy in your own, but there is no darkness in Cave’s work. Each suit is a riot of colour and speaks on an almost animal nature to us, each person will interpret it differently but for each I suspect that it will hark back to a less civlised time in their life. Like in Where the Wild Things Are, in which the wild things look like the inspiration for a Soundsuit, Cave’s art harks back to a time before rules, before you grew old, before you were tied down by the constraints of modern life. A time of joy when you were able to dance without caring.

Nick Cave currently has two shows on in New York at the The Jack Shainman Gallery and at the Mary Boone Gallery.

Need original artwork for your campaign? Why not submit a brief on the Creative Services Exchange.

The Brevity of the 30ft Portrait

// September 13th, 2011 // View Comments // b-street

Normally when you see someone’s name or face emblazoned on the wall of a building it’s safe to assume that they’re the ones in charge.

However, if you travel to Chandler, Quebec then the faces you see pasted on the side of the towns now defunct pulp and paper mill are those of the workers. Their faces, rendered 30ft high in black and white by the artist Dan Bergon (also known as fauxreel), are a solemn reminder how widespread the ramifications of a failed business can be.

The town of Chandler was founded by Percy Milton Chandler who built the first pulp and paper mill in the region in 1912. When times were good it provided employment for the town, but when it closed in 1999 it lead to widespread unemployment and worker migration. Unsurprisingly Chandler was left with economic and social problems. The workers depicted in the portraits have possibly left in the general migration in an attempt to find a better life. But the lineage of the workers who supported this mill while it supported them runs deep, and nowhere else could you can see how much it’s closure has taken from them.

The mill is scheduled for demolition soon, meaning that the portraits it now hosts will vanish like the jobs it once provided. The sheer size of the portraits in their deserted mill lends them a poignancy and nobility that they would not have in any other setting. The pictures will still exist on the internet but without the sense of scale or the authority of their current existence. But while the buildings still stands they serve as a sharp reminder of the instability of life and the ability for anywhere to be a gallery.

The Museum of Broken Relationships: the ritual of romance

// August 30th, 2011 // View Comments // b-Crowd, b-inspired, b-scene

The summer is coming to an end, and so are a number of art exhibitions in London.  What show should you see in the final days of summer?  Well, you could go see whatever is on at the Tate Modern, or you take a chance on an alternative arts experience: the ‘Museum of Broken Relationships’, for example.

‘The Museum of Broken Relationships’ is a unique exhibition that is both visually and emotionally engaging.  Conceptualized in Croatia by Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, each work of art tells the story of a past relationship – good or bad.  The works of art are a collection of random objects that are donated by people from around the world.

A forgotten wedding dress, underpants and a crumbling garden gnome are showcased alongside the descriptions of the stories that they represent: passion, romance and remembrance are explored in these stories.  There is no single way to view this show; the objects could represent the symbolic value of the relationship or the ruins of a failed romance.  However way you want to view the exhibition, one theme is true throughout: the Museum offers creativity in place of destruction.

When viewing the exhibition, one can’t help but wonder about these people who are willing to donate objects of such sentimental value to be placed on public display.  Perhaps it’s a way to overcome a destructive relationship or to honor a positive one.

Alongside the romantic shrines are objects donated by people living and working in the Covent Garden area as well as commissioned works in response to the exhibition.

Do you have a campaign that needs original artwork?  Submit a brief and get started today!

Austin, Texas: the hub of creativity

// July 4th, 2011 // View Comments // b-Crowd, b-inspired

Charles Umlauf. War Mother. 1939.

A few weeks ago, I delved into some alternative art experiences in Portland, Oregon, and today, I wanted to highlight another American city that is a magnet for the arts: Austin, Texas.  Also, since it’s July 4th, I wanted to celebrate an American city that is gaining international recognition for bolstering creativity.

Austin is a young city – over 71% of the population is under 45 – and is known to be a burgeoning hub of the arts.  It is also a city that pours a lot of resources into promoting creativity: public art installations can be seen all over the city, Austin is known for its rich gallery and museum collections and is a recipient of the prestigious Mellon Foundation grant.

Charles Umlauf is an Austin-based artist who is at the forefront of promoting sculpture art in this amazing city.  Umlauf’s work ranges from carefully detailed naturalistic sculptures to lyrical abstractions.  However, it’s the various media that he works in that sets him apart.  He has been known to work in terra cotta, stone, bronze, wood and marbles.

Umlauf’s work is well-traveled and can be seen in public collections and museums throughout the United States, including the Smithsonian in Washington D.C. and the Metropolitan in New York.  However, it’s in Texas where you can visit the bulk of his work: there are more of Umlauf’s sculptures in public places than any other work by a single sculptor.

His subject matter is sensuous, introspective and delightful to behold. In person, the sculptures are captivating smooth and tell the story of their religious or mythological inspiration.

If you’re ever in Austin, first get a breakfast taco, and then head over to the Umlauf Sculpture Garden and Museum.  Take a stroll around the garden to see the way that the curator intertwines art and nature.  Each exhibition displays the art in an entirely different way, focusing on a new perspective of the sculptures.

Here’s a look at some of the must-see sculptures from Umlauf’s collection.

War Mother

This statue, cast in 1939, shows the artist’s reaction to the Nazi invasion of Poland.  This piece is very emotional and is representative of Umlauf’s work during the 1940s.  The oversized hands of the figure denotes strength, but also emphasises the emotional distress of the subject.   The artist received both praise and criticism for this work, alerting the University of Texas to Umlauf’s sculptures.   The sculpture is made of case stone and is a mixture of marble aggregate and cement poured into a mould.

Lovers I (Amanti)

In Lovers I (Amanti), cast in 1977, we see a radical change from the emotionally distraught pieces from the post-ward period.  This bronze cast piece displays a light-hearted level of intimacy.  

Refugees II

Rufugees II is a bronze sculpture reminiscent of Umlauf’s earlier work.  Cast in 1945, this piece is an expressive and emotionally charged reaction to World War II.

Zombienose – there are no happy endings

// June 10th, 2011 // View Comments // b-Crowd, b-inspired, featured

Have you read the original versions of the Little Mermaid, Cindarella or Sleeping Beauty?  While we’ve come to love the ‘happily ever after’ versions of these fairy tales, the older stories are dark, morose and don’t end happily. Zombienose is a UK-based author and illustrator of ‘The Zombinose Collection’, a series of darkly poetic storybooks where ‘there are no happy endings’.  Zombiense is a member of b-uncut and this week’s featured artist in the b-uncut “Special Exhibition” gallery.  He is currently showcasing his work at the 2nd Annual Haunted Mansion Tribute show at the Parlour Gallery in Halloween Town in Burbank, California.

b-uncut: What was your very first artwork?

Z: Although I was a mere toddler and too young to remember this, I was told that the first thing I ever drew was a picture of Santa Claus and his reindeer on the wall of my grandmother’s bedroom. Because it was my first, the drawing was allowed to stay on the wall for many years. I believe that was the longest exhibition I have ever been a part of and I wish I had a picture of it. I’m sure it resembled an ancient cave drawing.

b-uncut: Describe the one you love the most—why?

Z: This is a difficult question to answer, as I love all the things I create. But one of my favorite pieces is a sculpture I entitled ‘Bumpy’, for numerous reasons. It’s a sculpture a pregnant character with green hair reading one of my storybooks, but that’s not why it’s my favorite. The piece was inspired by someone I love very deeply and it’s also the first piece I’ve done that identifies the character as female, rather than asexual. I get a kick out of the title ‘Bumpy’, which refers to the pregnant belly.

b-uncut: What are your methods? Your inspirations?

Z: The only method I can think to describe is to just move forward, even if your idea is incomplete. Just keep creating, even if it’s frustrating. When you start working, the art almost begins to create itself. If it doesn’t result in something satisfying, come back to it another time and rework it. It will eventually come together.  As far as inspirations, silent movies inspire me, as well as the music from that era. There is something about their art of pantomime that interests me – the struggle to communicate without the benefit of dialogue. Yet, there are many, many real masterpieces of silent cinema that are quite beautiful in their own way. I’m unsure if any of this actually comes across in my work, but I believe ALL forms of art are intended for the purpose of communication with other human beings.

b-uncut: What did it take to make it to where you are now?

Z: Hmm… It took time to build a body of work and develop an appealing style. Also, learning to promote myself, at least on a small scale, was an undertaking. I was encouraged by my friend Chet Zar, who happens to be the greatest human being that has ever lived. As with most artists, I think, I am never completely satisfied with anything and am determined to move ahead in any new direction possible. I suppose the simple answer is that it took a lot of searching to make it to where I am, and I’m still searching.

b-uncut: You’ve described yourself as a ‘Gothic Dr. Seuss’. In what way?

Z: That comment was referring to the series of storybooks I’ve created called The Zombienose Collection. They are dreary tales told in rhyme and storybook format, but that’s really where the similarity ends. This is a series of books I was compelled to create because I love Edward Gorey’s books. They are also an inspiration of mine. The Zombienose books are not really intended for young children, as they contain more mature themes and, of course, there are no happy endings…

b-uncut: If you were to design the ultimate dinner party, what 5 artists (dead or alive) would you include for stimulating conversation?

Z: Ha! Hosting a dinner party is a funny thought that is worth entertaining. Actually, a notable artist I’d love to chat with would be Frances Bacon (1), of course. I love the hideously tormented subjects in his paintings. I’d also be interested in what someone like Chuck Jones (2) would have to say. He created and refined many of the old Warner Bros. cartoons, which still make me smile. I’d like to have a remarkable dinner party chat with Al Columbia (3). He created the underground comic book “The Biologic Show” and it’s a pure inspirational nightmare. I’ve seen nothing else like it. I used one of his stories as a subject for a live-action short film and posted it on YouTube. I’d also invite my fellow artists Chet Zar (4) and William Basso (5). I marvel at their work. For each of them, every new piece they generate is an impressive leap forward. I wish I had their ideas!

b-uncut: Your biggest (albeit endearing) flaw?

Z: I’m obsessive. I must completely learn everything about things that interest me and absorb it all until I’m sick of them. If this is endearing, I think that wears off quickly and simply becomes annoying. At the same time, I’ve learned a lot of things that other people never spend the time considering and sometimes this knowledge makes for impressive conversation at dinner parties.

b-uncut: Your parents advice you should have followed, but didn’t?

Z: Parents?

b-uncut: The superhero power you wish you had?

Z: Telepathy.

b-uncut: The celebrity you’d like to meet?

Z: I’ve been fortunate enough to have met several celebrities already. By far the most pleasant and sincere was Adam Sandler. However, meeting Henry Winkler (the Fonz from Happy Days) was a thrill as well. I’d love to meet John Lennon or Bruce Lee, but I suppose the chances of that happening at this point are pretty dismal.

b-uncut: Your least favourite interview question?

Z: I hate being asked, “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”

b-uncut: Where do you see yourself in…

One month?

Do you use Twitter? Then you’re a new media artist

// June 6th, 2011 // View Comments // Uncategorized, b-Crowd, b-inspired, b-scene

Gazira Babeli. Art in Second Life. Crash the party - Crash the sim

So you’ve probably heard of Postmodern Art and possibly even Internet Art, but an emerging trend in the last few years, ‘New Media Art’, may be an unfamiliar genre.  You probably can’t name a single New Media artist, but it’s likely that you practise using this medium daily.

‘New media’ is an umbrella term that encompasses many different technologies.  As a genre, New Media Art includes artworks created with emerging technologies, which could be digital art, computer animation, graphic design, interactive art, computer robotics, or biotechnology.  Artists have taken up the methods of so-called ‘new media’ to explore themes that traditional art practices cannot address, such as collaboration, identity online and offline, appropriation, open sourcing, corporate parody, surveillance and hacktivism.

Internet art was born out of the development of the World Wide Web in the 1990s and experimentations with the intersection of art and computers.  As a result, artists began exploring online identity, the fluidity between technology and the self and social activism through the Internet.  This experimentation, known as ‘net.art’, used the technologies of computers as a method for self expression.    net.art artists challenged the convention of white-walled galleries and turned to the virtual space as an avenue for social activisim projects.  These artists paved the way for the later recognition of ‘New Media Artists’, who, although are struggling for appreciation within art historical doctrine, are gaining worldwide recognition for their work.

Art of the digital natives

Art produced by ‘digital natives’ differs from the earlier net.art movement because this generation of artists has never experienced life without computers.  The daily use of the Internet is the norm and they see the online and offline world as interconnected.  This constantly mediated reality has made the ‘offline’ world more surreal than online.  Digital natives’ lives are completely disclosed;  there is no division between their personal and privates personalities.  Computers and mobile technologies have influenced every aspect of their social lives from careers, to day-to-day communication and even to dating.

New Media Art is a movement born out of this generation of digital natives whose medium is social technologies.  In a digital age, developing a strong personal ‘brand’ online is essential self-promotion.  Is this a good thing?  According to the New Media artists, we are a generation of over-saturated, over-connected and over-stimulated online ‘brands’.

Ryan Trecartin

Ryan Trecartin, is an American artist who has been gaining attention in the art world in the last few years for films, but is most well-known on Youtube.  Trecartin uses video to play with how his generation faces constant over-stimulation from various forms of technology and how they cope with a constantly wired culture.  These videos are an expression of what Trecartin refers to as “transumerism”: the encounter between ‘post-human’ culture and and the overconsumption of media.

Gazira Babeli

Some New Media Art exists entirely within the virtual world.  Since 2006, Gazira Babeli has been practicing art within the virtual platform of Second Life.  There is no actual person named Gazira Babeli and the identity of the artist is unknown.  The construction of an online identity – the avatar – is the work of art.  Within Second Life, Babeli creates  ‘performances’, ‘sculptures’ and even ‘paintings’.  Babeli plays with the notion of impermanence online.  Unlike traditional gallery spaces, New Media Art is impermanent: it can be deleted, altered and transformed.  However, to appreciate this art, the viewer has to have some level of media literacy.

No matter what your opinion of Internet art, it is here to stay.  As the name suggests, ‘new media’ is constantly changing with new technologies and social platforms popping up from all over the globe.  Who knows, maybe you’ll even try out online art yourself.

The art of decay

// June 1st, 2011 // View Comments // b-Crowd, b-inspired, b-scene, featured

Why do people create art? Well without going into it too deeply, one of the reasons for many is the idea of something permanent. The knowledge that long after they’re gone their sculptures and paintings will still be standing. Of course some artists like to turn this upon its head, like Edwin Wurm (who’s been talked about in this blog before). Wurm’s series of One Minute Sculptures celebrates the transience of art, as well as humour and random nature of beauty. The sculptures in this series are composed of situations that are impossible to hold for more than a minute (hence the name perhaps).

Though of course everything decays, the Mona Lisa has been touched up (no pun intended) at least six times. A wooden sculpture left outside without treatment will last around six months before decay sets in. The life of a Polaroid picture is 6 years. Decay is a natural part of life, the grand cycle of energy without which the universe could not exist as we know it. Dieter Roth is an obvious artist to turn to when talk of art and decay comes up. Roth was interested in the structure of decomposition, parading it before gallery goers with a variety of artworks based around foodstuffs. The best example of this is perhaps the piece Insel. Here Roth took a blue panel covered it in food, including yoghurt, and plastered it. The idea being that the piece would go through several stages of decay before reaching a stage of stability as only the non-biodegradable elements were left.

But Roth did not delve too deep into this subject, he stuck mainly to food items despite the fact that the non-biodegradable elements would decay as well, just not at a speed that would satisfy the Roth’s ego. The best art form to turn to for the inherent beauty in decay is architecture. The Parthenon, the Leaning Tower of Pizza; these say far more about the culture that created them, and far more poignantly, than rotting dairy products.

Of course this is something that has been going on for years and is still happening today. In Yugoslavia there are a series of monuments commissioned by then president Josip Broz Tito to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. What starts of as a statement of power becomes an elegant symbol of the frailty of man. The artwork you create does not exist in a perfect moment of completion but will evolve and decay, though remember that the terror of the skull beneath the skin is not in the skull or the skin but uniting of the two.

- Will van Wyngaarden, Brief Manager at blur Group, is the author of this post.