THE ONE AND ONLY - BILL VIOLA

I can not write a blog about art and design which inspires me without featuring my idol, Bill Viola. This video artist needs no introduction. He is internationally recognized as one of today’s leading artists in the field of video art.

In 1994 I was lucky enough to sit at his lecture. Listening to this humble man talk about his process as a video artist, completely changed my view on contemporary art.

I thought it would be interesting to post here a few of his online interviews about his work. It gives a gimps to his thought and work process.

artist website: http://www.billviola.com/index.htm

The Clock, 2010 by Christian Marclay

Duration: 24 hours

a few weeks ago I was fortunate enough to watch a piece of the video art masterpiece The Clock by the American artist Christian Marclay currently based in London.

Produced over the course of two years, Christian Marclay's The Clock combines clips from thousands of films into a 24-hour video collage that also functions as a working clock.

It is so rare to experience an art work and feel you have just witnessed a current masterpiece which will profoundly make its imprint on art history. I will never forget the experience of sitting on the floor in a crowded room watching all the movie bits patched together into a captivating statement about time and western culture.

 artist website:  http://whitecube.com/artists/christian_marclay/

Charles Crafft - contemporary souvenirs

American artist Charles Krafft utilizes the traditional techniques and materials of decorative Delft ceramic painting to explore the sometimes-Orwellian realities of our times. Images of natural and socio-political catastrophes decorate his ceramic objects. In addition to ironic commemorative plates and plaques, Krafft makes porcelain weapons and ammunition.

Krafft's insidiously clever juxtapositions of traditional ceramic technologies with his darkly humorous commentary on world events and media manipulation have brought him significant international acclaim.

artist website: http://www.stolenspace.com/section.php?xSec=40

ZBIGNIEW LIBERA - Lego. Concentration Camp, 1996

Zbigniew Libera is a Polish artist. His works - photographs, video films, installations, objects and drawings - piercingly play with the stereotypes of contemporary culture. His work  "Lego Concentration Camp is designed to reveal the mechanisms of upbringing, education and cultural conditioning.


Lego. Concentration Camp, 1996

Set of 7 boxes of LEGO bricks, different sizes

Each box contains a set of bricks, that can be used to build the element of a concentration camp as shown on the box. All elements in the sets as well as those depicted on the boxes have either been taken from the mass-produced sets of LEGO bricks, or have been slightly altered by the artist. The prisoners are played by smiling skeletons from the "Pirate" set, while slightly modified figurines from the "Police Station" set appear as tormenters. We also encounter the captain of the camp and the psychopathic doctor, conducting experiments on prisoners.

from the artist website: 

http://raster.art.pl/gallery/artists/libera/libera.htm

lecture by Zbigniew Libera:

images of Lego. Concentration Camp

Leonardo Erlich - inspirational visual tricks

the SWIMMING POOL, 2001 by Erlich

Leandro Erlich, born in 1973 in Buenos Aires, has been exhibiting his work internationally for over ten years. He represented Argentina at the 49th Venice Biennale (2001), where he showed “Swimming Pool”

Erlich has constructed a full-size pool, complete with all its trappings, including a deck and a ladder. When approached from above, visitors are confronted with a surreal scene: people, fully clothed, can be seen standing, walking, and breathing beneath the surface of the water. It is only when visitors enter the basement that they recognize that the pool is empty,

LA TORRE, 2007 by Erlich

LE CABINET DU PSY, 2005 by erlich

check out the artist's website: http://www.leandroerlich.com.ar/

EMERGENCY ROOM – artists give emergency treatments to current events

Emergency Room is a constantly changing exhibition space commenting on current events. Emergency Room creates a hotline to the public and mass media. Everyday there is a new reaction and new reasons for audience and media to tune back in. It is an international movement, from internationally acclaimed artists to local upcoming artists – all meeting each other on location, working together to meet their deadline. ER is encouraging artists to collaborate and become part of the energized community by tearing down the limitations and boundaries of the traditional customs of the art world.

Emergency Room has been successfully launched in New York, PS1 / MOMA 2007 ; Berlin, Galerie Olaf Stueber 2006 ; Denmark, Nikolaj Contemporary2006 ; Athens, Ileana Tounta Gallery 2007 ; Napoli , PAN 2009 ; Paris , Galerie Taïss (2008 ), Hanoi at the university of fines art 2009

http://www.emergencyrooms.org/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2010 | the year of DO IT OURSELVES

On the 1st of January 2010 I read in a respectful newspaper, a list of the HOT trends that will define the new decade. One of the HOT trends is a new movement of DO IT OURSELVES. It was written that this tendency is expressed by individuals volunteering to develop services and applications for public use, usually non-profit.

Although I already wrote about WHcreation in this blog, I would like to present it again in this context of the DO IT OURSELVES trend. I think these new initiatives in the art scene are worthy of appreciation, so here are some examples you can enjoy.

WHcreation is a non-profit international online art gallery, I created with my partner Limor Weisberg.

Exhibiting multimedia artistic discussion by artists and designers from around the world. Including: painting, drawing, photography, sculpture, video art, performance, installation, design, architecture, commix, illustration, animation, graphic art, and sound.

Each subject is presented as a WH question in a call for entries sent by email.

The first exhibition “WHat is authentic?” Is now available at: http://www.whcreation.org/

Bertha Mag is an online non-profit photography magazine: http://www.berthamag.com/index.php?/2/statement/

PechaKucha Night was devised in Tokyo in 2003 as an event for young designers to meet, network, and show their work in public. It has turned into a massive celebration, with events happening in hundreds of cities around the world, inspiring creatives worldwide. Drawing its name from the Japanese term for the sound of "chit chat", it rests on a presentation format that is based on a simple idea: 20 images x 20 seconds. It's a format that makes presentations concise, and keeps things moving at a rapid pace.

PechKucha global site: http://www.pecha-kucha.org/

PechKucha in TLV: http://www.pechakuchatlv.com/

A5 magazine, presenting art and design from around the world in an A5 printed magazine. Each issue has a different concept and design. http://www.thea5magazine.com/

Forno is an independent printed magazine dedicated to the art of sex. Each issue presents a different sex aspect. Forno invites artists of all media to participate by creating one double spread according to the concept of the issue. http://www.forno-magazine.com/