04 November, 2011

sand sculpture

In 2001 when I heard of a Sand Exhibition to be held at Palm Beach, Sydney I found myself rather intrigued. This was an event I was sure to pay a visit. Once again, my mind would be opened up and exposed to yet another, somewhat different, medium in which art would be displayed.

My eldest daughter was only 3yrs old at the time, and I was sure she would love to see these elaborate sandcastles up close. As a kid she very much enjoyed making sandcastles on the beach.

I remember walking away thinking incredible! It was just incredible how these artists carved these magnificent 3D sculptures from sand. The sculptures would be constructed using river sand, which is a finer material when compared to beach sand and therefore more suited to being sculpted. The sand used was shipped specially for the event. 2,500 tonnes of sand was used by 18 sculptures.

It is the sculpting phase, which initially draws the most attention from the public. Typically entrants begin construction before the opening of an event, whilst during the event sculptor's work as "performing artists", creating each sand sculpture through the event and completing it prior to the close of the event. This way patrons can view the process, return to view the progress, and eventually view the finished sculpture itself.

Watching these sculptures come to life before my very eyes was amazing. This particular type of exhibition will be one that I will always remember. I have not heard of any other sand sculpture events since that one, so feel very priviledged to have experienced it.

28th October, 2011

My early discovery, of melting images, through Dali was re-lit during the tenth annual exhibition of Sculpture by the Sea, 2006. This incredible melted van stood out above all else. I was completely, and still am, in total awe of this incredible creation.

hot with a chance of a late storm

Artists Johnathon Kneebone and James Dives from Advertising Agency 'The Glue Society' created the remarkable van. The sculpture of the melted Mr. Whippy ice cream van was placed on Tamarama Beach, ready for it's showing.

The concept aim of this showpiece was a statement on the perils of Global Warming. The foam and urethane construction a price tag of $22,000. I must admit, if I had the money I would be more than tempted to purchase it .. I just love it!! The unique and fitting concept is one that I love to share with my children.

It won the Allens Arthur Robinson People's Choice and the NAB Kids' Choice Awards.

The annual event, Sculpture by the Sea began in 1996. In 1995, founder David Handley was living in Prague when he visited an outdoor sculpture park in Klatovy, Northern Bohemia. Handley was so inspired; he decided to recreate a similar event in Australia.  Each year works are spread across the cliff from Bronte Beach to Bondi Beach via Tamarama Beach. Over 100 sculptures are exhibited and an estimated 450,000 visitors are attracted to view them.  Hot with a chance of a late storm has kept me coming back year, after year, after year. I find the yearly wait as exciting as Christmas. I love the walk, and although over the years I have grown my family I have always made the trek, and have always found that one piece to stand out above the rest.

hot with the chance of a late storm

21 October, 2011

Salvador Dalí was one of the first artists I discovered. It was 1990. We learnt about him in art at school. Dalí was a surrealist artist. He painted real objects, made them look real, but then he made a fantasy of the painting from his dreamland. Surrealism is an art movement that is a cultural movement that began in the early 1920's. Surrealism works feature the element of surprise, unexpected juxtaposition, which is placing objects together, that normally would not be together. His use of melted clocked ignited an interest in me that I had not felt with any other painting. I used his painting The Temptation of Saint Anthony, as the inspiration for my end of year major art piece in year eight.

Les Montres Molles, 1968

Salvador Dalí died at the age of 85 (May 11, 1904 – January 23, 1989). The above painting is my favourite of all his paintings. I was drawn to the unusual melting of the time, as I described it.

In 1916, Dalí discovered modern painting on a summer vacation trip to Cadaqués with the family of Ramon Pichot, a local artist who made regular trips to Paris. The next year, Dalí's father organized an exhibition of his charcoal drawings in their family home. He had his first public exhibition at the Municipal Theater in Figueres in 1919.

His paintings are filled with images of violence, death and bizarre sexual practices. His parents believed he was the reincarnation of an earlier child, also called Salvador, who died a year earlier.

Dalí’s 1983 painting, The Swallow's Tail, which was his last work, was inspired by Rene Thom's catastrophe theory on abrupt behavioural changes. Dalí was one of the most controversial artists of the 20th century. Dalí started his career as a Cubist. He subsequently became involved with the Surrealist movement although they criticized him for his extravagant lifestyle and his love of money. He never passed college. He was expelled because he thought he was better than his professors. His strange personality caused much controversy and he was often called eccentric. He was once quoted to say: "I am not strange, I am just not normal".
 


Dalí's autobiography described the traumatic effects this belief had on his life, and whilst he had loving parents, this undoubtedly caused Dali long-term psychological problems.

14th October, 2011

This artistic piece of work was dedicated to the artist's (Vicki Shield's) mum - "who loved to play the piano". Vicki lived in Bondi for over 45 years, and walked the Bondi to Bronte path regularly, which inspired this exhibit.

piano by the sea

Wow .. it's amazing what can be created using only chalk and varnish, and of course an imagination.  The above stairs were the entry statement to the Sculpture by the Sea, 2010's walk, providing a moment of fantasy as you step onto the life sized piano. People got to enjoy their moment on the piano steps as they left the exhibition.


The piano, bold in it's pitch and exquisite in harmony it is one of the most popular instruments in the world (Wikipedia, 2011). I have always loved to hear the piano played, and one day still hold onto the hope of learning how to play myself. The word piano is a shortened form of pianoforte, the Italian word for the instrument (which in turn derives from the previous terms "gravicembalo col piano e forte" and fortepiano). The musical terms "piano" and "forte" mean "quiet" and "loud," and in this context refers to the variations in volume of sound the instrument produces in response to a pianist's touch on the keys: the greater a key press's velocity, the greater the force of the hammer hitting the string(s), and the louder the note produced (Wikipedia, 2011).

Below, we can see how a piano was incorporated into everyday life, to see if people would take the stairs instead of the escalator if it was fun to do.

piano stairs

"Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator and feel better" is something we often hear or read in the Sunday papers. Few people actually follow that advice. The FunFactory.com, a site "dedicated to the thought that something as simple as fun is the easiest way to change people’s behaviour for the better", went out to see if they could, in fact, do just that. See the results here

7th October, 2011

Being a coffee lover myself, I found this next piece of artwork truly extraordinary. It was created using 3,604 cups of coffee!




This 'Mocha' Lisa was created during The Rocks Aroma Festival, in Sydney, Australia and attracted the curious eyes of 130,000 people in just one day. This incredible coffee masterpiece took 8 people three hours to complete as well as the 3,604 cups of coffee and 564 pints of milk. Adding various amount of milk to the cups of coffee created the incredible sepia effect. Four shades were mixed and used to create the 20ft by 13ft replica of Leonardo da Vinci's La Gioconda. When finished, it looked spectacular!



In an interview with The Telegraph four of the eight artists express: "We wanted to create an element of surprise and a sense of fun in the way we engaged with the public”.

"Once we had the idea of creating an image out of coffee cups we searched for something iconic to reproduce - and opted for the most iconic painting in history”.

"The Mona Lisa has been reproduced so many times in so many different mediums but, as far as we know, never out of coffee”.

"The result was fantastic”.

"After much planning it was great to see if coming together so well and the 130,000 people who attended the event certainly enjoyed it."

Incredible planning would have taken place to analyze the different shades required and as to their exact placement in order to achieve this incredible masterpiece. I definitely take my hat off to all involved.

Proving there is no limitation to art American artist and caffeine-lover Karen Eland has certainly taken the cake, or should I say coffee, with this modernized copy of the Mona Lisa. Take a look at Eland's website, “where everything you see has been created using only coffee and water”.

Mocha Lisa

watch the stop-motion video here

30th September, 2011

breadtag world

These are certainly one of the most bizarre pieces of art I have yet to encounter. Some people create art with clay, canvas or paintbrushes, but artist Beth Taylor uses a multicolor cascade of bread tags. She’s created a solar system out of these pieces for her exhibition, Breadtag World. She has used over 12,000 tags to create amazing worlds and astronomical pieces.

She has collected the bread tags from all over Australia, from WA, ACT, NSW, SA and Victoria to New Zealand, Hong Kong, USA and Canada. USA has lovely orange and pink ones that she is unable to get in Australia. Green ones are found on vegies in NSW, while a lady from WA has been sending her ‘whopper’ tags from potato bags for years. The easiest colors to get (in order) are: white, blue, red, yellow, brown, green, orange and pink. They are all sourced from Australia.

Beth works for a government agency, which consists of 200 employees, in Canberra. They have all been donating their tags to the cause.

Her friend’s husband works for a Spots and Rec. camp for the Department of Education and he gets all the kids to save the tags for her too. She has accumulated several hundred from this source alone.

All here family and friends get behind her and help her collect them. At one time, every second day she would find some in her letterbox or on her doorstep.

To make the sculptures, Jo painted styrofoam balls where the different colors would go, then clipped the formed units together and melted them in the oven. If she was missing an exact colour, she painted each tag individually with plastics dye. She then proceeded to attach the melted tags into place with a hot glue gun.

Jo stated to collect the tags in 2003 and has been making things out of them since 2006. She is (possibly) the world’s only Breadtag artist. Jo has said that she finds making the sculptures really “meditative” and that they “fit together so beautifully. It’s just like re-scaling a fish, or putting a jigsaw puzzle together”.

Other creations have included magnets, brooches, necklaces and earrings. She has also made cards and CD covers. Jo and her husband have a family crest and there is a breadtag on that. She also used them to make her wedding invitations and used them as bonbonniere's.

The Breadtag world exhibition finished on the 20th July, 2011 with not future dates set.

Jo says that she already knows what her next project is .. but she is keeping it a secret!

23rd September, 2011

splash

This is one of my favorite pieces of art. Fittingly named 'splash', has a selling price of $86,000. It is made of stainless steel and painted steel. Splash was on display, from 28th Oct - 14 Nov 2010 amongst the 14th annual Sculpture by the Sea, Bondi. This contemporary piece explores the dynamics of a moment in time.

Artist Tomas Misura arrived in Australia in 1999. He was born in Slovakia, 1979. He graduated from the School of Artistic Crafts in Bratislava as an artistic blacksmith. His has had exhibitions in Italy, Austria, Czech Republic and Sculpture by the Sea (2007).

When standing next to this magnificent sculpture you feel a great admiration for Misura. This larger than life sculpture sits at 350cm x 350cm x 450cm. It is simply remarkable up close.

Misura, who'd spent more than 1000 hours on the piece, took out the NAB Kids' Choice Award.

MAJOR AWARDS:

2001: Australian National Ferrier’s and Blacksmithing Championships
1st place - Non traditional Blacksmithing,
2nd place - Non traditional Blacksmithing,

1st place - Traditional Blacksmithing,
2nd place - Traditional Blacksmithing.

2001: South Australian Blacksmiths and Ferrier’s Competition
1st place - Freehand Forging.

DEMONSTRATIONS AND EXHIBITIONS:

2007 – Sculpture by the Sea [Twisted Reality], Sydney, Australia.
2005 – Australian National Blacksmithing Championship, Brisbane, Australia.
2005 – Hrad Helfštýn, Czech Republic.
2004 – Ferracullum, Ibbisitz, Austria.
2003 - European Biennale Di Arte Fabrile, Stia, Italy.

16th September, 2011

This particular piece was one that stood out as being among the top five that I admired. It certainly caught your eye along the Bondi to Bronte coastal walk. It was wonderfully positioned and with the sea as it's background it formed a picturesque setting. This unique little treasure was constructed from timber furniture, hessian, soil, sand and grass seed; I was instantly attracted to this piece of art imitating life. Designed by Sally Kidall of NSW.

at the table: are we sitting comfortably?

The intention is for the work to respond to its surrounding environment during its display and cultivate over the exhibition. Sally describes the table and chairs as a cultural symbol for the sharing of meals, a family meeting place, or a place to present, discuss and review ideas and opinions. Phrases such as 'on the table' or 'turn the tables' emphasize the metaphorical use of the word table. Sally is inspired by famous table scenes such as Miss Havisham's decaying wedding feast in Great Expectations, or the Mad Hatter's tea party in Alice in Wonderland, King Arthur's table of wisdom, the Round Table, or Jesus' Last-Supper (Allens Arthur Robinson, 2011).

Statement: challenging the predictability of expectations and 'cultural homogeneity', informed by issues relating to human ecology, consumption and materialism.
Sally has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally, and completed her MA in Art Design and Media at Portsmouth University in 2007. She is an International environmental artist who was born in the UK and has been practicing for 30 years. At present she works in Australia.

Sally has exhibited extensively both nationally and internationally, and completed her MA in Art Design and Media at Portsmouth University in 2007. She is an International environmental artist who was born in the UK and has been practicing for 30 years. At present she works in Australia. Sally says, "Through site-specific environmental installations and photography she seeks to challenge the predictability of expectations & ‘cultural homogeneity’”. Her art practice is inspired by the complexities, equilibrium and fragility of the natural environment and by the ways in which our man-made systems work within, or in opposition to, those natural systems. The focus of her practice is the concept of transition, including notions of unpredictability, vulnerability, deterioration, transformation and ephemerality. “My work is informed by issues relating to human ecology, consumption and materialism" (Kidall, 2007).

This artwork can be re-created for an artist fee.

Other sculptures by Sally Kindall include:
Affluenza: are you sitting comfortably?
Staying Afloat: is enough enough?
Survival
The Experiment
The Experiment II

9th September, 2011

Driving over the Harbour Bridge, as you enter the city, an amazing piece of Artwork once stood tall. "Almost Once" (1991), Domain, Sydney, a sculpture located behind the Art Gallery of New South Wales on the edge of the Domain, overlooking the Cahill Expressway as it connects to the Eastern Distributor.

Almost Once

The sculpture was created by Brett Whiteley in 1968 and was presented as a gift to the art gallery in 1991. Made from black butt timber and fiberglass it depicts a redhead match alongside a burnt match. It stands at 8 metres including the plinth and 6.6 metres without it (sydney-city.blogspot.com).

Although it no longer stands in the city, I always remember it and I always reminisce of it when I drive over the bridge.

Brett Whiteley, (7 April 1939 – 15 June 1992) was an Australian artist. He is represented in the collections of all the large Australian galleries, and was twice winner of the Archibald Prize. He had many shows in his career, and lived and painted extensively in Italy, England, Fiji and the USA.
In the late 1970s Brett Whiteley, one of the most famous Australian painters of the twentieth century, won the Archibald, the Wynne and Sulman twice. These are considered the most prestigious art prizes in Australia and are held annually at the Art Gallery of NSW.
His wins were:

• 1976
  • Archibald Prize: Self Portrait in the Studio
  • Sulman Prize: Interior with Time Past
• 1977
  • Wynne Prize: The Jacaranda Tree (On Sydney Harbour)
• 1978
  • Archibald Prize: Art, Life and the other thing
  • Sulman Prize: Yellow Nude
  • Wynne Prize: Summer at Carcoar

1978 was the only time that all three prizes have ever gone to the same person.

Whiteley's remarkable achievements throughout his life will continue his legacy via his mother, Beryl, who set up the Brett Whiteley Travelling Art Scholarship. Winners will receive $25,000 prize money to spend while taking residency at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris.

It's a great feeling to know that a very talented artists legacy carries on.

2nd September, 2011

Campbell's Soup I

It was 1999 when my sister had asked if I would like accompanying her into the City and checking out 'Art Express'. It was an art exhibition displaying "a selection of outstanding works from the 1999 HSC Examination in Visual Arts" (Board of Studies, 1999). I had always possessed a passion for art. Something about seeing painted images on canvas's struck a happy nerve inside me that I felt drawn to. In the coming years I would make it a yearly event to go to such exhibitions like The Archibald Prize and Sculptures by the Sea. I can recall the below image, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup I (1968), to be the very first piece of Art that I purchased. It was a postcard-sized print that I framed, and hung in my kitchen. I remember thinking how cool it was to actually own a piece of art from a famous artist. Andrew Warhol, Jr. (August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987), known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art. After a successful career as a commercial illustrator, Warhol became famous worldwide for his work as a painter, avant-garde filmmaker, record producer, author, and member of highly diverse social circles that included Bohemian Street people, distinguished intellectuals, Hollywood celebrities and wealthy patrons.
Warhol has been the subject of numerous retrospective exhibitions, books, and feature and documentary films. He coined the widely used expression "15 minutes of fame." In his hometown of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, The Andy Warhol Museum exists in memory of his life and artwork.
The highest price ever paid for a Warhol painting is US$100 million for a 1963 canvas titled Eight Elvises. The private transaction was reported in a 2009 article in The Economist, which described Warhol as the "bellwether of the art market." $100 million is a benchmark price that only Jackson Pollock, Pablo Picasso, Vincent van Gogh, Pierre-August Renoir, Gustav Klimt and Willem de Kooning have achieved (Wikipedia, 2011).
There have been many variations created from the original text.  His "Big Torn Campbell’s Soup Can (Pepper Pot), (1962)", was also a favourite of mine, it would be a perfect accompaniment to hang along side my other framed print... and a few months later it was!