Jayson Fann’s spirit nests are scattered throughout California to support the Big Sur Spirit Garden’s numerous art and culture activites. It takes nearly a thousand man hours to complete each one. Jayson starts by judiciously pruning Eucalyptus trees of any extraneous branches. He can use other types of wood too, but Eucalyptus branches are best since they are durable as well as flexible. Creating a seemingly organic sculpure is a challenge Jayson overcomes with the help of a few, well-hidden counter sunk screws. A sturdy base and an access ladder is built separately. The whole thing is then assembled on site. As a final touch, a woven mat is added to the interior.
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The lobby of the Virginia Museum of Natural History sports a rather adorable meat-eating dinosaur. Said dinosaur is a balloon replica of an Acrocanthosaurus. It’s a study in contrast to the actual skeleton of the dinosaur standing right next to it. The sculpture was put together by Airigami, a New York based art studio specializing in gigantic balloon sculptures. The core team was headed by Larry Moss and composed of Marsh Gallagher, TJ Michael, Phil Cosmos and Dee Cosmos. It took the artists of Airigami four days to complete the 20-foot structure. They also had the help of the museum staff and a gaggle of delighted elementary students. The sculpture will stay in the museum lobby for as long as it lasts.
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Felipe Luchi is an award-winning creative director whose clients include big names such as Nissan, Nokia, Visa, Experia, Akatu, and Go Outside Magazine. Each of his ads are as brilliantly conceptualized as they are well-executed. One of my favorites is his ad campaign for Go Outside Magazine where an iPhone, a mouse, and an alarm clock were turned into prisons. It is a perfect illustration of how technology has imprisoned us, each in his own little world. Felipe lives and works in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
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Bernard Pras is a French painter, photographer and sculptor. He has spent more than 20 years perfecting his craft. One of his more recent body of work feature sculptures of pop icons made entirely out of found objects which, when viewed from a specific angle, transforms into an easily recognizable image. His subjects include Albert Einstein,, Jack Nicholson, Bob Marley, Mao Zedong, Uncle Sam, and Che Guevarra. His inspirations include Salvador Dali, Edvard Munch, Japanese woodcut artist Hiroshige, and Guiseppe Arcimboldo.
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Paul Rousso is an American sculptor who makes big bucks, literally. He uses heat infusion on plexiglass to create blown up replicas of crumpled money. Each replica can reach up to 4 feet by 5 feet. Paul also does blown up replicas of other currencies as well as magazine pages and candy wrappers. He has also worked as the art director and freelance illustrator for Revlon, Bloomingdale’s. Nast, Clairol, and Condé. His work has been exhibited at galleries in Los Angeles, Miami , New Orleans, Atlanta, and Charlotte.
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Takahiro Iwasaki is a Japanese srtist whose sculptures are in every danger of being stepped on. His small, colorful, and delicately-made constructs are usually found on floors amidst haphazardly strewn towels. You might need magnifying glass to truly appreciate Takahiro’s work. His topographical maps carved out of electrical tape are my personal favorites. They’re accurate right down to the ravines, buildings, and peirs found on a real topographical map. His work has beed displayed at galleries around the world. Recently, he had a collection of his works on display at the 7th Asia Pasific Triennial of Contemporary Art in Queensland.
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Antoni Tudisco was born and raised in Germany. He is of Filipino-Italian descent. As a child, he would barely pay attention during lessons, preferring to scribble instead. Antoni taught himself how to use Adobe Palette. Having mastered the intricacies of image manipulation, he proceeded to develop his skills in 3D design and videos. It wasn’t long before the quality of his work garnered the attention of other artists and companies. His list of clients include prestigious names like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Vans, Reebok Woman, and MTV Philippines.
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Barbara Franc’s latest collection of sculptures is all about colorful tropical birds whose haitat are slowly dwindling due to deforestation. As tribute to them, her sculpturea are made antirely of reclaimed materials like old food tins. She said: “I have always been fascinated by the shapes and sculptural forms of animals, they present a never-ending source of inspiration to me. I try to capture a feeling of their movement and presence in my sculpture. For this I use wire and other materials in a way that suggests drawing in three dimensions. This allows me greater freedom to add changes whenever I want during the construction to keep the feeling fluid and to reflect the diversity of movement and form. I increasingly use recycled and discarded materials as I enjoy the challenge of transforming something with a past history into something new and exciting.”
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Pani Jurek has created a funky new chandelier with test tubes. Dubbed the Maria S.C. lamp, it’s inspired by Maria Sklodowska-Curie’s cutting edge work in the field of Chemistry. Marie Curie, as she is more commonly know, was awarded the Nobel Prize for her discovery of radium and polonium. The Maria S.C. lamp consists of a series of test tubes suspended from a wodden frame. It also comes in a two-tiered version. You can even customize it by filling it with colored liquid, fresh fowers, or just plain water. The awesthetic potential of Jurek’s lamp is simply endless.
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Yukio Takano’s miniature mushroom lights is definitely worth having on you desk. They’re pretty realistic, and in the dark, they glow like something enchanted. The mushrooms are made of synthetic material and embedded into pieces of driftwood, looking like they sprouted out overnight. Tiny LED lights are incorporated into the mushrooms which gives them their otherworldly glow. The batteries are located on the underside of the driftwood and the switch is placed somewhere unobtrusive to maintain the illusion of authenticity.
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