Dia Beacon

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Saturday was snowy and gloomy. A perfect museum day. It was my first time to Dia Beacon. I had been wanting to check it out for a while. It is housed in an old factory with tons of huge windows and skylights, allowing in tons of cloudy diffused natural light.

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Parla and JR ‘Wrinkles of Havana’ video by Nowness

Jose Parla and JR are two of my favorite contemporary artists. I like not only their art, but their philanthropic influence. On top of all of that, they are both super nice guys. Last year they collaborated on a project in Cuba. It was documented and later exhibited at the Wolkowitz Gallery in NYC. I ended up covering the opening. You can still peep a large wheatpaste piece on the wall of the Getty Mart parking lot at 24th and 10th, that was originally placed to promote the show. I was pretty excited when I saw that Nowness released this short video documenting the project. Check it out below.

JR & José Parlá: Wrinkles of the City

on Nowness.com

Domino Sugar Factory (Part 2)

Here are some more images from inside of the old Domino Sugar factory. In the previous post, I focused on the pieces associated with the art installation that opened last Saturday. In this post, I’m sharing photos of the actual structure, which for me was as interesting as the art exhibit that was contained therein.

Domino Sugar Factory (Part 1)

I popped by the old Domino Sugar factory on Saturday to see the new Kara Walker installation. The Domino Sugar factory is slated to be razed in the coming months to make room for luxury condos. I was very excited to be able to check out the inside of this industrial icon. It was like stepping into a time capsule of old industrial Brooklyn. Oh yeah, and the art was pretty interesting. In this post, I’m including my images of the pieces placed by Walker. I’ll write a follow-up post which will focus more on the structure. Enjoy.

Noell S. Oszvald

I had seen this woman’s work before on Tumblr uncredited. I was pretty happy last ween when Juxtapoz featured Noell S. Oszvald, and included some of the images that I seen an appreciated sans attribution. Her stuff is pretty amazing. She manipulates self portraits into the final image that you see. Extremely clever and ultra-creative.

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El Mac at Coachella

El Mac participated in the latest iteration of Coachella by painting this mural titled “The Anonymous Farm Worker.” Mac says this about the piece:

It’s not intended to represent any one specific person, but rather many people, especially the “anonymous farm worker”. Farm workers in this country have been marginalized despite producing the very food we all need for survival. The Coachella valley is an important region for farming, and has been the setting for many of the struggles by the UFW to to improve workers’ rights since the 60s..and you can feel this history there. Anytime during the day while I was painting this I could look to the park to my right and see groups of viejitos that looked similar to the man I was painting, all gathered at picnic tables gambling and laughing. One girl came by and asked if I was painting someone famous..when I said no, she replied “good, then I can say it’s my tío..thank you for bringing beauty to our varrio” -This is the best kind of feedback I can hope to receive.

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Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson team up for interactive web based art called “Moon”

Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson have teamed up to create a super cool (imo) interactive piece of art on the web. I think that the artists are as interesting as the piece itself. GQ has a pretty amazing article about Ai, that ran a couple of years ago when he was released by the Chinese government, after being detained for several months. Olafur, is the guy who created the waterfall installations under the Brooklyn Bridge a couple of years ago.

Anyway, the “Moon” collaboration allows individuals to register for the site, then leave their mark on the moon via mouse or touch pad.  It is like a giant virtual collaborative etch-a-sketch. Here is how they describe the project–

The instant a touch is made, things are set in motion. Make a drawing to reach out and be touched. Drawing together we are drawn together. This is how we make a difference in the world, on micro and macro levels, individually and collectively. Touch the moon by drawing on it – a vision, doodle, statement, a greeting, thought. . . your drawing is a hinge between you, everyone else, and the universe.

By connecting in spaces for imagination – by determining what to share and how to share it – we can create a greater outcome. Through messages and non-verbal communication, in a language unique to each person, the collective work becomes a testament to personal freedom, creativity, and activity.

Celebrate with us the gathering of creative powers from around the globe to mark the passage from nothing to something and from thinking into doing. Savour this moment of transformation. Leave your fingerprint and see the shared moon grow as others reach out too. Let’s show the world that together our marks matter. Creativity defies boundaries.

Go make your mark on the moon.

Here is one of the marks that I made (so far)  😉

fountain installation by Robert Seidel

I mean, the rain room at the MoMa was pretty cool. But check out this installation titled “Advection” in Germany by Robert Seidel. I came across the video last week on Core 77, who describe it as “a two-channel video projection displayed on a water fountain and pond in Bad Rothenfelde, Germany.” Similar to the rain room, Seidel’s installation interacts with the individual observing. According to Core 77, “the reflections from the resting water and the shadows from passersby add an additional layer of interactive visuals past the planned digital image. The end product is an ethereal mix of music, digital projection art and fantasy.” Watch the video below to see it in action–

advection | robert seidel | projection on a water fountain | lichtsicht biennale 2013/2014 from Robert Seidel on Vimeo.

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banksy’s reaper on houston

The funny part about this, is that I walked right past this spot an hour before when I was snapping the new Swoon piece down the block. Anyway, here is a view from across Houston Street, of Banksy’s Reaper installation. Since I had my cam with me, I shot this quick vid. When we first started observing, the reaper in the bumper car was driving to the soundtrack of a live accordion player. Then, smoke machines went on, and so did the track “baby don’t fear the reaper.” That is the segment in the video below.