July 09, 2015

Rain Room: it's raining, but you won't get wet

Rain Room is a hundred square metre field of falling water through which it is possible to walk, trusting that a path can be navigated, without being drenched in the process.

As you progress through the space the sound of water and a suggestion of moisture fill the air, before you are confronted by this carefully choreographed downpour that responds to your movements and presence.

The room is fitted with 3D cameras that sense your location in the room, and automatically turn off the water valves above your head, allowing you to walk through the downpour without getting wet.






July 03, 2015

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre

My sculptures were originally inspired by the form and function of the sea urchin. The spines of the urchin, so dangerous yet beautiful, serve as an explicit warning against contact. The alluring texture of the spines draws the touch in spite of the possible consequences. The tension unveiled, we feel push and pull, desire and repulsion. The sections of pencils present aspects of sharp and smooth for two very different textural and aesthetic experiences. Paradox and surprise are integral in my choice of materials. Quantities of industrially manufactured objects are used to create flexible forms reminiscent of the organic shapes of animals and nature. Pencils are common objects, here, these anonymous objects become the structure. There is true a fragility to the sometimes brutal aspect of the sculptures, vulnerability that is belied by the fearsome texture.

To make the pencil sculptures, I take hundreds of pencils, cut them into 1-inch sections, drill a hole in each section (to turn them into beads), sharpen them all and sew them together. The beading technique I rely on most is peyote stitch.

I'm inspired by animals, plants, other art, Ernst Haeckel, Odilon Redon, mythology. In fact, it isn't easy to specify particular sources of inspiration. Sometimes one sculpture will inspire the next, or maybe I'll make a mistake, and that will send me off in a new direction.

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre 1

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre 2

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre 3

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre 4

Colored Pencil Sculptures by Jennifer Maestre 5

July 02, 2015

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape

Imagine Spiderman going completely insane and losing control of his web shooters and then look at this crazy art installation by Viennese/Croatian design collective For Use/Numen. Using nothing but nearly 100 pounds of packaging tape, For Use/Numen transforms abandoned attics, galleries and stock exchange buildings into a spider's cocoon paradise. The coolest part about, of course, is that the installations invites visitors to sit and relax, asking them to partake in the experience.

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape 1

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape 2

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape 3

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape 4

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape 5

Spider Web Installation Made of Packaging Tape 6