3D & Sculpture | artistvenu

Laura Maria Gonzalez Cultivates Sustainable Biocement From Microbes For Exhibition At MIT

July 29, 2023 (updated July 29, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Interlocking modules create the overall structure of the biocemented sculpture prototypes

‘MICROBES MAKES MOUNTAINS’ AT MIT KELLER GALLERY

In Laura Maria Gonzalez’s exhibition Microbes Make Mountains, the researcher and designer sheds light on Earth’s tiniest architects — microbes — whose silent work has been shaping our ecosystems for billions of years. On display at MIT’s Keller Gallery, this showcase delves into the intersection of design and microbial life, unveiling the hidden artistry of these ancient communities and their potential to influence design concepts. As Gonzalez showcases the potential for these lifeforms to influence design concepts, she provides a fresh perspective on the intricate dance of life and geology, prompting us to reimagine how we build and live.

The installations draw inspiration from the vibrant mineral formations found in places such as Spain’s Rio Tinto and Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression, where microbial communities significantly contribute to the creation of striking mineral patterns. Building upon this, Gonzalez showcases the potential of bacteria to create biocement, a sustainable alternative to traditional concrete which is produced through a delicate act of cultivation and creation.

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Abandoned Materials Are Upcycled Into Charming Bug Sculptures

July 5, 2023 (updated July 5, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Abandoned materials find new life in Mark Oliver‘s charming sculptures. The UK-based artist upcycles everything from scrap metal to playing cards, carefully assembling different parts together until he creates amazing figurines that resemble fantastical insects.

This ongoing series, titled Litter Bugs, features collage sculptures of various shapes and sizes. Oliver credits his father’s collection of electrical and engineering components for inspiring his interest in layering different elements together. “Urban entomology is my post-modern bow of respect to the Victorian tradition of insect collecting, where the decaying and disposed of—the “litter” of modernity—is assembled to create an illusory collage,” he tells My Modern Met. “I intend the work to fascinate from a distance, and reveal humor and beautiful art upon closer inspection.”

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Venice Architecture Biennale: 5 Innovative Pavilions

July 1, 2023 (updated July 1, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Philippines | Tripa de Gallina: Guts of Estuary

Estuaries mark the point where freshwater meets saltwater. In Manila, the region’s longest estuary Tripa de Gallina is in limbo, as putrid muck and pollution halts the waterway. The exhibition outlines the entangled movements of nature and humanity, illuminating the impact of daily activities. Here, the water’s condition reflects the wider community’s prognosis of the future. A hexagon bamboo structure imagines a future assemblage, raising questions about methods of regeneration and recovery.

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Spotlight: Artist Chakaia Booker’s Rubber Tire Sculptures Sit at the Intersection of Culture, Economics, and Transportation

June 16, 2023 (updated June 16, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Chakaia Booker, Conflicting Issues (2023). Courtesy of David Nolan Gallery, New York.

Every month, hundreds of galleries add newly available works by thousands of artists to the Artnet Gallery Network—and every week, we shine a spotlight on one artist or exhibition you should know. Check out what we have in store, and inquire for more with one simple click.

What You Need to Know: American artist Chakaia Booker—widely recognized for her extensive use of recycled rubber tires in her work—is currently the subject of a solo show with David Nolan Gallery in New York, “Chakaia Booker: Public Opinion.” On view through June 23, 2023, it is the artist’s inaugural show with the gallery and features a broad array of Booker’s signature sculptures completed in rubber tire—from room-spanning pieces to pedestal-size and wall-mounted works. Originally hailing from New Jersey, Booker initially studied sociology at Rutgers University for her B.A. in 1976, before receiving her M.F.A. in 1993 from the City College of New York. She has been an essential facet of the New York City art scene since the early 1980s, where she is still currently based while maintaining a studio in Allentown, Pennsylvania.

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Kelly Akashi on Creating “Sublimely Offensive” Sculptures and What Happens When Your Medium Becomes Obsolete

May 18, 2023 (updated May 18, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Kelly Akashi: Seismogram, 2023.
COURTESY THE ARTIST AND TANYA BONAKDAR GALLERY, NEW YORK/LOS ANGELES

A lot of people pointed to the wads of chewing gum and asked me, is that bronze? Is that glass? But no, it’s just gum! I was drawn to the idea of mastication, and to having this unnamed material—saliva—as a crucial component. I tried to choose pieces of gum that had visible tooth marks, impressions of the body. Actually, I had a nice chat with [artist] Haim Steinbach, who also shows with the gallery, and he called the gum “sublimely offensive.” I thought, well that’s a nice summary; I think I’ll borrow the term.

The plinths are rammed earth, an ancient building technique where you use tools to stamp and pound dirt and Portland cement into layers. The cement works as a binder; without it, the dirt would just crumble once it dried. With this and other materials, I wanted to play with ideas of permanence. The gum might seem like the most temporary material in there, but in actuality, it might be the most archival material I’ve ever used. The show features a broken friendship necklace as well.

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Ceramic ‘Curiosity Clouds’ by Manifesto Celebrate the Natural World in Functional Organic Forms

April 26, 2023 (updated April 26, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Image © Katie Rose Johnston

The practice of assembling cabinets of curiosities, or Wunderkammers, may date back to the 16th century, but the human impulse to collect, document, study, and learn from our surroundings goes back millennia. Scottish artist Katie Rose Johnston, who works as Manifesto, celebrates the timeless pastime of collecting in her series Curiosity Clouds. Exploring ceramics at the intersection of art and history, she draws inspiration from natural phenomena and blurring the line between form and function.

Johnston was inspired to create the organic forms after a visit to The Hunterian in Glasgow, where she was fascinated by a vitrine tucked away in the rear of the museum. Displaying bird and insect nests from around the world, it included a cross-section of a termite mound featuring an elaborate network of compartments that the insects use for ventilation. “It was a really compelling form that mimicked a set of printer’s drawers in my mother’s home, which were filled with bits and bobs, mudlarked treasures, and our childhood crafts,” she tells Colossal. “The form of the dissected termite mound was really appealing, like a Wunderkammer from an alternate universe.”

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Otherwordly Ceramic Forms by Janny Baek Evoke Growth and Transformation

March 27, 2023 (updated March 27, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Image © Janny Bae

“I’ve always been drawn to art in different ways, but sculpting clay by hand seems to come most naturally to me. I think it is my most effective means of communication,” says Janny Baek, whose playful, abstract ceramics blur the line between form and function. Drawing on fundamental compositional elements like color, line, and volume, she creates characterful shapes from clay that “advocate for the strange, uncategorized, undefined, changeable, hybrid, multiple, alien, and pleasurable.”

After studying ceramics in college, Baek worked as a sculptor for animation and toys before pursuing graduate studies and a career in architecture.

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Intricate Sculptures by Zheng Lu Suspend Splashes of Water in Stainless Steel

March 16, 2023 (updated March 16, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Detail of “Water in Dripping – Heartflower”

Harnessing the energy of water in motion, Zheng Lu’s metallic sculptures appear frozen in time. The Beijing-based artist defies utilitarian or industrial associations with steel, creating tension between the material and the fluid forms. Challenging our expectations and understanding of physics, smooth, chrome-like surfaces reflect the surroundings and change in the light as the viewer moves around them, further adding to the perception that the sculpture itself is in motion.

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Paper Sculptures by Lyndi Sales Rupture into Vibrant Masses to Explore Life’s Fragility

March 4, 2023 (updated March 4, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Cape Town-based artist Lyndi Sales translates life’s vulnerability and fleeting nature into colorful sculptures that appear to burst and rupture in vivid forms. Using painted strips of blank paper or fragments of printed maps, Sales layers abstract compositions that splay outward, mimicking the structures of ice crystals or the cell replication process. The tension between the ephemeral and durable and the microscopic and macroscopic manifest in the large-scale works—all the pieces shown here stretch more than 4.5 feet—a relationship the artist teases out as “a way to locate myself in this universe.”

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Memory and Knowledge Intertwine in Chiharu Shiota’s Immersive String Installations

February 16, 2023 (updated February 16, 2023) Published by artistvenu

Image by Charles Roussel

In Signs of Life, a dense installation of knotted and wound string fills much of Galerie Templon’s New York space. The work of Japanese artist Chiharu Shiota (previously), the solo show transforms the gallery into a monochromatic labyrinth of intricate mesh that ascends from floor to ceiling. Shiota considers the multivalent meaning of the web, from the structure of neural networks within the human brain to the digital realm today’s world relies on.

One of the works features bulging cylinders and dangling threads in red, while another white structure traps numerous book pages within its midst. Created during a two-week period, Shiota envisions the installation as connecting personal memory and the collection of knowledge. “I always thought that if death took my body, I wouldn’t exist anymore,” she says. “I’m now convinced that my spirit will continue to exist because there is more to me than a body.

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Category: 3D & Sculpture

Laura Maria Gonzalez Cultivates Sustainable Biocement From Microbes For Exhibition At MIT

Abandoned Materials Are Upcycled Into Charming Bug Sculptures

Venice Architecture Biennale: 5 Innovative Pavilions

Spotlight: Artist Chakaia Booker’s Rubber Tire Sculptures Sit at the Intersection of Culture, Economics, and Transportation

Kelly Akashi on Creating “Sublimely Offensive” Sculptures and What Happens When Your Medium Becomes Obsolete

Ceramic ‘Curiosity Clouds’ by Manifesto Celebrate the Natural World in Functional Organic Forms

Otherwordly Ceramic Forms by Janny Baek Evoke Growth and Transformation

Intricate Sculptures by Zheng Lu Suspend Splashes of Water in Stainless Steel

Paper Sculptures by Lyndi Sales Rupture into Vibrant Masses to Explore Life’s Fragility

Memory and Knowledge Intertwine in Chiharu Shiota’s Immersive String Installations

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