stephen.nyc

Tag: Sculpture

  • Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube

    Hans Haacke’s Condensation Cube

    Condensation Cube (1965) is one of Hans Haacke’s earlier works. While over time the artist developed a critique of art as an institution and system, these early works focus on art in the sense of process and physical system. Interested in biology, ecology and cybernetics, in the mid-sixties Haacke was influenced by the ideas of Ludwig von Bertalanffy, especially those outlined in his General System Theory of 1968. For the Austrian biologist and philosopher, a living organism is an open system that continuously changes depending on its dialogue or interaction with the environment. Haacke’s early works, such as Condensation Cube, transpose this concept to the realm of art.

    Read more at the MACBA (Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona).

    [Web Archive Link]

  • Metropolitan Cats

    Metropolitan Cats

    The Met turns 150 years old this year. Its collection is as vast as it is priceless. Within their enormous collection, there are over a 1000 years of cats in art. Quite an impressive catalog of cats! This film, was produced in 1983 and there’s even a companion catalog book (used hardback) published by the museum a couple of years prior available on Amazon. This was unearthed from the archive to commemorate their 150th anniversary. Each month, the museum plans to release more films from the archive.

    From the video description:

    As part of The Met’s 150th anniversary in 2020, each month we will release three to four films from the Museum’s extensive moving-image archive, which comprises over 1,500 films, both made and collected by the Museum, from the 1920s onward. This includes rarely seen artist profiles and documentaries, as well as process films about art-making techniques and behind-the-scenes footage of the Museum.

    The closing credits go to Robin Lehman as producer and director for this short film. It’s unclear if it is the same Robin Lehman on IMDB, but what a lovely, charming and informative short.

  • The Mask of Sorrow

    The Mask of Sorrow

    Image via Wikipedia, Сергей Ковалев

    From Wikipedia:

    [The Mask of Sorrow] is a monument perched on a hill above Magadan, Russia, commemorating the many prisoners who suffered and died in the Gulag prison camps in the Kolyma region of the Soviet Union during the 1930s, 1940s, and 1950s. […]

    It consists of a large concrete statue of a face, with tears coming from the left eye in the form of small masks. The right eye is in the form of a barred window. The back side portrays a weeping young woman and a headless man on a cross. Inside is a replication of a typical Stalin-era prison cell. Below the Mask of Sorrow are stone markers bearing the names of many of the forced-labor camps of the Kolyma, as well as others designating the various religions and political systems of those who suffered there.

    Image via Tumblr, @Yojimbows
  • Kintsugi

    Kintsugi

    Example of Kintsugi repair using the Crack method.

    From mymodernmet.com:

    Kintsugi art dates back to the late 15th century. According to legend, the craft commenced when Japanese shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa sent a cracked chawan—or  tea bowl—back to China to undergo repairs. Upon its return, Yoshimasa was displeased to find that it had been mended with unsightly metal staples. This motivated contemporary craftsmen to find an alternative, aesthetically pleasing method of repair, and Kintsugi was born.

    There are three types of joinery available in Kintsugi:

    • Crack – using gold resin, lacquer or dust to fill
    • Piece method – there may be a missing ceramic altogether, and is replaced entirely with gold/lacquer
    • Joint call – ceramic piece replacement via a non-matching fragment and gold lacquer to achieve a patchwork effect
    Piece-method example: wordsofwomen.com
    Joint-call method: mymodernmet.com
  • Paul Kirps Terminal

    Paul Kirps Terminal

    From Paul Kirps website:

    Fake cash distributor (Bancomat, Atm). Conceived and produced for the “Ceci n’est pas un Casino”, group show held at the Casino – Forum d’art contemporain in Luxembourg (1 May – 5 September 2010). Terminal was also on show at the Villa Merkel in Esslingen (14 November 2010 – 13 February 2011), and at the MoMA in New York (24 July – 7 November 2011).