There’s a certain expanse of the mind that no others can see besides yourself. (Like when you rub your eyes real hard and close them again). That may be a crude example of this phenomenon, but there are many others. What Wes Cockx seems to have done, is to take his unique sight and visions to create these ridiculously intrinsic yet digital art pieces. They were all created not by just good old fashioned 2D illustrations, but with digital alchemy consisting of programs like Cinema 4D, Redshift, and the Adobe Creative Suite among MANY more. But just sit back, relax, and immerse yourself in these incredible feats for the eyes.
Ben Butler is fascinated by the complex structures that emerge from simple and delicate processes. This phenomenon can be found in the elaborate systems produced by ant colonies to human cities, small quotidian actions accumulating into overpowering structures. Unbounded, Butler’s installation on display at Rice University Gallery in Houston, Texas, uses this same idea by assembling over 10,000 pieces of poplar wood into a matrix-like structure. This massive arrangement coalesces into an unexpectedly mesmerizing array of grids that stretch to fill the gallery space. Butler approached this installation, as he commonly does within his practice, without initial sketches or ideas of what he would like the structure to look like. He played with the materials, discovering configurations on the spot.
Although the grids within Unbounded were pre-made in his studio, the way they were configured and connected horizontally was all in response to the space. This way of acting in the present ensured that the structure’s outcome would be organic, and not purely responding to a preconceived shape. Poplar wood was chosen for the installation because of its malleability and abundance, which gave Butler the ability to fiddle with a material that seemed endless. This idea of endlessness also tied into the title he chose for the piece. Butler wanted the piece to have no defined boundary or vantage point, but encourage the audience to walk around and within the structure, discovering it from all angles.
“Miniature monuments, testaments to the power of language and metaphors of imagination.” Thats how Stephen Doyle describes his angled scaffolding and interlocking constructions. We just call them dope. They look as if they grow directly from the bound pages, and sprawl out to comprise his Hypertexts series. They are unruly and enchanting reimaginings of how information is communicated.
The New York City-based artist lobs off parts of sentences, tethers phrases together with an unrelated word, and generally obscures the author’s intended meaning, producing arbitrary and striking connections within the text. Although the paper sculptures are tangible manifestations of language, Doyle tells Colossal that he originally envisioned the spliced works as satirical commentaries on digital diagramming. “I first started when ‘hypertext’ was a novel term of the internet: blue underlined text was a portal, linked to another document in the ether.
“I conjured sculptures in which the lines of text shook off the shackles of the page, leapt up, out of the book, and started conferring with their neighboring lines of text, creating an aerial network of language, turning text into synapse, circulation… I soon realized that these three-dimensional diagrams seemed to have a poetic power of their own, recontextualizing language and ideas into sculptural forms, inspired by the books themselves.”
A graphic designer by day, Doyle has spent the last few years expanding his Hypertexts series, which has been featured in The New Yorker, Wired, The Atlantic, The New Republic, and other publications. If you’re in New York City, you also might have seen the triptych he created for the subway a few years back. You can follow his works on Instagram. (via swissmiss)
Now we ALL know that October has 31 days, as Inktober has 31 illustrations, but we wanted to throw 16 photos up, just so you can go hunt down the rest. Last year (and this is not her first dabble), artist Amandine Comte embarked on a challenge. The principle is to create one drawing per day in ink or pen, digitally or even traditionally… Inspired by an official or personal she chose to create all of her illustrations in a traditional way to detach herself from digital and re-aprop herself with paper and pencil. “The pace is intense, the pace exhausting but the challenge so stimulating. I loved going beyond my limits and sharing my creations every day with this large community of illustrators participating in the #inktober challenge!” Check more of her work out at https://amandinecomte.com. NOTE! It’s in French.
Not long ago, KAWS took to Instagram to announce his upcoming solo exhibitions at contemporary art gallery Perrotin‘s Tokyo and Hong Kong locations. The Brooklyn-based artist will present new paintings that draw upon abstract pop art influences alongside visual reinterpretations of iconic pop culture figures. Moreover, new sculptures that portray KAWS’ iconic cast of characters such as Companion and Chum will be on display at both locations.
Elizaveta Porodina’s portraits have never ceased to stun the eye with their beauty and complexity. Lighting, arrangement, and her choices of subject seem to be the strong points of her work, and no matter the collection, Porodina’s photos are always worth a look.
AM Fremantle has come up with some amazing skateboard designs in the past, but the “Spritz Party” collection is one of the most recent. AM Fremantle specializes in screen printed skateboards fresh out of Vicenza, Italy that double as works of art. We’ll definitely have more to show from them down the proverbial road as it were, but check out the ‘Spritz Party’ boards below for now.
Visual wizard David Nakayama has quite the incredible collection of comic based illustrations. His wildly detailed and diverse style has been used to draw a wide range of characters from comics to fairy tale characters. Check out just a sliver of his woman based work below.
The visual artist Valentin Leonida, better known as Valle has an incredibly unique illustration style. The Canadian illustrator utilizes simplistic strokes and lining to create incredibly complex, and detailed pieces, that stand away from the generic subjects that others may draw. You can get prints of his work from his online shop by clicking right here.
Valle’s art style is reminiscent of the line work on American money. Below are some alternate looks at his most prominent pieces. And once again, you can get prints of his work from his online shop by clicking right here. Check the method.
Velvet magazine features the “Star dust” series with Model — Nastya Brik.
Make-up — Yana Novikova, style/hearddress — Yana Markova and amazing photography by Ekaterina Belinskay. Check the pics below!
With the use of studio photography and CGI, Mike Campau created a series of images for Under Armour’s state pride collection. The states of Florida, Ohio, Maryland, California, Texas, and Georgia produce the top football players in the country and were deserving of their own personalized gear.
Director David Ayer and the cast of Suicide Squad have taken to social media to unveil the first official (and very awesome) posters for the highly anticipated DC Comics adaptation, and they offer up a very unique take on the Task Force X villains. The minimalistic art style lends beautifully to the uniqueness of the film and the characters in it.
While my interests in the latest James Bond outing ‘Spectre’ were primarily audio based, one can’t ignore the beauty and technically precision of the visuals. One of the least glorified, easily overlooked, but immensely stunning aspects of the film are the digital user interfaces, and operating systems used by characters in the movie. From the technical breakdown of the DB10, all the way down to the maps, and computer screen designs, each screen was painstakingly created from scratch by incredible visual artists. Although these images may have quickly been glanced by movie goers during the film, are all below for you to behold. Check the method.
UI/OS concept design and art direction for James Bond – Spectre. Studio: Method. Creative Director – Simon Cassels
New York-based photographer Bing Wright has created a stunning series of images that capture the reflections of beautiful sunsets in broken mirrors.
The method behind his Broken Mirror/Evening Sky series is brilliant in its simplicity. The black lines in the shattered mirrors distort the sunset while retaining all of its splendorous color, making them seem like stained glass windows from a cathedral built by an alien race. According to Bing, the images were created in his studio by projecting his sunset photos at broken mirrors that were angled towards the projection. That way, when he captured the shot, it made it look like he had snapped the photograph through broken glass.
Apparently Wright isn’t aware of the whole bad luck aspect of breaking mirrors, because he broke “a lot” in order to get 16 break patterns good enough to use for the final images. Here are the remaining images from the collection:
With my affinity for both cooking, and fine dining, it used to seem as though certain dishes only seem to be accessible at the best restaurants on the planet. The website ‘The Art Of Plating’, has luckily made it a point to demonstrate to chefs, and food aficionados alike how to get your plates to look like they came from the kitchen of a 5 star restaurant. Check some of their examples, and make sure to pass by their site.
Located in the town of Oia, Greece is 1864 – The Sea Captain’s House, a luxury hotel that overlooks the gorgeous seaside landscape on Santorini island. The lodging, which was once a 19th-century sea captain’s home (as the name suggests), has been converted into several stunning accommodations, including one called the Cave suite. This unit was recently renovated by PATSIOS Architecture, who applied a nearly all-white color scheme to the entire space. This interior design technique creates an open, airy feel, despite its distinct lack of windows.
The Cave suite is designed as an ideal location for two to four guests. Its large space has two bedrooms, dressing areas and bathrooms—each made of white marble, and one also has a deep soaking tub. After relaxing in the bath, visitors can take advantage of the private yard and seaside terrace, basking in the warm Grecian sun.
Danish-born Maria Rubinke‘s small porcelain figures are reminiscent of the illogical compositions of surrealism, transforming the character of what are traditionally charming and passive objects into expressions of more taboo feelings that oscillate between desire and sadism. (Also, Halloween is right around the corner so we figured you guys can get inspired). And remember, art is very diverse and speaks to different people in various ways.
Check out these awesome pencil drawings by Ontario based illustrator and tattoo artist Andrew Wilson. The way he used highlights and shadows is just spectacular and really makes each piece “pop”. Check out more of his work below!
About the author
Hey, my name is Daniel Nelson. I´m a graphic designer/web developer from Sweden and I’m the creator of From up North.
Engineer Richard Lauth uses his imaginative expertise to demonstrate how welding can serve an unexpected art form. Lauth himself prefers a TIG welding technique, which utilizes a tungsten electrode to deliver a current to the welding site. The puddle that forms is then cooled with a gas. While this undertaking appears quite straightforward, it does require an expert amount of skill. In order to achieve a rainbow-like effect, welder must maintain proper heat control and pressure. This is no easy feat.
With proficiency on his side, the artist creates psychedelic works that display various animals, insects, and even pop culture characters. His portfolio boats characters like Star Wars‘ Yoda, the grinning Cheshire Cat from Alice in Wonderland, an adorable Despicable Me minion, amongst many others. Each figure is produced on a metal canvas and is mesmerizingly fluid. To see all that Lauth has to offer, be sure to visit his Etsy shop.
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