Stuart Haygarth

BARNACLE (black) (2009)Cast black polyester resin, steel structure, sprayed MDF
Size: 225 cm long x 110cm high x 84cm wide

OPTICAL (2007) - Edition of 10 (5 large & 5 small)
Prescription spectacle lenses, monofilament line,
 sprayed MDF platform

I am all about art made with found objects, especially garbage

DROP (2007)
The first Drop chandelier was produced as a
 performance piece during Design Miami 2007.

Paul Dibble

Tableau Mermaid and Navigator 4/5

Bronze

60 × 32 × 16.5 cm

Soaring, 2010

Bronze and Corten steel

270 × 200 × 139 cm

Tui-ee-ee, 2009

Bronze and Corten Steel

320 × 320 × 150 cm

Neil Dawson

Floating Horizons, 1994

Painted Steel

Chalice, 2001

Painted Steel

Neil Dawson is a prominent sculpture from New Zealand dealing mostly with environmental issues and global concerns with large scale, site spastic work. Many sculptures are on display in public sites, such as at the entrance to the Olympics, held in Australia in 2000.

I absolutely love Neil's work that is suspended. He often thinks of the sky as his canvas. I feel that the intricacies of his laser cut sculptures, mirror the intricacy of our environment and the delicate state that it's in.

An interesting aspect about Neil's art is the way it incorporates the world around, into the entire experience. It becomes about more than the sculpture itself because you can't view it, without seeing the surrounding environment. It's a very interesting way to make the viewer contemplate global issues.



"one gets to know each in glances’ and ‘when people describe my work, they describe the day – they think of the whole experience...not just the object"

Neil Dawson

Ferns, 1998

Coated aluminum, suspended on stainless steel wires

Kristi Malakoff

Orchard

2005

22 length feet of wallpaper, door skin, molding, apple trees, apple box, soil

264.0” x 108.0” x 120.0”

Maibaum

2009

Black paper, black foam core, hardware

Life-size (pole is 18 feet tall)

Dimensions variable (approx. 20.0’ x 20.0’ x 20.0’)

The Fruit Seller (Nicaragua)

2006

3 Nicaraguan 5 Cordoba bills

2.0” x 1.0” x 1.5”

Rachel Whiteread

Embankment, 2005 

Semi-opaque white casts of boxes

House, 1993 

Concrete, (destroyed)

Sequel IV, 2002 

Plaster, polystyrene and steel, 31.9 x 29.5 x 9.8 in

Andy Goldsworthy

Sycamore patch
Glasgow, Lanarkshire
November 1986

Rowan leaves laid around hole

Yorkshire Sculpture Park, West Bretton, England

Red Maple Leaves

Janine Antoni

Eureka -1993
Bathtub, lard, soap, corian soap
30x70x25 inches

Moor -2001
Installation, Mixed Media
Demensions variable

If I die before I wake -2004
Porcelain nightlight with electric fixture
5.38 x 4.25x 13.67

Brian Dettmer

The Volume Library - 2010

altered Book

11.25 x 10 x7.25

Library of American History -2012

hardcover books, acrylic varnish

99’ x 19 19

Mound 1 - 2008

altered book

5.5 x 13.5 x 13.25

Louise Bourgeois

UNTITLED (NO. 2), 1996

Pink marble on steel base

26 x 31 x 25 inches

MAMAN, 1999

Steel and Marble

365 x 351 x 403 inches

UNTITLED, 2001

Blue and purple fabric and steel 

85 x 12 x 12 inches

Cai Guo-Qiang

Chaos in Nature, 2012

Gunpowder on canvas, mounted on wood as eight-panel screen
134 × 420 in

Fallen Blossoms: Explosion Project, 2009

Gunpowder fuse, metal net for gunpowder fuse, scaffolding
60 seconds

Homecoming, 2011

62 carved rocks

Sudobh Gupta

Line of Control, 2008
Stainless steel and steel structure, stainless steel utensils
393 3/4 x 393 3/4 x 393 3/4 in

Indian artists Sudobh Gupta is likened to Marcel Duchamp in nearly every article on him I have read, but I cant quite figure out why. Duchamp is famous for the creation of "Readymade" art, but I don't see Sudobh's art as Readymade.

Sudobh is a compelling artist and his work has gained him much notoriety, but if my understanding of the terms are correct I feel his work would be better said to use found objects rather than labeling his work readymade.

Many of the sculptures that have made him famous are  comprised of stainless steel, everyday kitchen ware found in homes throughout India. Sudosh's use of these common place items speaks to the class structure in his homeland, elevating these items above there normal station to things of beauty and value.

Gandhi's three monkeys (detail), 2007—2008
Bronze, old utensils, steel
Balaclava head - 393 3/4 x 393 3/4 x 393 3/4 in

Gandhi's Three Monkeys is a political statement using three large bronze heads in different headgear representing the monkeys in the Japanese proverb "See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil". The addition of found bronze objects to these sculptures adds a interesting visual dynamic that I think speaks to the everyday common occurrence to violence. It makes it very real and tangible.


Sudobh, regardless of how his art is defined, is establishing himself as a notable figure in contemporary art.

Spill - 2007

Stainless steel and stainless steel utensils

170 x 145h x 95 cmSudobh, 

'All these things were part of the way I grew up. They are used in the rituals and ceremonies that were part of my childhood. Indians either remember them from their youth, or they want to remember them.'^[1] And: 'I am the idol thief. I steal from the drama of Hindu life. And from the kitchen - these pots, they are like stolen gods, smuggled out of the country. Hindu kitchens are as important as prayer rooms.'
Sudobh Gupta

Jim Sanborn

Covert Obsolescence: The Code Room, 1993 

Copper, text, projected light and petrified tree

 18'x20'x50'

I realized that much of the work I am drawn to and have covered in this blog have common themes, so In an effort to broaden my horizons I decided to look at the work of Jim Sanborn. I''ll admit that his Code Room installation grabbed my attention due to the light and shadow aspect, but when I did further reading on his body of works I realized the strong scientific themes and thought he would be a good addition.

Jim has a whole series of work relating to codes and his art is displayed in some prominent government buildings such as the CIA building in Langley, VA. Kryptos, commissioned in 1990, has made Jim some what of a superstar in the code breaking community for creating a code that has yet to be cracked.

 Terrestrial Physics, 2010
 Mixed materials, original parts, artifacts and video

18'x30'x50'

Another work Terrestrial Physics deals with the splitting of the Uranium atom. Jim recreated a working model of a particle accelerator. He had help from a NASA scientist and spent three years building it, making much of the machine by hand. Why? Well, there is a lot of beauty in science and even in the equipment used, but ultimately this piece is about the beauty of the moment of discovery. It was important to Jim that the moment be real. Somehow spending all the time and effort to recreate a working machine pays homage to the work that went into the initial discovery.

Kryptos, 1989
 Granite, quartz, lodestone, copper, encoded text, water
 12'x20'x10'

There is, with out question a stirring beauty in logic. So much of art that speaks to me has to do with nature, but science and logic are nature. I'm glad that there are artists like Jim Sanborn who explore the mind, thought, and science in the way they do.  

"When I accepted the (Kryptos) commission, I had something of an epiphany in the research I did about the agency, actually the science of espionage. I realized there is a connection between the sciences and the invisible forces of man." 
James Sanborn 

Mary Temple

 Forest for the Sea

from the series, Light Installations, 2002-present
2006

acrylic paint on existing architecture

25' x 66' n

Corner Light, French Gothic
from the series, Light Installations, 2002-present
2006

acrylic paint on 6 MDF panels, hardwood floor, stain, urethane

12' x 10.5' x 12'

I have always had a soft spot for artwork dealing with light and shadow so it should be of no surprise that I was instantly intrigued by Mary Temple's Light Installations.

There is something magical to me about shadows dancing across an open space. Some of my happiest moments at home are around 7pm in the summer when the sun sets enough to shine through the tree outside my living room. I don't no why but in those moments my heart feels content.

Northwest Corner, Southeast Light
from the series, Light Installations, 2002-present
2011

acrylic paint on existing architecture, hardwood, stain, urethane

40' x 42'

My first thought at seeing pictures of Mary's work is that they must be projections, but watching a short clip of people moving around the space you begin to realize that it's something different all together. The viewer's don't cast shadows themselves or disrupt the shadows projected. These shadows are painted on to the floor and walls.

It's as if, you the viewer, are outside that moment in time. Like it's a memory burned onto it's surroundings and your observing, rather than participating.

Though out all Mary Temple's art are themes of doubt, trust, transparency and truthfulness. She goes to great effort to give the viewer that moment when they are unsure what they are really seeing.

"By puzzling the physical senses (setting up the viewer to fail at identifying something as elemental as light), these paintings celebrate the pleasure of trying to understand those things just outside the grasp of physical intelligence."

Mary Temple

Nick Cave

I had heard about Nick Caves's art before going to see his exhibit at the BAM, but I don't think you can appreciate his sound suites until you see them in person. On second thought, I don't think you can really appreciate them until you hear them or see them as they were intended to be seen, in motion.

Although I didn't get a chance to see them move in person, I did watch a few short clips of them in action. I would recommend you do the same here.

'soundsuit', 2011
121 x 42 x 33 inches

Obviously there was a lot of care and work that went into each suite. The craftsmanship is truly remarkable. All the details are hand sewn and not glued. Nick combines modern dance and textiles in a unique expression of art. He actually came upon the idea for his sound suites by accident. He had gathered sticks in a park to create a suit, but didn't realize it's musical qualities until he put it on and moved around.

'soundsuit', 2011
mixed media
121 x 42 x 33 inches

Many of the suites have a tribal quality to them, especial when the are danced in. Nick once said in an interview that “When I was inside a suit, you couldn’t tell if I was a woman or man; if I was black, red, green or orange; from Haiti or South Africa,” he said. “I was no longer Nick. I was a shaman of sorts.” I think it's an important part of these suites that they are gender neutral. The focus is able to be put on the motion and sound and not on the person.

Polar Bear, 2009 

Foam taxidermy models,appliquéd found knitted and crocheted fabric 

96h x 30w x 45d in.

I have to say that seeing the sound suites in person but motionless added a unique perspective to the work. The manikins that the suites were displayed on were so life like that I kept expecting them to leap off there pedestals at any moment. The expectation of spontaneous movement added an excitement to the viewing. I'm glad I had the opportunity to see Nick Caves exhibition.


"I was always interested in movement,but I knew I didn’t want to devote myself exclusively to dance. I wanted to bridge dance and art.”
Nick Cave

Nicholas Jones

Nicholas Jones aims to challenge the traditional way books are "read" by altering them into something new. It forces the viewer to examine the book for its form and not it's content. He found inspirations in his study of deconstructivist theory and in his own words found "The idea of divesting a book of its utilitarianism and forcing it into the realm of the surreal and futile was confounding and enticing at the same moment."

I find it fascinating that the same tools Nicholas uses to create are the same tools his father uses as a surgeon to heal, scalpel and thread.

I found it rather difficult to find any reference to the titles of Nicolas's art work, other that the title of the books he used in his art. I may be reading to much into it, but I started to feel that the lack of information was purposeful. The title of the book was the title of the art. The book was still the book, but re-imagined.

"these books were conceived, born, loved, stored, discarded, found anew, studied, cut, folded and reborn"

Nicholas Jones