light

The Church of the Light is the main chapel of the Ibaraki Kasugaoka Church in Japan. Built in 1989, this building is one of the most famous designs of Japanese architect Tadao Ando.

Tadao Ando often uses Zen philosophies when conceptualizing his structures. One theme he expresses in this work is the dual nature of existence. The space of the chapel is defined by light, the strong contrast between light and solid. In the chapel light enters from behind the altar from a cross cut in the concrete wall that extends vertically from floor to ceiling and horizontally from wall to wall, aligning perfectly with the joints in the concrete. At this intersection of light and solid the occupant is meant to become aware of the deep division between the spiritual and the secular within himself or herself.

One feature of the interior is its profound emptiness. Many who enter the church say they find it disturbing. The distinct void space and absolute quiet amounts to a sense of serenity. For Ando the idea of 'emptiness' means something different. It is meant to transfer someone into the realm of the spiritual. The emptiness is meant to invade the occupant so there is room for the spiritual to fill them.

Tadao Ando is a Japanese self-taught architect whose approach to architecture and landscape was categorized by architectural historian Francesco Dal Co as "critical regionalism".

source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_Light

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tadao_Ando

the finish line

The pictures show a 3D printed Mobius strip of Level1 of the popular Super Mario Bros. game. The whole level is wrapped around itself in a single surface, so that Mario begins and ends at the same spot every time.

source: http://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/1635-mario-in-a-3d-printed-mobius-strip-runs-on-forever-and-ever.html

reflections

Dancing lines - A study of water reflections. Stitched and quilted.

by Pauline Burbridge - quiltmaker, textile artist, designer/maker

Displayed at exhibition Take 4 - New perspectives on the British art quilt which started at The Whitworth Art Gallery Manchester in September 1998 and toured to Castle Museum & Art Gallery Nottingham Aberdeen Art Gallery Glynn Vivian Art Gallery Swansea and Tullie House Museum & Art Gallery Carlisle.

" Take one person who, at the age of twenty five was moved when viewing an exhibition of antique quilts, and mix it with her art school practice of drawing, colour, line, and abstraction. Stir in a passion for cloth, stitching and making, together with a love of the rural landscape, the natural world and the spirituality of a special place, and you begin to get a picture of my textile artwork now. Many influences have come and gone, however, thirty six years on, quilt making still moves me!!" - Pauline Burbridge

source: http://www.paulineburbidge-quilts.com/

http://www.artstream.com/pburbidge, http://www.artofthequilt.com/Burbidge.html

the curtain

Scanning images of crumpled aluminum foil, artist Pae White composed this striking  main stage curtain for the Oslo Opera House. 

White worked with digital images of aluminum foil, which reflect and adopt the colors of the dark timbered auditorium. The images were transferred to a computer driven loom for the bespoke production of the curtain. White describes her work, “Metafoil,” as a contemporary take on the centuries-old tradition of weaving, but with a digital twist. “Metafoil takes advantage of the captive gaze of the audience, introducing a foil, a false reflection, an illusion of depth, a novel typography that disrupts expectation and challenges perception,” says White. The curtain plays with shifts of scale with its rich texture of colors: a few feet away, individual threads begin to form patterns. From the audience’s perspective, it appears as a fantastically over scaled metallic, three-dimensional sculpture.

Pae White is a multimedia artist known for reinterpreting familiar encounters and ordinary items—like animals, books, advertisements, shopping bags, and plants—and revealing what she calls the "artfulness" of the natural and the everyday. She employs ornate craftsmanship along with inventive materials to create objects and installations that transcend traditional boundaries between art and design.

source:

http://fabricarchitecturemag.com/articles/0309_nw1_opera.html

http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/928939/in-the-studio-pae-white-keeps-her-curiosity-for-materials-in

http://www.artspace.com/pae_white

http://traces.co.kr/tc/577?ckattempt=1

race

Destiny is a short film directed by Fabien Weibel, Sandrine Wurster, Victor Debatisse and Manuel Alligné for their graduation. Destiny talks about how we are simply prisoners of time. It captures the relationship between time, death and reality. It talks about how one yearns to be free of time's iron clasp on our lives. Time has surely become a winner in our race to survival perhaps it is about time we turned the hands of the clock in our favour.

Credits:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wEKLEeY_WeQ

slow motion

Time lapse photography or movies give us an insight as to what really is the speed at which we are living. That very pace makes us miss so many incredible moments and events. In the first clip one is in awe of the magnificence of nature and its theatrical abilities. In the second clip in contrast one is scared to see that just with a change of perspective we look like mere insects in this vast world. The insignificance of our existence is sure humbling.


credits:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dluGWF7nHtA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MvvQVfHKurM

a hundred notes to myself

Conversations with Myself

This is a Saggital view of the artist's brain. A Sagittal plane is a vertical plane which passes from anterior to posterior, dividing the body into right and left halves.The artist uses bold, saturated colours in Conversations with Myself: Internal Dialogue which starts with the images and blend into the final product.Conversations with Myself: Face Off the artist tries to confront the digital humanness of the MRI and displays staring down at oneself. The medium used is solar plate Etching and Pastel on Paper

Elizabeth Jameson has produced art based on MRI scans of her own brain. While what we see is the anatomical view of the brain the artist wants us to see the beauty and intrigue in it. Essentially a law graduate, her life drastically changed after being diagnosed with progressive Multiple Sclerosis. What followed was a spate of MRIs but it also tweaked her fascination for how her brain looked and what was I store for her. This was the thing that triggered the art and the artist on her personal journey with the disease developed the fascinating art. On her blog it is stated “My intent is to create images that show the splendour of the brain, with all its powers to change, adapt, and confound.  This work expands the conventional definition of portraiture by questioning what it means to be human and by challenging viewers to see themselves as more than simply their likeness”. 

Credits:

http://www.jamesonfineart.com/#/conversations-with-myself/