In
many locations during the Winter across the world, art still lives in
ice sculpturing. I have been to several ice sculpture exhibits in the
midwest and they are wonderful. The only negative, of course, is that
the sculpture is temporary and will only last as long as the weather is
below freezing.
One major ice/snow festival is the Sapporo Snow Festival
(See picture at left) . The 60th festival will be held next month. It
is held in Sapporo, Japan. Surprisingly the festival began in 1950 when
six high school students built snow statues in Odori Park. When the
Japanese armed forces joined in to create sculptures, the festival
became famous.
The largest snow sculpture in the world was said to be shown at the annual Harbin International Snow Sculpture Festival
in Harbin, China. It was 35 meters tall and 162 meters long (See
right). It was placed in the expo's square. This festival is the
largest and perhaps the most magnificent festival in the world. They
have held the festival since 1963. They don't worry too much about the
weather because the wind is frequently from the direction of Siberia.
The average Winter temperature is -36 F (-38.1 C) The 24th festival is
this month in Harbin in north China. At night they light many of the
sculptures. Some of the sculptures are lit at night (see below).
Click on the images to see the full view
There are also those who do ice sculptures professionally. Janson Iwakami
does ice sculptures for weddings, ice bars, parties, centerpieces and
more. Janson creates his own ice so the ice is crystal clear. He says
it takes 3-4 days to make a block of clear ice. Small sculptures take
two hours with an additional 5-7 hours for ice creation and
transportation. An ice sculpture will last about 6-7 hours indoors.
If you do a search on the internet, you will find many
other ice sculptors. They all use common tools. Some are chain saws for
cutting and shaping, a grinder for adding details, and a heat gun for
glossing, rounding or repairing. An ice sculptor should wear ear and
eye protection, and kneepads.
Below are highlights of the 2012 Harbin, China 28th annual Ice Festival:
We've all had students who just won't let a great piece
of art alone. A watercolor picture can turn to mud if too many colors
are added. Below is a perfect example of an ice sculptor not leaving
well enough alone:
2 Comments
The sculptor accused of "not leaving well enough alone" in the video above is Junichi Nakamura at the World Ice Art Championships in Fairbanks, Alaska. Almost every year, he pushes the limits of ice sculpting with his daring sculptures. He knows that there is a strong possibility that the sculpture will collapse when he cuts the final support struts. This year, he and his team carved a wildebeest being attacked by a lion. The wildebeest had very little support and was possible only because it was largely hollow. In fact, the sculpture later collapsed when a worker was using a leaf blower to knock snow off of it. I was at the event this year (you can see what I did at www.coolbreesproject.com) and I've been on Junichi's team in the past. I'd also like to add another link about ice sculptures: www.icecarvingsecrets.com. Thank you for posting info and pix about the art that we love!
March 27, 2010 11:19 PM
Ice Sculpting is one of the most intriguing art forms out there! One of the reasons for this is because the sculptures don't last forever. This means that each sculptures is unique no matter where you are in the world!
Here are some more images of ice sculptures: www.iceart.co.za
June 14, 2010 6:10 AM
Airport Art is the New Fad
Indianapolis opened its new state-of-the-art airport in
November and adorning the new airport is four million dollars of art
from sixteen different artists across the USA. Terminal excavation
began in 2005. (See details
of the construction and design) This is the first airport in the nation
to be built post 9-11 and includes designs that promotes security and
makes it easier to go through the security check.
Says Indy Star reporter Zach Dunkin, "Stunning glass
murals, terrazzo floor designs and metal shapes suspended from the
Civic Plaza skylight are part of the artistic mix in the new terminal.
The works spill over into the atrium of the garage, where "breathing"
sculptures inflate and deflate, and outside onto grassy landscaped
gardens at each end of the terminal entrance." [1]
This paints an attractive picture of the building and
as you can see by the pictures below, some of it can be sat upon by
airport patrons. Following is a list of a few artists represented in
the airport. Click on the images for a larger view:
Artist Ron Baron
from Brooklyn, N.Y.- His airport art is called "Baggage Claim." These
are bronzed suitcases and serve as functional seating in the terminal's
baggage claim area. He has created other bronze sculptures primarily in
New York. He has done similar things at other transportation locations.
He also has sculpture along the Long Island Railroad. You can read more about Ron on the NYC Department of Cultural Affairs website.
Says Baron about his art, "My greatest pleasure has
been watching students and community interact with the work. The look
of delight and curiosity on their faces as they examine each of the
pieces is something that will remain a constant source of inspiration." [2]
Artist Rob Fisher
from Bellefonte, Pa.- His contribution is called "JetStream." His
sculptures adorn the ceiling of the Civic Plaza Atrium. The metal
sculptures suggests birds or clouds. Rob studied design from a
Fulbright Fellowship in Scandinavia and Rome. He has another sculpture
located at the Philadelphia International Airport. That work is called
"American Dream."
Says Rob Fisher of Philadelphia sculpture, "Art serves
as a marker of a society’s values. During troubled times art, in
whatever form – poetry, dance, painting, sculpture, music - becomes
even more precious. Art possesses healing powers. It is a creative,
positive action. It transcends borders, boundaries, divisions,
divisiveness, politics and war. Art is timeless and enduring in
contrast with media-driven moment-by-moment unfolding of events."[ 3]
Unfortunately Rob passed away in 2006 and his family
completed this sculpture. Rob's daughter, Talley Fisher, continues
creating sculptures. Before he died, he formed his own company along
with his family, RFS LLC. One of his more notable sculptures includes
one that incorporates the Declaration of Independence. You can see more
of his sculptures and read details about his biography on his website.
Artists Cameron McNall and Damon Seeley, from Los Angeles- Their work is entitled, "Interactive Passage."
Interactive circular colored lights dot the ceiling along the
pedestrian bridge connecting the terminal and parking garage. The
lights also emit sounds and flash different colors.
McNall and Seeley are both partners of Electroland. This team creates objects, interactive experiences and large-scale public art projects.
Seeley holds a design degree from UCLA and helped
create the Emergence Virtual World project there and has traveled
extensively to Spain, Austria, and Italy. His work is on display at the
Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles. He has also dabbled in filmmaking in creating visual effects.
McNall is an architect and educator. His work varies
from multimedia to public art. He taught for UCLA in the Department of
Design and Media Arts for twelve years before devoting himself to his
art full time. He holds a Master of Architecture from Harvard. His
exhibits include those in Rome, New York, and Los Angeles. McNall also
has dabbled with filmmaking and his work has been shown in more than
thirteen countries.
Artist Martin Donlin from East Sussex, England- Donlin created 500 square meters of antique stained glass in 14 windows. The windows
in Concourses A and B are designed in collaboration with various
Indiana poets. The poets worked via the Internet and produced work of
"far off places" and "dreams of homecoming." [4] The panels have the title of each poem in large letters along with the text of the poem within the art.
Donlin received his training in Swansea and has exhibited work in Belfast, Frankfurt, Munich, and other countries. His latest work
is commissioned from Crown Estate and adorns Heddon Street in London.
It is housed in an old Victorian art gallery. Patrons can enjoy his art
while waiting for an elevator. You can see more on his art and
biography on his website.
Other artists represented include Lynn Basa, Arlon
Bayliss, Dale Enochs, James Wille Faust, Ann Gardner, Dixie Friend Gay,
Greg Hull, Stuart Keeler, Michael Machnic, Brian McCutcheon, Tom
Torluemke, Nhat Tran, and John Van Alstine.
The Master of Animation- Ray Harryhausen
Harryhausen model, Medusa, from the Clash of the Titans.
It is hard to imagine in this age of CGI animation seen
in movies, but there was a time in the not-to-distant past when
animation was done in stop-motion photography. Some of this was done
with clay- Claymation as they call it. Ray Harryhausen usually worked
alone in the studio building, moving, and filming his created
creatures.
Harryhausen got his start shortly after the movie, King
Kong (1933) came out. The artist in that movie, Willis O'Brien, was his
mentor and influencer.
Says Harryhausen, "I first saw King Kong by accident,”
he has said, “My aunt was a nurse and had been taking care of Sid
Grauman’s mother. She was given three tickets for the film and took my
mother and myself. I haven’t been the same since." [5]
Ray began experimenting with stop-motion with a
friend's camera and with help of his father, created a studio at the
back of his garage (Ever notice how many brilliant things come out of a
garage? Apple Computers and Google, for instance)
Ray Harryhausen with two of his stop-motion sculptures from the movie, "Clash of the Titans."
Animated skeleton from Jason and the Argonauts
Soon he was working on his first film, Evolution. Later
he animated sequences of film educating soldiers during World War II.
Other well-known movies in which the art of Harryhausen appears are War
of the Worlds (1948), MIghty Joe Young (1949), The Tortoise and the
Hare (1952- later finished in 2000), The Beast from 20,000 Fathoms
(1953), The 7th Voyage of Sinbad (1958), It Came from Beneath the Sea,
Earth vs. the Flying Saucers, The Three Worlds of Gulliver (1960),
Mysterious Island (1961), Jason and the Argonauts (1963), One Million
Years B.C. (1967), and Clash of the Titans (1981).
Ray created his models using a variety of ingredients.
To create the skeleton on the right, he started with a 10 inch metal
armature and added joints and sockets. He then dipped cotton in liquid
latex and applied it to the armature. To animate a head, plaster casts
were made with a variety of expressions that could be interchanged as
filming progressed. Clay was also used to mold foam latex figures.
Stop-motion is still used at times along with pixelation and CGI. RSA Films has been working on a film with a mixture of the two. Before CGI, a more recent stop-motion movie was Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer. Gumby, an excellent example of claymation, was watched by millions of baby-boomers.
Many animators and modelers admire Harryhausen to this
day. Ray has been appearing in numerous horror and scifi conferences.
When he autographs pictures, the line is usually very long. He has
earned the title of the father of stop-motion animation.
Below is a video sample of Harryhausen's movies:
Below are links of articles relating to stop-motion and Ray Harryhausen:
You can buy books and DVD's of Harryhausen's art and movies. His
movies are great for a general audience and art classroom (See below):
1 Comment
Thank
you for sharing! This is a wonderful resource. I look forward to
sharing information about Ray and showing the you tube video to my
students- they will be even more inspired to make our little claymation
movies!
January 13, 2009 3:02 PM
January COAT Logo Contest
Objective
To create a logo for the Coalition of Organizations for Accessible
Technology (COAT). The logo will be used to represent COAT and its
mission to the general public, and may be used for COAT’s printed
materials, website, apparel, and other uses for which COAT deems
appropriate.
Description of COAT
COAT is a coalition of 220 national, regional, state, and
community-based organizations advocating for full access by people with
disabilities to evolving high speed broadband, wireless and other
Internet protocol (IP) technologies. The Coalition is dedicated to
making sure that as our nation migrates from legacy public
switched-based telecommunications to more versatile and innovative
IP-based and other communication technologies, laws are in place to
ensure that people with disabilities are also able to enjoy these
innovations. In particular, COAT’s efforts are focused on securing
access to telephone type products used with advanced digital and
Internet-based technologies, and to video programming on television and
on the Internet.
To be eligible to participate in this contest, entrants must be
residents of the U.S. who are 18 years of age or older. People who
have a disability or who have experience with disability issues are
especially welcome to participate.
Logos should reflect the purpose of COAT to ensure accessibility by
people with disabilities to advanced communications and video
programming on the Internet.
All entries must be original designs.
All entries become the property of COAT upon their submission.
Contestants must agree to COAT's use of each entry in materials
supporting this contest, including posting on the COAT website, and use
of the entry in media releases and other public documents and events.
A completed and signed logo contest entry form is required for each
logo design. Logo designs must be camera ready art, not larger than 8
½” by 11” in size.
Send your logo contest entry and entry form by e-mail to COATlogo@COATaccess.org, or by mail to:
COAT c/o TDI, Attention: J. House
8630 Fenton Street, Suite 604
Silver Spring, MD 20910-3803
Timing
The logo contest ends on
Tuesday, January 20, 2009. All entries must be received by COAT at one
of the above addresses by midnight, January 20, 2009, to be
considered. The contest winner will be announced as soon as possible
thereafter.
Prize
The designer of the winning logo will receive five hundred dollars
($500). This will be the sole compensation for the winning logo. After
the contest, COAT has the right to use the logo for any purpose related
to COAT activities, including but not limited to, stationery, websites,
business cards, media releases, public events, clothing or other
apparel, without financial or other remuneration or attribution to the
winner. The winner must acknowledge that COAT has the right to
publicize the winner’s name, likeness or photograph, and the fact that
such individual is the logo contest winner for promotional purposes
without financial remuneration. If a winner cannot be notified
within seven (7) days of selection, the COAT Steering Committee may
select an alternate winning logo and award the prize to the alternate
logo contest winner. COAT will deliver the prize in the form of a
check, by first class mail, to the winner within thirty (30) days after
notification.
Unusual Art
We conclude January's art news with videos of unusual artists I found on LiveLInk:
Video of artist painting with a small knife
Dirty car artist
Tongue painting
Animated sand paintings (Warning- nu*de art appears in the middle)
Have an article you want to submit for this page? E-mail it to us.
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