More Anton Alvarez

I try not to go over the same ground, but Anton Alvarez deserves an update. Alvarez has scaled up his thread wrapping machine and installed it in Gustavsberg Konsthall. From now until mid September he will be using the machine to create large scale objects that shift and evolve in space. Alvarez is still totally experimenting, but at the same time producing work of huge beauty and intelligence.
"By working with my invention I am constantly learning new ways of creating objects using the thread-wrapping technique. I can assemble wood, plastic and metal without using nails, screws or traditional methods of assembly. The object is held together by fine yarn which is covered with glue during the wrapping process. Repeated wrappings create strong, load-bearing joints at the same time that the item being created is covered with a decorative surface of differently coloured yarns”.

Ted Larsen

Some interesting creations by Ted Larsen, with the Constructed Objects Series being most the successful and resolved, the materials having reached the correct state of calmness and poise.
"Introducing alternative and salvage materials to my own formally driven abstract sculpture, I hope to bring purist shapes and surfaces back down to earth.  I quest for new materials, "non-art materials" to create my work.  The work is based on a post-meduim studio practice.  I am constructing bricolage works in order to re-purpose the materials and re-identify their meanings: to re-contextualize and re-label the idea of Ready-mades.  It is my on-going experimentation with contexts, hybrids, and scale."

Spindrift by BEEP Studio

Spindrift by BEEP Studio formed part of the recent Havelock Walk Open studios.
BEEP, Fronted by Ed Hollyway, whose open, highly intellectual approach allows the work to exist in both the art and architecture worlds simultaneously. Coupled with Hollyway is Peter Ayres, who has 8 years experience working with Thomas Heatherwick, so although BEEP is fresh in its conception, expect uncompromising and serious work coming very soon. Watch out!

Ecology of Colour/Studio Weave

"....the timber-clad structure, by Studio Weave, is an outdoor classroom, dyeing workshop, art studio, bird-watching hide, tree house and park shelter all rolled into one".

Nils Frahm

A sublime performance from Nils Frahm here, treading the line between contemporary classical and electronic music. The most important thing with Frahm is the energy. His massive physical exertion is channelled into the most precise and detailed contact with the instruments, producing work of astonishing emotion and resonance. The sky is limit for Frahm, simply incredible.

Studio Formafantasma

Gallery Libby Sellers continue to exhibit works of the utmost quality and refinement, with the new collection from Studio Formafantasma......
"....an investigation into the culture of lava in the Mount Etna and Stromboli regions of Sicily, two of the last active volcanoes in Europe. 

Formafantasma questions the link between tradition and local culture and the relationship between objects and the idea of cultural heritage. De Natura Fossilium is a project that refuses to accept locality as touristic entertainment. Instead, the work of Formafantasma is a different expedition in which the landscape is not passively contemplated but restlessly sampled, melted, blown, woven, cast and milled. From the more familiar use of basalt stone to their extreme experiments with lava in the production of glass and the use of volcanic fibers for textile, Formafantasma’s explorations and the resulting objects realise the full potential of the lava as a material for design."

Josef Albers

Very unusual exhibition opening today featuring black and white works from the (colour theorist) Josef Albers. Full gamit of thinking here from the naive triple clef works, to photographic inspiration taken at Mexican ruins,  to optical experiments of line and form. Even including B&W studies for the seminal series, Homage to the square. The Waddington Custot gallery have all the works on the website so you can have a good look even if you cannot make it to the show. Serious, brilliant stuff.

Patatap

Little fun post, give Patatap a try in your lunch hour. Some really nice noises on here.

Alternative Tokyo

Eschewing the normal Tokyo holiday snaps of High Rise Neon brilliantness, I start my Tokyo round up with alternative, tiny dwellings and decaying structures dotted around this amazing city.