Looking at Art 2.0

Lately I have been seeing a lot more art inside the classroom than outside of it. For the purposes of my own inquiries, this post is about the art found outside of the classroom. Look out for some neat photos, illustrations, and creative spacey sciencey fun.

First up, Zakaria Wakrim. I chose this artist to be first because his photos are examples of great black and white photography. The little I’ve learned in my photo class has brought my attention to great lighting that adds contrast. That’s where Zakaria’s photos really drew me in. But his photos do a lot more with time and motion, something else I’ve been looking for. In the first two images below, it took me a second to realize that it was documenting a passage of time. The images look like a weird combination of a long shutter release and multiple exposures. Either way, I am awed by the way the images are both sharp and blurred at the same time.
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Also make sure to click his page. His color photographs are quite beautiful.

The second photographer I looked at was Lynn Geesaman. She makes photographs of surreal and mysterious forests. The work is misty and low in contrast. Though, the work does not have the same power in contrast as the artwork above, I could still appreciate the use of light in each of her photos. Because each image does not have sharp blacks and whites next to each other, the large blocks of lightness and darkness become even more apparent. Thus, her studies of trees become studies of composition. Where might the light create a certain triangle or line of negative space?

I have to say that I highly enjoy illustrationists that use little if any modeling in their work. The results are often very graphic and stylized. Lauren D’Amato uses bright and contrasting colors to produce graphic pieces of animals and skulls. I think there is something about her work that seems entirely effortless; the color choice, line placement, and subject matter work together easily.

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Now for the fun stuff:

Earlier in the week I found out about this guy that takes pictures of the sun. After capturing the images, Alan Friedman colorizes and edits them to look entirely dreamy and surreal. Yet, the detail he is able to capture is impressive and gives the viewer a new idea of what the sun looks like. The images are simply mesmerizing. Also, apparently, he has a TED Talk!

While Alan Friedman converts an image of the sun to a colorful sun, a Reddit user converts rusty fire hydrants into colorful planets. This idea is something that I wish I had thought of myself because it  seems so simple. The natural rust gives the photographer a lot of variation in patterns which makes the planets more believable.

Lastly, this artist is one that continues to amaze me with their creativity. The work of Mieke Geenen combines the technique used by Traci Griffin’s works and the interesting beauty of human tissue in his series “Bodyscopes“. However, instead of using a single axis of symmetry, he creates a more kaleidoscopic look. These works were also quite mesmerizing, because of the many ways one could look at them. It made me think of the human tissues in a new way while also grossing me out a bit. If the works are too weird, he also has a series entitles “Animandali” which uses the same technique with different animal skins. Here he experiments more with number of axises. It reminded me of the Ze Frank page for making flowers that let you adjust how many petals your flower had. 

If those two series aren’t impressive enough, he also has a series called “Space Tourist.” The images are computer manipulated scenes of magical space adventures. The tone of the images creates a sense of mystery and surreality. The images are great storytellers, because they give the viewer a starting point for the creation of their own narratives. 

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