Takashi Murakami is one of the more enigmatic artists of our time. His works flirt (or more than that) with both the psychedelic world (with as obvious works as the psy mushroom figures) and the capitalist world. This BBC documentary tries to follow the philosophy behind Murakami’s art. It does give an interesting insight to the philosophy behind the work, but somehow I feel that someone that is not full submerged in the Japanese culture cannot fully understand the messages that Murakami conveys in his art.
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Mandala Naya // DIANE LANDRY
31 Oct
Mandala Naya [ 3 different Mandalas are part of Blue Decline installation ] is on view in the small gallery. Deriving from the Sanskrit word for “ circle “, a mandala is an artistic representation of the cosmos, and is used in Eastern religious traditions as a focus for meditation. Using the now-ubiquitous plastic water bottle, Landry’s mandalas conjure shadow versions of this spiritual symbol. Each of Landry’s mandalas is created from only one kind of bottle, and bears the name of the brand of water it once held, i.e., Mandala Evian. In Mandala Naya, a laundry basket ringed with water bottles is attached to the wall. A tripod, supporting a light attached to a mechanized arm, stands in front of the basket. As the arm moves forward, the light shines through the holes of the basket and through the water bottles, creating a startlingly beautiful shadow that stretches across the wall. This is the reward for watching Mandala Naya for its entire one-minute cycle; just as with traditional mandalas, the time required to experience the work makes it an object of contemplation. (excerpts from the pamphlet : Flying School and Mandala Naya, Rice Gallery, 2005)
TOMUTONTTU
28 OctTOMUTONTTU is Jan Anderzen of Avarus and Kemialliset Ystävät fame (check out the website! it is a whole trip in itself). The video above seems to be a little teaser for the release of an outtakes collection. But the one below is a really nice video of Anderzen performing at the annual Colorscape Arts Festival in Turku, Finland (filmed by Sami Sänpäkkilä).
Hey, have a nice sunday!
Lion Heart – Android Jones and LucidJuice
13 OctAndroid Jones is one of the most inspiring visionary artists of our time. If you don’t know his work do yourself a favor and visit his website, where you will find quite a few of mind blowing eye candies to feast on.
The video above, initially createdJones’s exhibition “Seeing is believing”, makes a fine attempt at bringing the Jones’s artistic vision into the world of moving imagery.
Transmutations by Stefan Heller
2 OctThe quality in this is more of a very rough animation test than a finished product, but it has some good ideas. It is the artist Stefan Heller‘s personal mythology.
Vladiswar Nadishana
12 Sep
Few years ago, I had the pleasure to see a Nadishana Vladiswar show.
I discovered a incredible young modern Siberian “instru-mentalist”,
able to play as well Hang, than jews harp, than a water boiler, than some instruments he invented and built !
Then, during the show, I also discovered the visuals he creates too, mixing psychedelic,
peacefull and mind meditative designs with the live music !
he recently edited a DVD (http://kunaki.com/msales.asp?PublisherId=112833):
The aim of this project was to bring together ancient charactery with contemporary technologies. As a source of archaic symbols, movements and sound ideas we chose the culture of Ancient Kuzhebar (South Siberia), the culture that we belong to. The movie is based on two harmonical components:
- Archaic charactery and ethnic music of Ancient Kuzhebar aborigines (organic)
- Contemporary videoart, sound microsurgery (inorganic)
So much to say about him…
Vladiswar Nadishana is a Shaman, prepare to be healed !
SuperDraw
8 AugsuperDraw is a platform for visual expression using drawing. At the most basic level it is a simple line drawing program. The aim is to give the artist super powers by enabling them to do things impossible with pen and paper while retaining the basic idea of a drawing interface. superDraw explores the idea of storing animation within a single line. The artist has complete control of all aspects of the line and it’s visual representation.
application
In its current iteration, the program is being used as a visual instrument, providing visuals for live music.
The artist is encouraged to respond to what they hear, rather than rely on automatic processes. This allows a greater freedom of expression and deeper collaboration between artist and musician. SuperDraw becomes an instrument itself, adding to the overall performance.
Possible future directions for the program include interactive video installations, dance performances, physical computing, and games.
The Daily Psychedelic Video 