Your eyes and ears on the world of art and culture. We remind you that 16 years of back issues of eMusings can be found on our archives page.
All I can say about this project is Wow! And I don't often react this strongly. Called "Artificial Intelligence of Virtual Reality", it took place at the University of Westminster in London. Watch the video and see tomorrow unfolding before your eyes.
Back to earth but still explosive, watch the pyrotechnics of Chinese artist Cai Guo-qiang. His sense of scale, space, and grandeur may be unparalled in contemporary art. I am strangely reminded of Frank Gehry's explosion of architectural forms into wild and unexpected directions. Both artists have taken disruption to a grand scale, upending our expectations of what art can be.
Belgian artist Koen Vanmechelen has built Labiomista, his personal eco park where he creates imaginary creatures. His ecological complex has been developed in a joint venture with the city of Genk in eastern Belgium. The playground serves as a metaphor for the way in which humans relate to the natural world, emphasizing nature's search for balance between prey and predator. Labiomista, a made-up word meaning "the mix of life", will hopefully bring new life to a once-abandoned area.
A site called Widewalls brings us an overview of street art in several cities. From Italy to Belgium to Argentina, Widewalls has discovered some of the most dramatic street art to be found today.
The Scottish National Gallery is highlighting the work of Bridget Riley. For over half a century, Riley has created stunning abstractions, based on the act of painting and on how we see what we see. The exhibition is the first museum survey of her work to be held in the U.K. for 16 years. Riley is considered a distinguished abstract painter, with her investigations into color much admired today.
An exhibition titled "Get Up, Stand Up Now" being held at Somerset House in London, celebrates over half a century of black creativity in the U.K. and beyond. More than 110 interdisciplinary artists from the post-war to today are being shown for the first time together. Featured are both historic works, many of them never seen before, and new commissions. A podcast and a video are included.
Take another look at that ski jacket hanging in your closet, and imagine it in the hands of a brilliantly creative designer. Pierpaolo Piccioli, creative director of Valentino, is offering a dozen floor-length evening gowns derived from the concept of the humble ski jacket. Nine designers were invited to reimagine down jackets as part of the Moncler Genius collection at Milan Fashion Week. The brilliant designs were shown inside of a spectacular villa outside Milan.
California sculptor Dana Albany has built "Tara Mechani", a 15-foot tall Buddha that she made from recycled construction materials and old machine parts. Albany found her materials at Recology, as well as garage sales and flea markets. Albany's inspiration came from the robot Maria in the silent film "Metropolis" and from "Tara", the ancient female buddha. "Tara Mechani" will be on view for one year at Patricia's Green, the public park in Hayes Valley.
The Smithsonian magazine takes us to 6 sculpture parks, which they call galleries without walls, around the world. You will see works by artists like Tony Cragg in expansive settings that give them room to breathe and stretch.
South Korean artist Sun-Hyuk Kim uses stainless steel to recreate the human form as a series of root systems. In the process he has taken an inert metal and brilliantly transformed it into human shapes and expressions.
Try to imagine how Pieter Bruegel the Elder might paint London's underground tunnels and you will get an idea of the intricately detailed watercolors of Marija Tiurina. Her newest piece called "Mind the Gap" combines fantastic creatures huddled together in a scene of chaos and confusion. You could spend hours roaming through her incredibly detailed imaginings.
Meet Ai-Da, a robot so human-like that it would be hard to distinguish her from your neighbor next door. Ai-Da is a robot artist who sketches and draws what she sees. Based on artificial intelligence, the robot will have its first solo exhibition, called "Unsecured Futures", at Oxford University. The robot is named in honor of Ada Lovelace, considered the first computer programmer.
It is unlikely that you will travel to Chongqing, China but if you are fortunate enough to visit there you will see a totally immersive bookstore unlike any you have visited before. Using mirrors and tunnels, the library recalls the calligraphers and writers of ancient China, aiming to draw visitors "deeper into space and knowledge".
The Columbus Museum of Art has recently collaborated with the Dordrecht Museum in the Netherlands to show ""Life in the Age of Rembrandt". The exhibit covered three centuries of art, from the Golden Age of Dutch painting to the Hague School in the late 19th century. Celebrating the 350th anniversary of Rembrandt's death, the works remind us that ours is not the only age where science and art flourished.
Barthelemy Toguo will hold his first solo exhibition in London at the HdM Galllery. Called "Human Nature", the images are meant to suggest that Africa is the place where symbolic thinking engendering powerful art began. His watercolors confront us with a sense of humanity's fragility and impermanence.
c. Corinne Whitaker 2019