Artwork Look-alikes

As someone who is interested in the cross overs between art and design, I was greatly pleased to find Lauren Stern's blog Artworks that Look Like Interiors that Look Like Artworks. Stern puts together interesting examples of the different places that designers can go with some of the same visual ideas. I've seen a few examples of similar things done with fashion and fine art recently, but it's always interesting to see the idea applied to different forms of creation. Hrm... now I may have to put together something similar myself...

The Motion of the Ocean

I never really felt a strong connection to the beach until a couple years after I left California for the East Coast. Upon hearing I was from Los Angeles, I would be barraged by questions about the beach, most of which would be met with half hearted shrugs (which probably betrayed more of my west coast heritage than I thought). To me, the beach had always meant sunburns and sand filled food, experiences I can do without. It was only after returning after some time in New York that I was able to see beauty in the vast exanse of water. I had been distracted before, first by the desert border that separated the civilized land from the ocean, and second by the initial waves which my friends and I would inch closer to, but always ride back to shore. My true adoration of the ocean, oddly enough, came in large part from studies in physics and geology. A basic understanding of fluid dynamics allowed my curiosity to flourish. I was now amazed every time that I was able to see this mass scale science experiment working its way out. A series of particles behaving according to various observed rules.
I was taken back to this sense of wonder when I looked through Richard Sweeney's Motion Forms. What particularly stood out to me was a body of work consisting of folded paper sculptures which seem to mirror the forms of the sea quite well. The medium affords a clean elegance, giving the paper the qualities of a graceful dancer. More work from this and other series is available on Sweeney's website.

Beksinski

I've been trying to get back to drawing again. It was my first artistic love, but it has always been chalenging and anxiety provoking for me, and I tend to stray from it. For inspiration, I've been looking at an artist who has long been a favorite of mine, although his style is about as far off from my usual aesthetic as can be. Zdzislaw Beksínski, a Polish artist, was a name introduced to me by my roommates a few years ago. When I first saw his work, I wondered where it had been hiding my whole life. I considered the option that I had just missed his work, that it had just fallen into a blind spot because it seemed sure to me that if someone was producing work of this quality that it must be well known. Since I have recognized his images in a number of places and I'm always glad to see such a talented artist's work finding exposure. See more of the artist's work on his website.

Strength in Numbers

Very first Prisma collaboration between Nom Kinnear King and Kaspian

Lady Orlandodreams Devils cup

Hier and There necklace Lilly Piri

sketch by Rod Luff

Today I went to the blog of Michael Shapcott, a painter whose work interests me like. I thought I'd like to do a blog post specifically about his work, but what I saw on the blog inspired me to alter the topic slightly. Atop his blog is a post about the formation of the PRISMA artist collective. I looked through the list of 25 and saw some names I was happy to recognize, and others I'm sure I'll be happy to learn about. The work above is a taste of what can be found on their newly launched blog, which can be found here.

It seems obvious to me, as it clearly does to many others, that collaboration is becoming and will continue to be an integral part of art and design in the future. To give an easy example, Dress Me was started as a collaborative effort between Mariel and me. To push that example a bit further, there is no way that we could put the magazine together without all of the help of our contributing editors. Collaboration allows us to do things that never would have been possible on our own. While there may be a certain pride that comes from working "alone", one really must consider what exactly that means. Nobody creates in a bubble, we are formed in part by the environments that surround us, it is inescapable. With this in mind, why not simply admit all of our work fits within the larger context of the worlds that we are a part of and attempt to engage them directly during the process, so as to create a finished piece with a better understanding of its surroundings? In addition, I feel that a collaborative work allows a creative to truly find what is important in what they specifically bring to their work as it requires a direct conversation that does not happen on the same level when work is completed before it is shown to others.