Lessons by Ben Turnbull
Lesson(s) by Ben Turnbull are carved from wooden desktops.
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from the artist:
Ben Turnbull is fascinated by the global dominance of American culture, and his works unsettling effects result from re-presenting the toys of our innocent youth in symbolic forms that reveal the shocking truths about war, death and guns in the world’s most powerful country. Above all they take a satirical look at the lengths that the country’s political elites go to in order to control and manipulate the way we think, from our first days of play to the last time we cast our vote. Turnbull is a passionate critic of the contemporary American political system, and explains why toys are central to his work: ‘Force fed on violence, abused by a controlling superpower and blackmailed through patriotism, the public are ultimately as disposable as the toys they once played with’.
Ben Turnbull was born in 1974. He lives and works in London.
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via todayandtomorrow
Red Diamond by Chiasmus Partners
Korean architects Chiasmus Partners have converted a former factory into a dance centre and theatre in the Dongcheng district of Bejing, China. The project, named Red Diamond, involved covering the exterior of the existing building with a faceted shell made of evenly-spaced steel tubing. Elements of the original building such as the front door remain in place. The area in front of the main building is to be used as an open-air performance space. A separate white, box-like structure accommodates a bar and seating overlooking this courtyard. Spaces in the main building include a performance hall and practice studio.
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from the architects:
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Red Diamond
Located in the historic DongCheng district of Beijing, the project calls for a conversion of old factory complex into a dance center with a performance hall, a practice hall and a saloon. With the intention to emphasize the public character of the new dance center, the concept was to make the courtyard an outdoor “theater” – a public space that would revitalize the complex, the hutong and its neighborhood. By wrapping the old factory building with evenly-spaced-out steel tubing, the facade of the performance hall was perceived as a theater stage. The old white door in the middle was kept and untouched, telling the history of the building’s transformation.
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via dezeen
Turning the Place Over by Richard Wilson
Turning the Place Over by Richard Wilson was an installation commisioned for the Liverpool 2008 Biennial. He made an 8 metres diameter ovoid cut from the façade of a building in Liverpool city centre and made to oscillate in three dimensions. The revolving façade rests on a specially designed giant rotator, usually used in the shipping and nuclear industries, and acts as a huge opening and closing ‘window’, offering recurrent glimpses of the interior during its constant cycle during daylight hours.
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via todayandtomorrow
Boxhome / Oslo by Rintala Eggertsson Architects
While we’re not convinced by the caustic metal exterior of this minimalist home, we are very impressed with the diagram and execution of the interior space. The elegant efficiency with in is quite beautiful.
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from RINATA EGGERTSSON
In the North all buildings for living have to be made in an advanced way due to the ever-contrasting weather. Additionally, the houses have to be properly heated with external energy more than half of the year’s course. Therefore producing smaller homes would bring about a considerable economical and ecological benefit. Today the construction activity stands alone for more than one third of total global energy and material consumption, well exceeding that of all traffic and transport. This should be a crucial question especially in Scandinavia, where people, in accordance with their growing wealth, possess larger and larger houses. And in most cases, this in addition to a second home called a summer house or a cottage.
Boxhome is a 19 square meter dwelling with four rooms covering the basic living functions: kitchen with dining, bathroom, living room and bedroom.
Firstly, the project focuses in the quality of space, material and natural light, and tries to reduce unnecessar floor area. The result is a dwelling where the price is only 1/4 of the price of any same size apartment in the same area. Boxhome is a prototype building, yet the same attitude could be taken further to bigger family housing and consequently to work places.
Secondly, it seems that we have given the right to produce our homes to uncontrollable groups of actors who seek mostly maximum income. The basic need to have one’s family protected has become a great business adventure. Making a simple house, after all, is perhaps not such a difficult task that it should be totally left for this kind of forces. Moreover, meeting the official construction restrictions and laws usually seems to equal to the using of the building industry products and services, thus limiting the possibilities of a real change and development into minimum.
Thirdly, in Western societies at the moment we are enjoying the highest standard of living ever know to human kind. At the same time we are fully informed of the results ofour culture of consumerism. Therein lays the greatest paradox: We are forced to actively forget the real reality to be able to enjoy the facade of excess we have created around us.
Finally, and most importantly, the goal has been to make a peaceful small home, a kind of urban cave, where a person can withdraw to, and whenever wished, forget the intensity of the surrounding city for awhile.
Project data:
Client:
Galleri ROM, Maridalsveien 3, Oslo, Norway.
Curator: Henrik de Menassian
Work group:
Sami Rintala, architect Oslo
Dagur Eggertson, architect Oslo
John Roger Holte, artist Oslo
Julian Fors, architect student Vienna
Sponsors:
Aspelin-Ramm/ funding
Infill/ funding
Ruukki/ metal facades
Pilkington Floatglass/ windows
Optimera Industri/ interior wood
Vitra Scandinavia/ chair and lamps
SM-Lys/ lamps
Byggmakker/ construction material
Glava Isolasjon/ insulation
Materials:
wood:
pine/ structures
cypress/ interior walls and floors
birch/ kitchen
spruce/ bathroom
red oak/ living room
nut/ bedroom
aluminium:
facades
Size:
exterior measures 5500 cm (length) x 5700 cm (height) x 2300 cm (width)
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via RINTALA EGGERTSSON
Momentary Performances and Things That Last Longer by Lee Walton
Lee Walton creates art from the overlooked moments of minor, daily actions. Integrating art into his life (rather than keeping it separate), he aims to appreciate the moments and events that might otherwise go unnoticed.
Many of these experiences can often be mischaracterized as mundane and uninteresting, but this gets right to the heart of Walton’s muse: an appreciation of activities whose trajectories fall beneath the notice of tightly structured lifestyles that influence where we go, who we meet, even what we say and think.
Within his life and his art, Walton frequently seeks to alter the prescribed rules of a particular setting, disrupting the routines of conventional localities for the purpose of creating his own playing field. In this way, each chance component takes on new meanings, from which each subsequent activity is propelled in directions determined by the artist’s own “experientialist” logic.
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Oya Stone Museum / Utsunomiya, Tochigi, Japan
The mining tools and delivery methods used in shipping Oya Stone are exhibited inside this unique museum and particularly interesting is an abandoned underground quarry 20,000 sq. m. in size and at an average depth of 30 m.
via SpaceInvading
POLLUTION IN CHINA by Lu Guang
October 14, 2009, the 30th annual awards ceremony of the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund took place at the Asia Society in New York City. Lu Guang (卢广) from People’s Republic of China won the $30,000 W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography for his documentary project “Pollution in China.”
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via CHINAHUSH
Henan Anyang iron and steel plant’s (河南安阳钢铁厂) sewage flowed into Anyang River. March 25, 2008
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Guiyu, Guangdong province, (广东省贵屿镇) rivers and reservoirs have been contaminated, the villager is washing in a seriously polluted pond. November 25, 2005
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In the Yellow Sea coastline, countless sewage pipes buried in the beach and even extending into the deep sea. April 28, 2008
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Jiangsu province Changshu City Fluorine Chemical industry land sewage treatment plant (江苏省常熟市氟化学工业园污水处理厂) was responsible for collection and processing of the industrial sewage. However they did not, the sewage pipe was extended 1500 meters under the Yangtze River and releasing the sewage there. 2009 June 11
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Hebei Province Shexian Tianjin Iron and steel plant (河北省涉县天津钢铁厂) is a heavily polluting company. Company scale is still growing, seriously affecting the lives of local residents. March 18, 2008
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There are over 100 chemical plants in Jiangsu province coastal industry district. (江苏滨海头罾沿海化工园区) Some of them discharge wastewater into the ocean; some heavily contaminated sewage is stored in 5 “Sewage Temporary Pools”. During the 2 high tides in every month, the sewage then gets discharged into the ocean with the tides. June 20, 2008
FOR SALE: The Volcano House
Sited upon small volcanic cone in the high desert midway between Las Vegas & Los Angeles, this 60-acre retreat seems to cap the mountain top with its dome-like roof: Concrete and truss beams form its dome allowing the interior to embrace 360 degrees of stark, strong almost lunar landscape. Main house of two bedrooms, 2 baths and open entertaining areas. Guest house of one bedroom and bath, lake, and ultimate privacy. Truly one of a kind property in the most impressive of settings.
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via whatwedoissecret
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Realtor’s listing HERE
The Landing by SWEATSHOPPE
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In an effort to establish new platforms for public art and performance, the
multimedia duo SWEATSHOPPE has developed a new interactive technology that enables
them to explore the relationship between video, mark making and architecture. Dubbed
“video painting”, this technology allows them to essentially “paint” video onto any
surface. Shooting in Queens, Brooklyn, and Manhattan, the duo spent weeks
documenting their work in urban settings to create “The Landing” the first in a
series of episodes that showcases their work as artist, technologist and performers.
This video shows 4 full uncut extra clips form the landing.
Video and Music by SWEATSHOPPE
Thank You: Arpana Rayamajhi, Jacky Tran (Quizbowl Productions) and all the popsicle lovers
sweatshoppe.org
Various Works by Fabio Viale – ALL IN WHITE MARBLE
Shown here are some recent works by the Italian sculptor Fabio Viale. Some of the works are decent, and some are extremely beautiful, but all absolutely amazing when you take into account that ALL are made of white marble. His control and mastery of the material is simply amazing. Please link to his site to see more.
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via Fabio Viale
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