Arab protesters put their art on the streets

"'What is interesting to see in Egypt, and in all these countries, is that artists are not only going out into the city, they also become agents of change in society,' says Hans Ulrich Obrist of London’s Serpentine Gallery, who is chairing a discussion on art patronage in the Middle East as part of a summit at the British Museum and the Royal College of Art (12-13 January). 'If you think about it in terms of the Russian Revolution and Mayakovsky saying ‘the streets are our brushes, the squares our palettes’, it’s about art going beyond the museum and blurring the boundaries between art and life.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Art Newspaper
On:  12/30/11
Website:  http://www.theartnewspaper.com

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Another Collapse at Pompeii Renews Fears About Its Fate

"'This is a torment without end,' Luisa Bossa, a lawmaker from the leftist opposition Democratic Party, told Reuters. 'We have been complaining for three years, but the country’s most important archaeological area continues to fall apart. The truth is that the site has been left alone for years and now, a bit at a time, we are paying the price.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The New York Times
On:  12/23/11
Website:  http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com

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Street artist Eduardo Relero's 3D illusions on pavements

"Argentinean 3D street artist Eduardo Relero has created worlds of wonder on pavements all over the globe.

The 48-year-old began his painting career on the streets of Rome in 1990 and has since gone on to create three-dimensional murals in Germany, France, Spain and America."  [View photos]

Published by:  The Telegraph
On:  12/15/11
Website:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk

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‘9/11 imitation twin towers’ designers apologize

"The firm’s design statement described a 'pixelated cloud' containing public gardens to connected the two structures. The cloud would also house a wellness center, conference center, swimming pools, restaurants and cafes.

The firm apologized for the design’s resemblance to the Twin Towers, saying that they did not see the similarities during their design process. 'It is one of many projects in which MVRDV experiments with a raised city level to reinvent the often solitary typology of the skyscraper,' a statement on their site said. 'We sincerely apologize to anyone whose feelings we have hurt, it was not our intention.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Washington Post
On:  12/12/11
Website:  http://www.washingtonpost.com

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Is a “Garden” the World’s Greatest New Artwork?

"Abelanet’s garden reminds us that the view from City Hall can be quite different from everywhere else—that, in fact, the seeming logic of its view of things can be nonsensical. To fully grasp reality we need to see how it looks from more than one place (politicians, take note). Like much of the world’s best art, Abelanet’s creation is at once silly and profound."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  Smithsonian Magazine
On:  11/29/11
Website:  http://blogs.smithsonianmag.com

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LUMIERE, Durham

"It would be hard to say which was the more breathtaking: a sunny Autumn morning walk around the woody-banked loop of the River Wear, looking up at Durham’s monumental Norman cathedral from every perspective, or seeing the great edifice illuminated the previous evening with pages of the Lindisfarne Gospel, centerpiece of the city’s LUMIERE festival. For dynamic outdoor art to rival one of the world’s most spectacular natural-urban scenes is quite something; for the citizens, who must almost take Durham’s hilly location for granted, the festival offers a bewitching chance to renew a sense of awe about where they live."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Art Desk
On:  11/18/11
Website:  http://www.theartsdesk.com

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Strip Poker Art Project Attracts a Crowd

"The idea of the exhibit is that clothing is money -- who loses how much is up to luck, but people who start out with more have an advantage over people who start out with less. While some people stopped to read the information about the exhibit posted on the wall, most were content to stand on the sidewalk or in the street and observe from afar, though one middle-aged man attempted to climb a pole in order to get a better view. When another man failed for a third time to drag his friend away from the window, he angrily shouted, 'That's what peep shows are for!'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:
On:  11/14/11
Website:  http://blogs.villagevoice.com

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Art: An unlikely form of army therapy

"Outside of the NHS, the charity Combat Stress is the biggest provider of support to armed forces veterans with conditions such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression and anxiety.

Art therapy is one of the treatments it uses. Drawing, sculpting and painting are helping patients manage their symptoms with great success.

'Traumatic memories take a different path from our normal memories and tend to be frozen in the body in the central nervous system,' explains Janice Lobban, who has been a trauma therapist at Combat Stress for the past 10 years.

'When a trauma happens, the person will react to get through the experience, but it leaves the trauma unprocessed.' . . . . Art therapy, therefore, aims to help people express themselves unconsciously and process the meaning afterwards."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  BBC News
On:  11/11/11
Website:  http://www.bbc.co.uk

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Italy takes treehouses to a whole new level

"Plans for 'vertical forests' – 25-floor buildings, flecked with balconies full of bushes and small trees – are sprouting up in several European countries.

Fittingly, Milan, the continent's design capital but also one of western Europe's most polluted cities, is leading the way with the construction of two green towers. The Bosco Verticale (vertical wood) project, due to be completed in 2015, consists of two residential blocks, 110 metres and 76 metres in height, set in the Isola neighbourhood just north of the city centre. The towers will house a total of 900 trees, ranging from 3m to 9m in height, plus thousands of shrubs and flowering plants."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Independent
On:  10/29/11
Website:  http://www.independent.co.uk

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Dressing Up Power Lines Comes With Limits

"Erik Bystrup, an industrial architect from Copenhagen, won a competition organized by Energinet.dk, the state-owned utility that operates Denmark’s energy grid to find the most attractive pylon. 'Not just first, but second and third prize as well,' he boasted, seated among scale models of his pylons in his offices in a renovated factory building.

'We’ve been trying to make pylons that are lightweight and colorful,' he went on. 'Our message is, we’re bringing you power lines with arms that reach up — with green energy.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The New York Times
On:  10/26/11
Website:  http://www.nytimes.com

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Live birth performance artist Marni Kotak delivers healthy baby boy

"Marni Kotak, an artist whose plans to give birth in a New York gallery as an act of performance art provoked criticism and concern, delivered a healthy baby boy Tuesday. Kotak, 36, gave birth to baby Ajax, weighing nine pounds and two ounces at 21 inches at 10:17 a.m., before an audience in a home birthing center she constructed at the Microscope Gallery."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Washington Post
On:  10/26/11
Website:  http://www.washingtonpost.com

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Staying Up Late at Museums

"The push toward making museums a nighttime destination is 'part and parcel of museums attempting to reach out to new audiences,' said Bruce J. Altshuler, the director of New York University’s program in museum studies. 'It takes different forms in different places, but it’s about being more than just a place in which art is displayed. It’s about becoming a center of activity, a place for congregation, a place for social interaction — in other words, a place where people can have fun.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The New York Times
On:  10/21/11
Website:  http://www.nytimes.com

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The Surfing Madonna Complex: A Political Awakening in Encinitas

"She appeared on Good Friday beneath a railway bridge in the California beach town of Encinitas: the Virgin of Guadalupe calmly surfing a cobalt blue wave, her cloak pointing toward the words 'SAVE THE OCEAN.' 'The train bridge created the perfect frame for a work of art,' says Mark Patterson, who left his software career to create the 10-foot-square 'Surfing Madonna' mosaic, planning each detail down to the black booties on the Virgin’s feet.
. . .
Encinitas Councilman Jerome Stocks claimed Catholics were offended by a surfing Virgin Mary. Patterson disagrees: 'The local padre at the Catholic church in town loved it.' The city also suggested the artwork might violate the First Amendment clause that prohibits state-established religion. But in the words of Patterson’s lawyer Anton Gerschler, 'Nobody can look at that piece and seriously say for a minute that the government is asking people to become Catholics or surfing Catholics or worshippers of Madonnas on surfboards.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Atlantic Cities
On:  10/18/11
Website:  http://www.theatlanticcities.com

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Project splashes art on digital billboard for I-90 motorists

"You're stuck in traffic on your way into the city from the northwest suburbs, and something catches your eye: a digital billboard, its bright LED display a welcome distraction from gridlock. But in between rotating ads for the Blu-ray release of "Transformers 3" and a new product from Gillette, something odd flashes onto the screen: simple imagery, absent of slogans or any obvious corporate sponsorship.

While it might not dawn on you until several hundred yards later, accept what you saw for what it was: art."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  Chicago Tribune
On:  10/12/11
Website:  http://www.chicagotribune.com

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Brazilian millionaire builds ambitious contemporary arts park in the hills

"A cross between Tate Modern and Kew Gardens, Inhotim is home to nearly two dozen art 'pavilions', housing work by giants of the Brazilian arts scene such as Hélio Oiticica, Cildo Meirelles and Vik Muniz and international names including Doug Aitken, Dominique Gonzalez-Foerster and Steve McQueen."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Guardian
On:  10/09/11
Website:  http://www.guardian.co.uk

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It's a Bird! It's a Plane! It's… A Hero of the Bulgarian Revolution?

"The [Bulgarian] government opened a museum Sept. 19 to showcase some of the more shameful sides of Bulgaria's communist past through wacky art and kitsch sculptures. Bulgaria is the latest ex-Soviet bloc country to open such a collection, and its Museum of Socialist Art is also the biggest, the government says.

'We want to close this period. We're trying to kill the bogeyman and put it in the museum,' said Finance Minister Simeon Djankov, as he took a reporter on a tour of the place. 'A lot of people here have a romanticized view of communist times and we need to show the unvarnished truth.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Wall Street Journal
On:  09/28/11
Website:  http://online.wsj.com

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Cardboard cathedral: Plans that look good on paper

"Making a castle from a big cardboard box is the first step for many amateur builders. Generally, cardboard architecture is left behind by the time we turn eight – few would imagine it being used to make a 'real' building, let alone a cathedral.

But this is exactly what's happening in Christchurch, New Zealand, where plans have been made to build a cardboard cathedral, after their century-old building was destroyed in February's earthquake."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Independent
On:  09/20/11
Website:  http://www.independent.co.uk

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Dutch Artist Hopes to Inspire Marathon Runners With Prophetic Painting

"For the seventh year in a row, Dutch painter Erik van Loon will deck out the New York City marathon with highly optimistic paintings — giant canvases in a series called 'I Will Win.' This year, however, the “I Will Win” painting, called 'The Crash,' takes on a slightly darker tone: the work is 'about the Financial Crash of 2008 and the following depression in all Western industrialized countries.'"  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  Art Info
On:  09/19/11
Website:  http://blogs.artinfo.com

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Memory in the Making

"For nine years, a foundation and a pair of Milanese architects have been working to transform the grim, cavernous depot —all but abandoned after the war — into the Memorial of the Shoah.

When finished, the project will take up 75,000 square feet and will include a Jewish-themed library rising three stories within the vast space, as well as an auditorium, a room for silent contemplation and a cluster of open-sided cubes for showing video testimonials by European Holocaust survivors."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The New York Times
On:  09/08/11
Website:  http://www.nytimes.com

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The Bias Against Tradition

"Preservation of historically or aesthetically significant edifices is an ancient practice that once provoked little controversy. But as preservation's scope has widened from individual buildings to encompass districts from Colonial Annapolis, Md., to Old Pasadena, Calif., it has become yet another cultural battleground. Much of the debate involves modernist architecture's role in landmark settings of a traditional character. Preservation professionals often advocate modernist additions to these settings, while at the grass-roots level there is strong support for keeping the new work traditional."  [Read Full Article]

Published by:  The Wall Street Journal
On:  09/13/11
Website:  http://online.wsj.com

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