today in art

20 Ingenious Origami & Folded Paper Creations

Tom Walker — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 02:28:19 +0000

Origami is the traditional Japanese art of paper folding, which throughout its history has produced beautifully crafted objects and inventions. There is something particularly attractive about elements of the natural world recreated in delicately folded paper forms, and animals and plants have been a favourite subject for origami artists. The evolution of mathematics has been reflected in ever more complex geometric paper creations, while digital technology has enabled intricately mapped patterns. This post brings together twenty examples of ingenious origami and folded paper art and design.

1. Five Spine Concertina Fold (Elodole)
Elodole’s five-spine concertina paper-fold creates a powerful sense of depth and architectural structure.

2. Speed of Light (Jen Stark)
American artist Jen Stark specialises in cut and folded paper sculptures, often formed from layer-upon-layer of dazzlingly coloured card. Her most successful pieces display a suggestion of dynamic movement, such as this work entitled Speed of Light.

3. Grulla (Designed by Roman Diaz and Daniel Naranjo, folded by Emre Ayaroglu)
Bird forms have always been a favourite subject matter for origami artists; with this paper creation, designers Roman Diaz and Daniel Naranjo have rendered the animal’s anatomy and movement in an extremely realistic manner.

4. Icosahedron (Richard Sweeney)
Sculptor Richard Sweeney experiments in folded-paper are an integral part of his creative process, sometimes leading to larger sculptures, or resulting in art works in their own right.

5. Origami Gecko (Kallu)
This origami gecko and fly are created from a single sheet of paper, with the folded pleats allowing the animals’ bodies to rise from the flat surface.

6. Toilet Paper Roll Masks (Junior Fritz Jacquet)
Junior Fritz Jacquet is an artist who experiments with a range of paper-based techniques. These expressive portrait ‘masks’ are one of his trademark creations, characterful faces made from the cardboard centres of toilet rolls.

7. Twenty Open Frame Rhombicuboctahedra (Ardonik)
Ardonik’s experiment in tetrahedral symmetry took months to create, an exploration of geometric symmetry. The design uses the different colours of the rainbow in each of the ‘atoms’ that form the ‘molecule’.

8. Lord of the Rings Origami (Eric Joisel)
Gimli the Dwarf, Legolas the Elf and Aragon from Lord of the Rings are here each created from single sheets of paper, expertly folded by origami artist Eric Joisel.

9. Paper Dress (Jolis Paons)
Designer Jolis Paons created this elegant dress from the pages of a telephone directory, a stunningly inventive use of recycled material.

10. Cyclommatus Metalifer 2.0 (Satoshi Kamiya)
Satoshi Kamiya’s masterful fold of a stag beetle design has a very believable finish, with the choice of paper adding to the natural feel. Apparently the artist studied photographs of real specimens to ensure the leg positions are in a realistic walking posture.

11. Portrait of Rozemarijn Lucassen (Bert Simons)
Bert Simons makes super-realistic three-dimensional laser scan portraits, such as this example of Rozemarijn Lucassen The Rotterdam-based artist takes many photographs of his subject, and then digitally renders and maps the image in two-dimensions. Once the mapped design is printed it’s back to old-fashioned cutting and gluing to construct the strangely lifelike head.

12. Scrapbook Paper Great Rhombicosidodecahedron (Ardonik)
This open frame great rhombicosidodecahedron is constructed from 510 individual folded units, made from pages out of a scrapbook.

13. Reflection on Sagrada Familia (Ingrid Siliakus)
Amsterdam-based artist Ingrid Siliakus produces beautifully executed works of paper architecture. Real buildings often inspire her intricate constructions, in this case Antoni Gaudí’s Sagrada Família church in Barcelona. As with many of Siliakus’ pieces, this work involves complex architectural details and a vertical ‘reflection’ of the structure.

14. Icosahedron (Daniel Grein)
This image is a detail of an icosahedron form with a diameter of one metre. Designer Daniel Grein constructed the paper structure using twenty segments attached to a central skeleton.

15. Origami Object (José Marques)
José Marques’ intricate paper structure employs accurate geometric forms to create the interlocking structure.

16. Caress (Francine Levison)
Francine Levison is an American art teacher who learnt a specific form of origami from one of her students, who in turn had learnt the method from his grandmother. Levison now specialises in producing graceful paper constructions made from many smaller folded units, and often uses recycled materials such as glossy magazines.

17. Chatsworth, Derbyshire ‘A Guide to’ (Su Blackwell)
Artist Su Blackwell applies destructive methods to old books to produce her singular sculptures. The results have a surreal fairytale quality, even in those based in reality, such as this rearrangement of a Derbyshire guidebook.

18. Staircase Interior (Simon Schubert)
Simon Schubert is a German paper artist who uses precision creases in sheets of white paper. His designs feature subtle interior images with accurate perspective, mirrored hallways and convincing architectural details.

19. Periodic Paper Folding (Ron Resch)
The late Ron Resch was an American artist, designer and mathematician who experimented with the architectural potential of three-dimensional tessellated structures in the 1970s and 60s. This ‘periodic paper fold’ is an early example of his work, designed in 1963 and exhibited at Frankfurt Paper Lab exhibition in 2007.

20. The Fall (Peter Callesen)
Peter Callesen is a Danish artist who works almost exclusively in cut and folded white paper. His work explores the transformation of the flat sheet into a three-dimensional object, an object that retains the medium’s qualities. In this example, the silhouette of a tree has been cut from the sheet and folded into an anatomically detailed human skeleton.

This is a guest post by Tom Walker who writes and designs at a UK based specialist supplier in Epson Stylus Photo ink, toners and paper. His other work is available at the CreativeCloud and includes posts on print advertising, design and the arts.

Featured Sculptor, Anish Kapoor

Rainey — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 16:02:01 +0000

Here for Alba

Anish Kapoor creates large-scale sculptures which have an architectural quality about them. His sculptures are more about the artist’s expression than it is about expressing an idea or message.

Is it my role as an artist to say something, to express, to be expressive? I think it’s my role as an artist to bring to expression, it’s not my role to be expressive. I’ve got nothing particular to say, I don’t have any message to give anyone. But it is my role to bring to expression, let’s say, to define means that allow phenomenological and other perceptions which one might use, one might work with, and then move towards a poetic existence.
– Anish Kapoor

Go to Anish Kapoor’s site to see more great sculptures.

Non Object (Door), Non Object (Pole), Non Object (Vertigo)

Sea Mirror

C-curve

Drip

Cloud Gate

Tapumes by Henrique Oliveira

Rainey — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:53:30 +0000

Tapumes

Henrique Oliveira uses recycled “Tapumes” (sidings made of plywood in english) to create his sculpture and installations. Full of texture, color and movement, these pieces reflect a work path he chose while in school.

A breakthrough occurred while he was a student at the University of São Paulo, where for two years the view from his studio window was a wooden construction fence. Over time Oliveira began to see the deterioration of the wood and its separation into multiple layers and colors as similar to the process of painting. One week before the final student show opened, the construction was finished and the worn out plywood fence was discarded. Oliveira collected the wood and used it in his first installation. — Rice Gallery

Oliveira has many more installations on his site as well as paintings which I did not include here. See Henrique Oliveira’s website for more.

Tapumes

Prolapso de Canto 2

Tapumes

Série Tapumes

Tronco

Tapumes

Featured Paintings by Katherine Mann

Rainey — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:36:10 +0000

80 in x 160 in - From the Filigree series - Acrylic and sumi ink on hanging cut papers

I seem to be on a kick for revisiting artists that I have previously featured. I have really enjoyed looking back through old posts and finding how each artists work has evolved. I featured a piece, Growth I, by Katherine Mann in 2008, and I was thrilled to find new work from her in my inbox.

Katherine’s new artwork uses Acrylics and Ink, combining geometric pattern and rich organic texture in explosive abstract compositions.

My paintings depict ever-changing fantasy worlds where blood cells, rainforests and coral reefs collide and intertwine. Each piece functions as a man-sized porthole into a landscape alive with minute details, patterns and interlocking systems. This is achieved through the conglomeration of minutia piled and cobbled together to create larger, overarching systems that define the whole painting.
– Katherine Mann

So much more to see on Katherine Mann’s website, so check her out.

70 x 100 in - Acrylic and sumi ink on paper

72 in x 104 in - Acrylic and sumi ink on paper

51 in x 48 in - Acrylic and sumi ink on paper

36 in x 36 in - Acrylic and sumi ink on paper

30 x 64 in - Acrylic and sumi ink on paper

Serious Drawings by Marc Johns

Rainey — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 16:58:52 +0000

Ink and watercolour on paper, 5x7 inches

I first featured Marc Johns’ drawing, the boxes we put people in, in 2008 and I am so happy that I took the time to revisit his website. Johns’ comedic drawings are as creative as they are funny.

I generally aim to say as much as possible with as few elements as possible. My work often leans toward humour. Finding the humour in things often leads to finding the truth. I like to create absurd situations, by combining things together that don’t belong, or imagine what inanimate objects would say if they could speak.
– Marc Johns

I picked out a few of my favorite drawings below, but there are many more drawings to see on Marc Johns’ blog, so check it out.

Ink and watercolour on paper, 5x7 inches.

Ink and watercolour on paper, 5x7 inches

Selected Illustrations & Murals by Lennard Schuurmans

Rainey — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 21:13:28 +0000

Mooi ‘West - Group Exhibition - Academe Minerva Groningen

I was pleasantly surprised to find Lennard Schuurmans’ work in my inbox last week. Schuurmans creates some amazing, playful murals and illustrations.

Lennard Schuurmans is using old techniques to make something new. while zapping through art deco, cartoon network, the golden age of illustration and pop culture he’s creating wild lines, crazy action, smoking free forms, cutting shapes, burning colors, sweating shades of green, shivering silhouettes, floating landslides, dirty explosions, puzzling compositions and depth in flat shapes.

There are many more works of art to see on Lennard Schuurmans website, so please pay him a visit.

The City Is Yours - Mural with Bobby Pola and Stay Nice for The City Is Yours Festival The Hague.

The City Is Yours - Detail

poliniza 2007 - poliniza festival - valencia

Fam. Sneeloper - Meppen - Germany

lady speed

How about you and your friends vs me and the revolution

bubble visor

i love sideburn

The Exquisite Toys of Nathan Dube

Rainey — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 19:17:02 +0000

S.P.E.E.D. (Rapid firing spit wad shooter).

Nathan Dube was the first artist featured on Today in Art when I launched the site in November 2007. Since then I have changed the style of how I post and I wanted to revisit Nathan to feature more of his work. I love the childlike nature of his work as it invites the viewer to interact with it. Another wonderful touch is the instructions that come with many of the pieces, illustrated like a comic.

The appearance of each piece affords the object a level of authority, convincing the viewer that each piece is the result of years of industrial research and development for actual products. At the same time this authority is subverted by the absurdity of each piece’s function. For instance, the piece entitled S.P.I.T., which functions as a spit-wad shooter, is extremely detailed, exquisitely crafted and constructed of precious materials. These eclectic toys are meant to comment on the absurd lengths men will sometimes go to in order to recapture their youth.

– Nathan Dube

There is much more to see on Nathan Dube’s website so make sure you stop by.

S.P.I.T. (Saliva and Paper Instigating Trauma)

S.P.I.T. - instructions

S.N.I.P.E.R.

S.I.G.H.T. (Laser sighted spit wad shooter).

S.N.E.E.Z.E. (Stimulating Nose to Encourage Extra Zippy Explosion).

For that close shave without the burn.

22 Beautiful & Creative iPhone Apps

Rainey — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 16:01:37 +0000

Creative iPhone, iPod and iPad apps

I decided to write a post about iPhone apps to explore how art is influencing the world around us. I set out to find apps that are creative and imagery to interact with the user in a unique way. Games immediately come to mind when I begin my search, but I started to see amazing utility apps like clocks and music generators that have been completely re-imagined.

I realize that in a sea of 100,000+ apps that this is just a microscopic sampling. Of the hundreds I read about and the 60+ that I decided to download and explored, these are the apps that stood out the most.

Please share any creative apps that you love in the comments. I am always looking for more to download

Spoke Groove Machine

Spoke Groove Machine for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Spoke is a drum beat generator and features a simple interface and clean design. Spoke can be used to create and save your drum loops.

Spoke Groove Machine - $1.99
Spoke Lite - FREE

Gliss

Gliss for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Gliss is a fun iPhone app that allows you to turn your drawings into musical master pieces. The player loops through the drawing and will translate the marks into sounds. I am really fascinated with the idea of representing sound graphically, so I am finding I am a sucker for these kinds of apps.

Gliss - $2.99

Fourish

Flourish for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Of the three music apps that I featured, Flourish is the deepest and most complex. Explore endless possibilities as you create and modify deep and complex musical compositions. The imagery in this is clean and while there is a slight learning curve, it is easy to use. A must have for music lovers.

Fourish - $2.99

DropBlocs

DropBlocs for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

In this frustrating little game you will tilt your iphone or ipod in all directions to move the little search light. This light will reveal shapes that you must match and drop in while you are aligned with you target. Super clean and simple game play, but a bit on the frustrating side.

When you find a bloc tap the screen and select matching bloc to drop, tap again to rotate falling bloc.

You need to be quick and have a steady hand to beat your best score.

DropBlocs - FREE

Nanodrops

Nanodrops for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

I love the look of Nanodrop, but I feel the design of this game out does the gameplay and the sound design is poor. I decided to include this one anyway because they have an update coming soon with new features and I think this one might be worth watching. So wait for the update before buying this, in my opinion.

Nanaodrops - $0.99

Infinity Gene

Infinity Gene for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

This game is probably my favorite out of all of the games I tested, mainly because it reminds me of playing my Atari when I was a kid. Infinity Gene begins as classic Space Invaders and evolves into a Space Invaders look with Gallaga-like game play. The game is feverishly fast and the imagery is mesmerizing and beautiful.

Infinity Gene - $4.99

Implode

Implode for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Implode is a beautifully drawn and addicting little iPhone game which gives you the task of destroying structures with various types of bombs. Not only do you have to make the structure topple, but you also have to make collapse to a point below the dashed line and without hitting obstacles and/or animals that might be around.

Implode - $1.99
Implode Lite - FREE
Implode Nature - FREE

Rafter

Rafter for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

A super cool physics game using a drawing style similar to what you might find in Leonardo’s sketchbook. The goal is to draw and drop shapes to destroy your target.

Rafter - $0.99

Polyhedra

Polyhedra for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

One of the more relaxing games that I played, Polyhedra is a physics based game where you are trying to fill more than 66% of the screen with your shapes. As you progress your enemies will multiply to prevent you from reaching your goal in the allowed number of moves. The game includes some relaxing music and has an ambient pulsing glow. You can also listen to your own music if you choose.

Polyhedra - $0.99

…™

... ™ for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

This game is gorgeous to look at, but you won’t have time to checkout the graphics since you will be slamming your iPhone from right to left trying to keep up with the rising textured levels.

…™ - $1.99

Hanged

Hanged for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Hanged is a wonderful version of the classic hang man, featuring stop-motion animations by artist Patrick Dorian.

…this re-imagined hangman game draws the user into the tumultuous relationship of two mysterious lovers. Uncover the secret of their sordid history and help decide their fate by piecing together their story letter by letter.

The game is fun to play and beautiful to see. I am only about 1/3 through the letter so far (i think), but hope to finish it soon.

Hanged - $1.99

Stay

Stay for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Stay is a balance game with an extremely simple concept and fun game play. The game is also amazing to look at with elements that look as is they were painted on the screen with watercolors. Certainly worth a buck.

Stay - $0.99

Lab Maze - The Beginning

Lab Maze - The Beginning for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

I absolutely love that this game looks like you are playing with moving elements on some graph paper. The game play is easy to grasp but can certainly become difficult. The controls do take a little getting used to. Lab Maze is free and worth checking out.

Lab Maze - The Beginning - FREE

Depict

Depict for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Similar to Pictionary, you will take turns drawing and guessing with others online. The gameplay is dead simple and the online aspect keeps it interesting. Guessing is done by multiple choice so you don’t have to worry about your typing skills.

Depict - FREE

Unify

Unify for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Unify is fun for both thumbs as you stack colored blocks from the sides and match colors. The game begins easy enough in black and white and adds colors for complexity as gameplay continues.

Unify - $1.99

Colorbind

Color Bind for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Awesome concept here as you stretch your color to cover all of the dots. The progression is nice as it starts simple to get the player up to speed before adding multiple colors. Gameplay is fun and this creative app is beautiful to look at.

Colorbind - $0.99

Mr. Bounce

Mr. Bounce for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

The design of Mr. Bounce is clean and simple while game play can get pretty crazy and complex. You can control both the height and trajectory of your square as you try to eliminate the different shapes. Overall a really fun game.

Mr.Bounce - $1.99
Mr. Bounce Lite - FREE

Eliss

Eliss for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Another super clean game with some of the most creative game play I have experienced. The sounds of the game are pleasant and the multitouch aspect is fabulous.

Eliss - $2.99
Eliss Lite - FREE

Blimp

Blimp for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

Blimp is a 2-D game where you control your blimp using tilt controls and a “hot air” button to complete various missions. The environments are lush and the attention to detail is amazing.

Blimp - $0.99
Blimp Lite - FREE

Exquisite Clock

Exquisite Clock for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

This is a clock iPhone app that uses everyday photos of numbers, words and images to create a clock. These photos are added by people around the world and uploaded to a central database.

Exquisite Clock - FREE

multiClock

multiClock for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

A beautiful clock with some great features and color settings. This iPhone clock can display 4 locations, in 4 clock formats, in 20 color schemes and looks great while your iPhone or iPod is docked.

multiClock - $0.99

KulerClock

KulerClock for the iPhone, iPod and iPad

This clock uses moving color theme swatches to keep you inspired throughout your day. Double finger tap to load another color scheme. Looks great in the dock at my work station.

KulerClock - FREE

Hyperrealistic Sculptures by Sam Jinks

Rainey — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 16:36:54 +0000

The Hanging Man - silicon, paint and human hair - 140.0 x 50.0 cm

Sam Jinks creates amazing and erie hyperrealistic sculptures that you would expect to move at any moment. Jinks’ attention to detail is superb.

The allure of a robust sculptural medium is not for Jinks. Rather, with skills that exceed the standards of the wax museum, Jinks makes the skin look like skin, which is luminous and penetrated by light. You could imagine seeing pores and follicles if you took a microscope to the surface.

- Robert Nelson

See more artwork on Sam Jinks website (Not work safe - just a heads up, some of his work is not clothed)

Untitled (Baby) - silicon, paint and human hair - 76 x 53cm

Flower - 35 x 25 x 25 cm

Untitled - silicon, paint & human hair

Women's Face II - 35 x 25 x 25 cm

Girl's Face II - 35 x 25 x 25 cm

TransNatural, an Exhibition by Lucy McRae

Rainey — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:51:33 +0000

TransNatural

I first found Lucy McRae when she was collaborating with Bart Hess. Lucy’s latest work, TransNatural will be opening this Friday, February 19, 2010. TransNatural explores “the crossover between nature and technology.”

Lucy McRae straddles the world of fashion, technology and the body. Trained as a classical ballerina and architect her work inherently fascinates with the human body

Below, I posted some of Lucy’s other artwork that may not be included in the show. Follow Lucy McRae’s Blog to stay up to date with her latest work.

TransNatural

Chlorophyll Skin - A joint project by Lucy McRae and Mandy Smith www.mandysmithwork.com

Germination Day One

Germination Day Eight