Recently in Art Category
One tends to think of Apple devices as being the only ones suitable for drawing, but even a humble Android phone can get the job done, it would seem. The clip above is a speed drawing of a character created on a Samsung Galaxy Note 2 with Autodesk Sketchbook Mobile. the author is Gérémy Arène, who is self taught and has simply always liked to draw. Gérémy has tried the iPad but finds that the Wacom digitizing technology embedded in the display technology of the Galaxy Note 2, coupled with the fine tip of the S-Pen stylus and 1,024 levels of pressure sensitivity, provide him with a more responsive drawing experience. In contrast, the Pogo Connect stylus delivers just a few hundred levels of sensitivity when used with the iPad version of Sketchbook.
Chris Dickman
Editor, Graphics.com
The first time you visit the Art.sy site you might think that you've stumbled onto a modest labor of love, created by those with a passion for art. In this you'd be only half right, since it turns out that there's some serious horsepower behind the initiative, which has no less of a mission than "to make all the world's art freely accessible to anyone with an Internet connection."
German photographer Markus Reugels has been creating a striking series of high-speed photographs made with just water and ink — image manipulation with Photoshop plays no role in the process. I've shown some favorites here, with many more displayed on Reugels' site.
Serbian illustrator and art director Dobrosav Bob Zivkovic is perhaps best known for his whimsical illustrations for children's books but lately he's joined the ranks of those creating cinemagraphs. You can poke through them on his site but what stood out were his adaptations of some well-known works by street artist banksy.
Reminiscent of Godfrey Reggio's films of the 80s, Koyaanisqatsi and Powaqqatsi, Michael Shainblum employs stop-motion photography in Existence to contrast the natural and man-made worlds. It provides an opportunity to pause, if only for a moment, and ask ourselves where we have come from and where we are going. And perhaps even return to that childhood pleasure of simply gazing at the stars, so effectively evoked by the film.
Chris Dickman
Editor, Graphics.com
The French have a mania for injecting culture into some of their oldest and most notable architectural environments, with a greater or lesser degree of success. Here in Lyon, for example, one of the largest and best preserved Roman amphitheaters plays host every year to an ambitious season of music, dance and theater. You can sit on the ancient stone seats, with the city and the hills beyond stretching out into the distance, as I did one evening this summer during Leonard Cohen's farewell concert tour. A magical moment.
I last featured the extraordinary Demeure du Chaos—literally Abode of Chaos—over two years ago. Rather than rehash that long post, I encourage you to give it a quick read before proceding, since it provides the background on an artistic call to arms recently launched by Demeure creator and lead artist Thierry Erhmann.
There's something intriguing about a daily, self-imposed task that imposes formal constraints but which is flexible enough that creative exploration is possible. More than possible—the work is actually stimulated by the rigors of the premise. Luc Grateau's paintings of commuters rendered on Paris subway tickets are a perfect example. And closer to home is Stefan G. Bucher's playful series of Daily Monsters, which recently concluded with number 200.
Has there ever been a better time to be a creator of visual content? With the exception, perhaps, of being active in Florence in the days of the Medici. Content creation tools continue to provide unanticipated capabilities (Photoshop Extended, anyone?), there's a solid and growing market for fresh work, while the net places creatives just a few clicks away from potential clients.
The gesture that is what we call the making of art takes many forms. But it can be argued that at the heart of this ancient act, which binds all of us as humans, lies an essential urge to somehow make sense of life, the universe and everything. A complete artistic engagement can take the form of a life devoted to the creation of such work. Or for those who share in the artistic spirit, it can manifest itself amongst the wealthy as a committment to enable artistic creation, in the form of purchases of existing works or the sponsorship of new ones.
