A Knotted Octopus Carved Directly into Two Pianos Entwines Maskull Lasserre’s New Musical Sculpture

“The Third Octave” (2023). All images © Maskull Lasserre, shared with permission

Behind the hammers and pins of most upright pianos is a hard mass of spruce, maple, or mahogany, what artist Maskull Lasserre (previously) refers to as a “secret volume of solid wood.”

“I always thought this (component) had a dormant potential beyond its basic supporting role in securing the tuning keys for the piano strings,” he tells Colossal. In one of his most recent works, titled “The Third Octave,” Lasserre investigates this prospect by carving directly into the back panel of two instruments.

The resulting sculpture connects through a tangled, textured knot of octopus tentacles, of which the eight arms correspond to the eight notes of the octaves available within the keyboard. Chiseled into the bodies of both pianos—the right features a lively Minoan-style marine illustration on its surface—the mollusk camouflages a miter joint, or an angled cut between two pieces of wood, that tightly fastens the instruments together.

 

Underneath one set of pedals, Lasserre slotted two books to keep pressure on the joint: On Growth and Form by D.W. Thompson and The Quadruple Object by Graham Harman He selected the texts, which detail biological and philosophical systems, respectively, for both their size and subject matter, which relate to the conceptual framework of his sculpture.

“Most subtly, the octopus dwells in a submerged depth beyond easy human access and remote from the stories we tell of it,” the artist explains. “This could equally describe that hidden volume of matter below the surface of a musical instrument that we think we know but actually holds other strange and beautiful potentials.”

“The Third Octave” also evokes his 2015 sculpture “Improbable Worlds,” which carved a tiny wishbone into the center of a piano. “Like all of my work, this (new) piece was made to answer some question (through a physical syntax) that written/spoken language simply cannot,” the artist says, sharing that his pieces are often dubbed nostalgic. He explains further:

When I have the opportunity, I gently emphasize that working, in a contemporary sense, with reclaimed material—and revealing something enduring and eternal in that—offers an intentional counterpoint to a society preoccupied with finding answers outside what we are and what we already have (see AI, new tech., etc).

Lasserre is currently working on a large public work in Squamish, British Columbia, which you can find preliminary photos of on Instagram.

 

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Dizzying Gifs by Etienne Jacob Infuse Mathematical Equations into Endless Loops

“Rotating dandelion.” All gifs © Etienne Jacob, shared with permission

Paris-based software engineer Etienne Jacob (previously) takes a creative approach to coding with his mesmerizing animations that fall at the intersection of art and math. Gravitating toward space-filling curves and spiral equations, Jacob designs engrossing geometries that twirl around a central axis, coil into parallel black holes, and disperse into individual dots.

Looping is an essential part of each animation, he tells Colossal, noting that the constraint influences the shapes and movements he’s able to create. Most designs are planned, although Jacob diverges when a new technique or method seems appealing. “When I start to code a loop, I give the project a name that sums up the main idea I’m planning to work on, and it seems that the end result always matches that initial project name (and idea), despite the experimentation and unplanned features,” he shares.

Jacob shares much of his work on Tumblr, along with tutorials on his website.

 

“Sphere wave”

“Torus curve”

“Cubes camouflage” made in collaboration with jn3008

“Circle to double spiral”

“Fractal sliding 2d”

“Path with 2 holes”

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5,000 Years of Feminine Power and Prestige Are On Display in ‘Revered and Feared’

Porcelain, about 1700–22, China. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum. All images shared with permission

From goddesses and deities to demons and witches, women’s spirituality has always been fraught and the instigator of both awe-inspiring respect and immense anxieties. An exhibition on view now at Caixa Forum in Madrid brings 5,000 years of these complicated feelings together through 166 historical and contemporary artworks.

A collaboration between La Caixa Foundation and the British Museum, Revered and Feared: Feminine Power in Art and Belief considers how spirituality has informed notions of gender since time immemorial. The exhibition is global in scale, featuring ancient Greek monsters like Medusa, the Hindu goddess Kali, and depictions of the Christian icon, Our Lady of Guadalupe. Alongside these historical statutes and objects are works from contemporary artists like Zanele Muholi, Marina Abramović, Ana Mendieta, and Niki de Saint Phalle that contextualize these legacies within today’s cultural and political landscape.

Given the long history of fear over women’s power and independence, the imagery in the exhibition “speak(s) of the human desire to feel safe and find direction, of the natural cycles of fertility and the continuity of life,” a statement says. “They personify desire and passion, chaos and harmony. They are associated with witchcraft and evil spells. They represent female independence and are either central to society or on the fringes of it.”

Revered and Feared is on view through January 14. (via artnet)

 

Zanele Muholi, “Somnyama IV” Oslo (2015). Image courtesy of the artist and Yancey Richardson, New York

Cycladic figure, about 2400–2500 BCE, marble, Greece. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum

Contrasting portrayals, about 500 BC, painted terracotta, Italy. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum

Dance mask of Taraka, 1994, from the workshop of Sri Kajal Datta (born 1973), papier mâché, clay, fibre and silk, West Bengal, India. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum

Egyptian amulet, 1069–664 BCE, glazed composition, Egypt. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum

Queen of the Night, about 1750 BCE, painted clay, Iraq. Image © The Trustees of the British Museum

Exhibition view of the Venus statute

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The Last Repair Shop: A Heartwarming Documentary Visits the Warehouse Servicing 80,000+ Instruments for L.A. Students

The Los Angeles public school system is one of few administrations in the U.S. that still provides instruments to its students for free. Tens of thousands of young musicians learn to play the saxophone or tuba on borrowed equipment, a program running since 1959 that offers greater and more equitable access to the arts.

A short documentary directed by Ben Proudfoot and Kris Bowers visits the unassuming warehouse where more than 80,000 student instruments are maintained. “The Last Repair Shop” shares the stories of how the four craftspeople came to their roles, punctuated by testimonies from students who’ve benefited from their work. Glimpsing their mending techniques and skill at repairing even the smallest cracks, the documentary is both a testimony to the necessity of public services like this program and the indelible impact music has on people of all ages and backgrounds.

“This is not just a musical instrument repair shop. When an instrument breaks, there’s a student without an instrument,” says Steve, a piano technician and the workshop supervisor. “No. Not in our city.”

Watch “The Last Repair Shop” above, and find more from the directors on Vimeo.

 

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In Large-Scale Installations, Sam Wilde Imagines a Post-Natural Future in Lurid Color

“Pollution Palace,” (2023), Zhuhai, China. All images © Sam Wilde, shared with permission

“For generations, we have been taught to bear the responsibility of keeping nature in its most untouched and purest form, but try as we might, Pandora’s box has been opened,” says London-based artist and designer Sam Wilde. His striking illustrations and public artworks portray an imagined world “where we just let everything go awry.”

Wilde, who as an undergraduate studied biology and conservation, is gripped by the realities of the climate crisis and the human impact on the planet. The British countryside, for example, famous for its verdant bucolic vistas, is rife with invasive and non-native flora and fauna. Due to agriculture, industry, and other human interventions, the vast majority of the U.K. has no true natural landscape at all.

“I think with maturity, I began to understand that, for the most-part, we each as individuals are all doing the best we can to look after the planet,” Wilde tells Colossal. “And ultimately, the blame lies in the macro—and not the micro choices—we each make day-to-day.”

Employing a lurid array of uncanny shapes like glowing flowers or mutated fruits, Wilde considers an alternate future when the environment as we know it has entirely vanished. He upends the concept of natural beauty by considering the artificial instead, “framing the question: could there be a kind of punk beauty to that?” he says. In two major public artworks, “Pollution Palace” and “Cat’s Charade,” both commissioned for municipalities in China, he envisions worlds turned upside-down where reality seems at odds with one’s surroundings.

 

“Pollution Palace” at night

Wilde is fascinated by the way we perceive beauty or pleasure and how the brain doesn’t distinguish a hierarchy between artificial and natural objects. He says:

It’s hard to articulate, but if we, say, look at a lava lamp, it feels enchanting and visually appealing and fires up our synapses with endorphins. And then by the same stroke, if we look at a big beautiful juicy melon, on a neurochemical level, it’s no doubt the same nervous system pathways being activated by that visual stimulation… And that’s what I’m trying to evoke with my works, stripping out the judgement/fear/anxiety around the manmade,and just for a moment escaping into a world where manmade and nature are one of the same.

In “Cat’s Charade,” inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland, vibrant patterns redolent of radioactive flowers and a giant feline installed on top of a building instill a sense of delirium.  And in “Pollution Palace,” monumental inflatable sculptures shaped like hybrid pineapples and leggy blooms glow preternaturally at night. The installation takes as a starting point the tree of knowledge of good and evil, in the garden of Eden, reframing that knowledge as a tension between the organic and the human-made.

Wilde experiments with different techniques and types of projects, which range from watercolor paintings to digital illustration to textile designs. Explore more of his work on his website and Behance, and follow him on Instagram for updates.

 

“Cat’s Charade”

Left: “Pollution Palace” at night. Right: Installation view of “Cat’s Charade” (2023), Whuan, China

“Hubris Tree: Evergreen” (2019)

Work in progress for “Hubris Tree” (2019)

“Pollution Palace”

“Pollution Palace”

Work in progress for “Hubris Tree”

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Close-Up Photographer of the Year Showcases Mindboggling Macro Images of the Natural World

Yuan Minghui, “Like a Flower.” Insects Finalist. “After a rainstorm, a shield bug (Pentatomidae) fell onto some decayed leaves in the mud. The gradual decay of the leaves reminded me of printed flowers, and I loved the bright contrast of the insect against it. This shield bug is like a flower that falls to the ground, bringing some bright emotions to the dark rainforest.” All images © the photographers, courtesy of CUPOTY, shared with permission

Now in its fifth year, Close-up Photographer of the Year drew nearly 12,000 remarkable entries from photographers in 67 countries who explore macro marvels of the natural world. From a roly-poly isopod in Austria to sunlit lily pads in an atmospheric Mexican cenote, this year’s images portray a vast array of flora and fauna in incredible detail. Eleven categories ranging from animals and insects to underwater and intimate landscapes welcomed submissions that focus on a breadth of amazing scenes.

The competition’s overall winner is Csaba Daróczi, whose spectacular black-and-white capture of a bird in flight, taken from inside a hollow tree stump, presents a unique perspective of forest life. Other category winners included Barry Webb’s extraordinary view of slime mold, Mirko Scortichini’s cluster of blue butterflies, and a ghost goby hovering over a diaphanous bed of pink coral by Laura Storm. You can explore the top 100 photos on the contest’s website.

 

Manfred Auer, “Orange Isopod.” Invertebrate Portrait 2nd Place. “I captured this shot during my early days as a macro photographer back in April. Just three months after getting my Olympus camera, I stumbled upon this incredible isopod in the woods behind my house in the beautiful south of Austria. This image is a result of merging 91 individual shots with varying focus points.”

Csaba Daróczi, “The Bird of the Forest.” Animals 1st Place and Overall Winner. “In the winter of 2023, I took a lot of photographs in a forest close to my home in Hungary. I found something new to photograph almost every week, and I spent several days exploring ideas and perfecting techniques. Staying curious and open-minded led me to this hollowed out tree stump, which measured around half a metre in diameter. I carefully positioned my GoPro 11 camera inside the trunk and took a few shots. I was amazed by the results. After a few days, however, I decided the composition might be improved if I included an animal in the frame. So, I returned to the spot and placed a sunflower near the hole, which the mice and birds soon found.”

Arne Bivrin, “Kiss of Death.” Animals Finalist. “I was sitting in a hide watching a heron stalking fish in the shallow water. I had my eyes on this heron and was ready when it caught the small fish. Most bird photographers like to capture the entire bird, whereas I enjoy tight portraits and details.”

René Krekels, “Wood Ants Firing Acid Secretion.” Insects 1st Place. “I had been studying the lifestyle of wood ants in the Netherlands for work when I noticed the defending ants of a very large ant’s nest seemed eager to scare me off by spraying acid towards me. Luckily, it wasn’t that destructive, and it provided me with a great opportunity to photograph them defending the nest.”

Mirko Scortichini, “Butterflies Storm.” Butterflies and Dragonflies Finalist. A group of Lycaenidae butterflies gather to feast upon a cowpat in Serrapetrona, Italy, in June

Laura Storm, “Cloud Nine.” Underwater Finalist. A ghost goby hides out among the undulating textures and swirls of its pink sponge daybed

Simon Theuma, “Dreamtime.” Underwater 1st Place. “Like an intricate tapestry of the marine ecosystem, this image captures the relationship between a commensal shrimp and a mosaic sea star. Dreamtime Aboriginal art reminds us of the delicate balance that exists in the grand tapestry of our natural world—this ancient wisdom serves as an important reminder to preserve what we have. To capture this image, I needed to use a snooted strobe, which was set at an acute angle to the subject. This setup accentuated the depth and beautiful texture of the two organisms. Additionally, I enhanced magnification by using a +15 wet lens dioptre.”

Barry Webb, “Comatricha with Droplets.” Fungi and Slime Molds Finalist. Beautiful Comatricha nigra slime moulds gleam with water droplets on a rotting fence post in November in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, U.K.

Ye Fei Zhang, “Butterfly Eggs.” Micro Finalist

Liang Fu, “Heart of the Sea.” Underwater 2nd Place. “This photograph was taken during a blackwater dive in Romblon, Philippines. Blackwater diving is a type of scuba diving that takes place at night in the open ocean, with thousands of metres of water below the boat. Divers descend a rope with underwater lights as their only orientation system. When the tide and moon phase are right, creatures from the deep migrate to shallower waters. This vertical migration is one of the most remarkable natural phenomena. During the dive, I saw something shining under my searchlight at 28 metres deep. As I swam closer to investigate, I found a lava moray eel curled into a heart shape. I was extremely fortunate to capture this moment with my camera. The eel remained at that depth for less than 10 seconds before swimming down and disappearing into the darkness.”

Chris Gug, “Spirit of the Yucatan.” Plants Finalist. Looking through the drifting stems of lily pads in a Mexican freshwater cenote to the sky above

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SpY Transforms a Ghent Building into a Spiny Thicket of Bright Orange Traffic Cones

“Cones” (2023). All images © SpY, shared with permission

Hundreds of reflective traffic cones jut from the neoclassical facade of Aula Academica at Ghent University, turning the grand columns into a dense thicket of spines. The playful installation is one of the most recent projects of the Spanish artist known as SpY (previously), whose site-specific works often utilize functional materials in unexpected places.

The short-lived intervention, titled “Cones,” wraps hundreds of bright roadway markers around eight columns lining the street entrance. Light illuminates the installation at night, casting a cheerful orange glow on the surrounding area.

On view for just a few weeks in late 2023, “Cones” was a preliminary project to the 2024 Lichtfestival Ghent, which opens this month in the Belgian city.

 

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