An Illuminated Starburst Explodes and Punctures a Former Warehouse in Malaysia

All images © Jun Ong, shared with permission

A follow-up to the massive, six-pointed star that pierced a concrete building back in 2015, a new site-specific work by Malaysian artist Jun Ong bores through a former warehouse in Kuala Lumpur. “STAR/KL” is an illuminated installation comprised of 111 LED beams in various sizes that burst outward in the open-air structure, impaling the chainlink fence, support columns, and facade of the Air Building at The Godown art center. Described as an “extraterrestrial light being,” the glowing public work performs a hypnotic dance of flashes and flickers each night with an accompanying sound component by Reza Othman, who’s part of the experimental electronic and jazz project RAO.

“STAR/KL” is up through March 26, 2022, although its light will fade gradually during the next few months until it extinguishes entirely. You can see more of the otherworldly piece and dive into Ong’s process on Instagram. You also might enjoy this radiant intervention by Ian Strange. (via designboom)

 

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Merry Christmas, Happy New Year: A Stop-Motion Music Video Tells the Warm and Fuzzy Story of Woodland Friends

Illustrator Phoebe Wahl and animator Andrea Love teamed up to gift us with a delightful stop-motion short full of cozy felted sweaters, wooly swirls of steam puffing from teacups, and (too much) snow just in time for the holidays. The whimsical animation is the music video for “Merry Christmas, Happy New Year,” a duet between Ingrid Michaelson and Zooey Deschanel, that tells the sweet story of Bunny, Rabbit, and their needle-felted friends as they prepare for the holidays. Watch the heartfelt film above, and go behind-the-scenes with Wahl and Love, who also collaborated on an adaptation of Hans Christian Anderson’s Thumbelina, on Hello Hornet. (via The Kids Should See This)

 

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A Spectacular Staircase by Alex Chinneck Uncoils as It Scales a 25-Meter Building in Brighton

All images © Alex Chinneck, by Marc Wilmont, shared with permission

Part functional walkway and part dramatic sculpture, an outdoor staircase by Alex Chinneck unfurls into individual metallic ribbons as it climbs a brick building in Brighton. The latest work by the British artist, titled “A Spring in Your Step,” is made of galvanized steel and features a base with slatted rungs that gradually unwind into a trio of strips splaying outward over Circus Square.

Chinneck is known for his surreal architectural interventions—these include melting facades, a condemned building that unzips, and twisting red post boxes—that upend ubiquitous designs in favor of bizarre counterparts. He shares about the new piece: “’A Spring in Your Step’ took three years to complete, weighs four tonnes, is 25 meters tall, and follows a non-repeating, expanding, and contracting helical form, making it my most complex sculpture to date.”

Head to the artist’s Instagram to see the three-year process behind the spectacular sculpture and to explore a larger collection of his works.

 

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Contrasting Shades of Gray with Vibrant Color, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe Paints Bold, Subversive Portraits of Black Subjects

“David Theodore” (2021), oil on canvas, 144 x 108 inches. All images © Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, courtesy of Roberts Projects, Los Angeles, shared with permission

Ghanaian artist Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe has a proclivity for contrast. In his striking portraits of Black people, he gravitates toward shades of gray to render the skin tone of single figures or small groups, who sport patterned garments, hats of textured fabrics, and generally vibrant fashions that are in direct opposition to their physical features. The bright, bold color palette is the artist’s preferred method for translating emotional states, inner lives, and idiosyncrasies, one he emulates with the richly textured impasto backdrops surrounding his subjects.

Quaicoe is currently a resident at Rubell Museum, where he’s created a trio of monumental works that consider the trope of the American cowboy. “Rainyanni,” “Moses Adomah” and “David Theodore” stand 12 feet high and are reminiscent of the bandana-wearing figures the artist painted earlier this year. Similarly subversive is “The American Dreamer” (shown below), which centers on a younger figure—the subject’s skin is covered in a swirling pattern of lines, a recurring trait in some of the artist’s most recent pieces—who wears a hat printed with stars and strips.

A few of Quaicoe’s portraits are on view through January 27, 2022, at Green Family Art Foundation in Dallas and at LACMA through April 17, 2022, and you can explore more of his oil-based works on Artsy and Instagram.

 

“Rainyanni (Cowgirl)” (2021), oil on canvas,144 x 108 inches

“Dapper III” (2020), oil on canvas, 84 x 54 inches. Photo by Alan Shaffer

“The American Dreamer” (2021), oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. Photo by Alan Shaffer

“Blue Turtle Neck” (2021), oil on canvas, 60 x 40 inches. Courtesy of the aritst and Almine Rech

“Allure” (2020), oil on canvas, 40 x 30 inches. Photo by Alan Shaffer

“Moses Adomah” (2021), oil on canvas, 144 x 108 inches

“Shelcy and Christy” (2020), oil on canvas, 48 x 36 inches. Photo by Alan Shaffer

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Wine Streams Through Sea Creatures in Playful Glass Decanters by Charlie Matz

All images © Charlie Matz, shared with permission

In the sleek decanters designed by artist Charlie Matz, wine and other spirits trickle through a crab’s claws, a shark’s open jaws, and the belly of a branzino. The playful aeration vessels are handmade with borosilicate glass and position marine life at the necks of the carafe, ensuring that the creatures flush with reds and pinks with every pour. Matz, who works at the Chicago-based Ignite Glass, has a few of the decanters available in the studio’s shop, and you can follow his functional creations and new releases on Instagram.

 

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A Montage of 64 Portraits Reveals the Wildly Diverse Characteristics of Foxes

All images © Roeselien Raimond, shared with permission

Back in 2009, Dutch wildlife photographer Roeselien Raimond snapped a portrait of a fox that always seemed to be squinting her eyes in contemplation. That first image sparked a fascination with the creatures and their idiosyncratic expressions, an interest that’s culminated in a decades-long project and now montage documenting the fantastically diverse animals. “Foxes’ characters may differ as much as human characters,” she writes. “Shy and arrogant, from wallflower to cocky, chronically happy or notoriously sad. Helpful or headstrong. Mischievous and cute. Name it, and you’ll have a fox version of it.”

Raimond photographed all 64 foxes from the same angle to allow for easy comparisons, and the result reveals a wildly varied display of characteristics: there are differences in fur color and pattern, face shape, eyes, snout length, and the way their fur trims their ears. Even their expressions aren’t alike, and some appear to bask in the sunlight while others intently focus on an object in front of them.

The collected portraits and individual shots are available as prints in Raimond’s shop, and she shares many of her wildlife encounters on Instagram. You also might enjoy this study of bee faces. (via My Modern Met)

 

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Felted Fibers Are Rolled into Adorable Bread Bugs, Pastry Snails, and Mushrooms with Legs

All images © Atelier Hatena, shared with permission

Atelier Hatena’s bread bugs are the only critters we’d gladly snuggle up with at night. The whimsical, fiber-rich characters are part of the Hiroshima-based artist’s growing troupe of felt creatures: there are four-legged rolls, tiny insects sprouting mushrooms, and pastries with eyes poking from their crusts. Atelier Hatena’s shop is currently stocked with the adorable critters, although they sell out quickly, so keep an eye on Twitter for updates. (via Spoon & Tamago)

 

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