In ‘Extinct and Endangered,’ Photographer Levon Biss Magnifies the Potential Loss of Insects Around the Globe

Madeira brimstone. All images © Levon Biss, courtesy of the American Museum of Natural History, shared with permission

Despite existing on separate continents thousands of miles apart, the Madeira brimstone and giant Patagonian bumblebee are experiencing similar hardships. The former, which inhabits the islands it inherits its name from, is dealing with an invasive species decimating the trees its caterpillars require pre-metamorphosis, while the latter has been struggling to survive in its native Chile after farmers introduced domesticated European bees to aid in crop pollination. Both species are in danger and are part of an ongoing exhibition at the American Museum of Natural History conveying what’s at stake if their species are lost entirely.

Extinct and Endangered is comprised of massive, macro shots by Levon Biss, a British photographer who’s amassed a stunningly diverse collection of images with a variety of natural subject matter from dried seeds to iridescent insects. Biss often collaborates with institutions like the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and the Oxford Museum of Natural History, gaining access to their archives and selecting specimens. He then takes about 10,000 individual images using various lenses that are then stitched together to create extraordinarily detailed shots of beetles, moths, and butterflies.

 

Raspa silkmoth

From the American Museum of Natural History’s collection of more than 20 million, Biss chose just 40 creatures, some of which have already vanished. “To know an insect will never exist on this planet again, primarily because of human influence, is upsetting and emotional. And it’s humbling,” he told The New York Times. “As an artist, it’s the thing that drives me on to make that picture as good as it can be.”

Spanning up to eight feet, the photos are immense in scale and focused on each specimen’s striking forms, whether the undulating wings of the 17-year cicada or the intimidating tusk-like appendages of the lesser wasp moth. Biss hopes that Extinct and Endangered, which is on view through September 4, will raise awareness about the rapid decline in insect populations around the world. “I want people to be in awe of their beauty but to also be damn sad about why they’re being put in front of them,” he says.

Prints of the collection are available on Biss’s site, and you can explore an extensive archive of his works on Instagram.

 

Ninespotted lady beetle

Giant Patagonian bumblebee

Sabertooth longhorn beetle

17-year cicada

Blue calamintha bee

Lesser wasp moth

from Colossal https://ift.tt/pjq19Si
via IFTTT

For the Birds: 33 Artists and Designers Reimagine Avian Architecture at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden

Olalekan Jeyifous’s “Birdega,” wool and metal, 16 x 16 x 16 inches. All images by Liz Ligon, © Brooklyn Botanic Garden, shared with permission

A bright blue bodega, clustered wooden complexes, and a classic design emblazoned with a Swiss flag occupy the lush landscape of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden this summer. Eclectic in style, concept, and technique, the collection establishes dozens of tiny homes for avians across the 52-acre site as part of For the Birds, a group exhibition exploring the disastrous effects of the climate crisis on the feathered creatures—researchers estimate that North American populations have been reduced by 29 percent, or 3 billion birds, since 1970.

Balancing practical needs with aesthetics, the show tasked 33 artists, designers, and collectives with creating site-specific dwellings for specific species. “Woven” by Sourabh Gupta, for example, features spherical, apartment-style spaces for wildly social sparrows, while Studio Barnes evoked the art deco architecture found throughout southern Florida with “Fly South.” The color palette for that work is derived from the vibrant, red feathers of cardinals.

For the Birds is on view through October 23, and you can see all of the designs on the garden’s site. (via Dezeen)

 

Sourabh Gupta, “Woven,” burlap, husk, plaster, and water-based sealer, 30 × 24 × 18 inches

Roman and Williams Buildings and Interiors: Stephen Alesch & Robin Standefer, “100 Martin Inn,” natural untreated red cedar, 3 feet × 3 feet × 3 feet 8 inches

Shun Kinoshita and Charlap Hyman & Herrero, “Birdhouse,” silver nitrate, resin, plaster, paper, 15 x 15 x 18 inches

SO-IL, Dalma Földesi, Jung In Seo, Eventscape, “A Palace for Eastern Bluebird,” ceramic and 3D-printed clay, 20 x 20 x 55 inches

Steven Holl & Raphael Mostel, “Four Birds,” maple hardwood, 30 x 14 inches

Studio Barnes, “Fly South,” wood and paint, 24 x 24 x 24 inches

Bureau Spectacular and Kyle May, Architect, “A Flock Without a Murder,” timber and hardwood, 30 x 30 x 12 feet

from Colossal https://ift.tt/8daDWEB
via IFTTT

Extravagant Sound Installations by Love Hultén Use Custom Synthesizers and Visualizers to Create Elaborate Audiovisual Mashups

Swedish audiovisual artist and woodworker Love Hultén is known for his extravagant and unconventional sound installations that fall at the intersection of music, art, and design. Whether an homage to Nintendo, Pacman, or Simone Giertz’s chattering mouths, the custom synthesizers are elaborate electronic instruments with broad audio capabilities and often, a unique MIDI visualizer that responds in real-time: play the keyboard of “NES-SY37,” for example, and a rendering evocative of a vintage video game will appear on a tiny LCD screen. In the case of “The Doodlestation,” a chord might prompt a cartoon-like figure to vomit an endless pastel rainbow.

Visually elegant and structurally complex, Hultén’s designs take about ten weeks to complete. He tells Colossal that he is currently working on a few commissions, which you can follow on YouTube and Instagram. (via Core77)

 

“NES-SY37”

“Moonray”

“The Doodlestation”

“TE-LAB”

Detail of “Moonray”

from Colossal https://ift.tt/HFWY4iV
via IFTTT

An Ethereal Daily Portrait Series by Chiron Duong Captures the Vietnamese Tradition of Ao Dai

208. All images © Chiron Duong, shared with permission

Softness is often mistaken for weakness, and simplicity for lack, but Chiron Duong’s 365 Days of Ao Dai series holds the history of this Vietnamese tradition in full texture.

According to Duong, “Vietnamese Ao Dai is not only a kind of national costume but also contains a rich history, cultural traditions, aesthetic conceptions, national consciousness, and spirit of the Vietnamese people.” The garment’s capacity to “contain many memories” is most obviously captured by multi-bodied portraits, such as photos from days 183 and 208 that indicate unfolding stories. There’s also a ghost-like vapor resting upon each of these works that not only captures the grace of the gown but also how it embraces the body. In each photo, there is a presence that lingers.

Duong writes, “Through many changes of society and times, the Ao Dai has always been a beautiful symbol of the national culture, the pride of Vietnamese people.” In images from days 190 and 192, in which the figures are seemingly still but their arms and objects flutter, it is unclear whether the movement itself is fast or slow. It is clear, however, that these multi-realm beings capture the discreet and secret elements of time language. Earthy and ethereal colored portraits evoke feelings of land here long before this moment and lasting long after it shall part.

Most of Duong’s portraits are also characterized by mystery. Subjects, similar to those in photos 198 and 185, are hidden behind another image, a fabric, or an object. Viewers are not privileged to her gaze, only visual suggestions and the relationship of bodies to one another as seen on day 184. In many traditions throughout history, to be hidden or veiled is an act of reverence or a sign of great beauty. This has proven problematic as a trope when pertaining to women and femmes, but Duong’s obscurations arouse a hint of magic in the peek of color beneath the gown, the outline of distinct facial features, or the strong posture of a subject gliding through a scene.

To follow Duong’s daily practice, visit her Behance and Instagram.

 

198

192

190

185

183

179

184

from Colossal https://ift.tt/2zuTK6l
via IFTTT

Interview: A Conversation with The Tempestry Project Delves Into the Importance of Knitting Tangible Records of Climate Data

Yosemite National Park, 1916 on left, through 2016 on right, Tempestries by Niki Tucci, photo by Stephanie Panlasigui

Even in the wake of major weather events like the unprecedented flooding that closed Yellowstone National Park for the first time in decades last week, it can be difficult to grasp the magnitude of the climate crisis. The Tempestry Project has been striving to make such large-scale shifts more accessible and relatable through data-rich tapestries, which founders Asy Connelly and Emily McNeil discuss in a new interview supported by Colossal Members.

People don’t have to come at it specifically as “this is activism,” but people can come at it tangentially. Once they see the climate history that’s happening right in their backyards, it dawns on them that this is happening even here…A lot of the IPCC reports focus on what’s going to happen in the future, and people tune that out. I wish they wouldn’t, but it’s what happens. If you connect it to their lived experience in their homes, it’s a lot more impactful for people.

In this conversation with managing editor Grace Ebert, Connelly and McNeil discuss the slow, insightful process of crafting a Tempestry, why it’s important to standardize yarn colors, and the power a single knit has to change someone’s mind.

 

A New Normal kit for Canada

A New Normal Tempestry for Washington

The Paleo

Sitka National Historic Park, left 1916, right 2016, 1916 is on the left, 2016 is on the right. Photos by Sitka National Historic Park Staff

Grand Canyon National Park, top 1916, bottom 2016, Tempestries by Roxy Peck, photo by Grand Canyon Conservancy

A Tempestry kit for Apostle Island

from Colossal https://ift.tt/7E2uCa6
via IFTTT

Paper Show: A Group Exhibition Highlights 14 Artists Exploring the Vast Potential of Paper

Julia Ibbini. All images courtesy of Heron Arts, shared with permission

One of the most reliable communication materials for centuries, paper historically has served as a vessel, a container for notes or the foundation of an artwork. An upcoming group exhibition at Heron Arts, though, focuses on the humble medium itself and highlights 14 contemporary artists expanding its creative potential. Paper Show features an array of styles, structures, and techniques from the whimsical mobiles of Yuko Nishikawa and Roberto Benavidez’s piñatas to Julia Ibbini’s laser-cut motifs and typographic messages from Judith + Rolfe. Opening July 9, the exhibition will be up through August at the San Francisco gallery. You also might enjoy this book that looks at the artists defining the medium.

 

Yuko Nishikawa

Pippa Dyrlaga

Julia Ibbini

Roberto Benavidez

Roberto Benavidez

Pippa Dyrlaga

Judith + Rolfe

Ale Rambar

Huntz Lui

Huntz Lui

from Colossal https://ift.tt/wJ9rjxT
via IFTTT

Awash in Color, Alice Pasquini’s Murals Exude Hope and Affection

Toronto. All images © Alice Pasquini, shared with permission

For Alice Pasquini, painting outside among pedestrians, cars, and the milieu of local life is an inherent component of her practice. The artist begins each mural by studying the intended wall and its physical qualities. Material, paint color, and various markings and damages offer indications about the area’s history and people, she says, and form a well-worn, culturally situated canvas. She then renders large-scale pieces of affectionate couples, children, and figures with extraordinarily kind and welcoming faces, expressions that contrast the largely subversive and politically charged messages synonymous with street art.

“I speak about human emotion and the relationships between people,” she tells Colossal. “That is what influences me more. Walls around the world were a way to get out a message of being united—even if that seems banal—as opposed to rampant cynicism.” Whether painted in shades of pink or awash in vibrant primary colors, the murals advocate for strengthening bonds and finding connections in unusual places.

Pasquini’s murals grace walls around the world, including cities like her native Rome, Oslo, and most recently Toronto. This week, she’s directing the Cvtà Street Festival in Molise, Italy—the seventh annual event involves multiple artists previously featured on Colossal like Daku, Cinta Vidal, Icy & Sot, Ememem, and Akut—and you can follow updates on Instagram.

 

Rome

Bologna

Rome

Toronto

Rome

Paris

from Colossal https://ift.tt/dJmsOox
via IFTTT