Hapless Hangups and Silly Spoofs Abound in the 2022 Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards

Highly Commended Winner, “Pegasus, the flying horse” © Jagdeep Rajput and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Since its inception in 2015, submissions to the Comedy Wildlife Photography Awards (previously) have captured some of nature’s most hapless and humorous moments. The overall winner was Jennifer Hadley’s timely snap of a 3-month old lion cub tumbling down a tree, taken in the Serengeti, Tanzania. Hadley shared that she and her travel companions had been watching the cub in the tree for some time. “It didn’t even occur to me that he would make a go of getting down by himself in the most un-cat like fashion. I mean, how often do cats fall out of trees?” she says.

In this year’s juried contest, 5,000 entries from 85 countries amounted to fierce competition, showcasing “seriously funny” images in an effort to highlight the diversity of the world’s wildlife and raise awareness of the need for conservation. In partnership with the Whitley Fund for Nature, the contest contributes 10% of revenue toward conservation efforts in countries across the Global South.

See a gallery of all winning images on the competition website, and if you would like to enter your own images for consideration in the 2023 contest, applications are now open.

 

Overall Winner and Serian & Alex Walker’s Creatures of the Land Award, “Not so cat-like reflexes” © Jennifer Hadley and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Affinity Photo 2 People’s Choice Award, “Talk to the Fin” Image © Jennifer Hadley and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Highly Commended Winners. Left: “It’s all kicking off!” © Michael Eastway and Comedy Wildlife 2022. Right: “I’m gonna strangle you” © Emmanuel Do Linh San and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Highly Commended Winner, “Keep calm and keep your head” © Martin Grace and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Creatures Under the Water Award, “Say Cheeeeeeese” © Arturo Telle and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Spectrum Photo Creatures of the Air Award, “Hippo and Heron” © Jean Jacques Alcalay and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Junior Award, “ICU” © Arshdeep Singh and Comedy Wildlife 2022

Highly Commended Winner, “Hello everyone” © Miroslav Srb and Comedy Wildlife 2022

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In ‘Lost Tablets,’ Jan van Schaik Constructs Deteriorating Architectural Sculptures with LEGO

“Henry Edye. All images © Jan van Schaik, shared with permission”

“The first one I made, I made by accident, like a three-dimensional doodle,” says Melbourne-based architect and artist Jan van Schaik about the sculpture that founded his Lost Tablets series. Now encompassing 89 works, the ongoing project continues to reflect this intuitive, imaginative impulse as it scales principles of monumental design into dozens of models that stand about ten inches tall.

Built with secondhand LEGO, each monochromatic construction encapsulates questions of legacy and decay. Remnants like writing, dirt, and divots imprinted in the plastic bricks from rough play are visible in van Schaik’s sculptures, which recreate aspects of “the city caves of Matera, the churches of Borromini, the arches of the Doge’s palace in Venice, the buttresses of Gothic cathedrals, and the blue ceilings of the Shah Mosque of Isfahan” as deteriorating structures. Varied in style and aesthetic, the walls contain gaping, window-like arcs, exposed mechanical gadgets, and uneven bricks that appear on the verge of collapse. Each is named after a ghost ship, or a vessel found at sea with no crew members on board, imbuing the pieces with a sense of mystery about their origins and existence.

A third-generation architect, van Schaik has long been interested in “the ways that cities recombine themselves” and how new constructions often reuse materials, objects, and foundations and embed local history within the contemporary landscape. “Cities are always building themselves on top of themselves,” he tells Colossal, referencing the ancient walls of the acropolis of Athens as an early example. His use of LEGO mimics this tradition and captures the universality of the material and subject matter. “Architecture is for everybody, and everybody is aware of it, whether they intend to be or not, whether they’re conscious of it or not,” the artist shares. “That’s why (the works) have a strange familiarity.”

This year, van Schaik plans to complete the Lost Tablets series, which will total 100 constructions, and publish another book to explore the latter half of the collection. You can see the pieces on view at two spaces in the state of Victoria, Boom Gallery in Newtown and NAP in Mildura, this spring and at The Other Art Fair in Melbourne in March. Until then, find more on the Lost Tablets site and Instagram. (via Yatzer)

 

“Jian Seng”

“Alouete I” (installation view)

“Blenheim”

“Amelia”

“Demeter”

“Runner”

“Vrouw Maria”

“Ismailia”

“Epervier”

“Jenny”

“Baychimo”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article In ‘Lost Tablets,’ Jan van Schaik Constructs Deteriorating Architectural Sculptures with LEGO appeared first on Colossal.

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The Elegant ‘Library House’ Encases a Vast Book Collection Within a Swedish Forest

All images courtesy of Fria Folket

Nestled in lush woodlands near Stockholm, the “Library House” is a sophisticated dwelling that’s both creatively inspiring and meditative. Glass walls enclose the four-building structure, which was designed by the architecture studio Fria Folket, and shelves of books delineate many of the rooms and hallways. The cozy and airy dwelling features a wood stove in an open kitchen, a connected greenhouse, warm rust-colored tile running throughout the home, and a central courtyard for gathering.

Explore more of Fria Folket’s elegant designs on Instagram. (via Plain Magazine)

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article The Elegant ‘Library House’ Encases a Vast Book Collection Within a Swedish Forest appeared first on Colossal.

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Practice Your Stroke with Alphaputt, a Playful Typographic Mini Golf Course

All images courtesy of Sennep Games

Typography meets tee time in Alphaputt, an iOS game with a lot of character. The digital mini golf course is the project of Sennep Games and can be played in two iterations: spell out a word and putt around the individual holes or swing through the entire alphabet from A to Z. From a zippy rollercoaster and sushi restaurant to a turntable and UFO landing site, each letter features a uniquely designed green complete with distractions and attempts to thwart your progress.

Since its release, the game has garnered multiple awards and recognition from industry giants, including the Apple App Store, The FWA, and the Webby Awards. Alphaputt is available for iPhone and iPad, although we found gameplay easier on the larger screen.

 

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Practice Your Stroke with Alphaputt, a Playful Typographic Mini Golf Course appeared first on Colossal.

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Leafy Subjects Exemplify the Social Life of Trees of Shyama Golden’s Verdant Portraits

“Intertwined” (2020), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches. All images © Shyama Golden, shared with permission

On the banks of the Martha Brae River in Jamaica, artist Shyama Golden noticed greenery that appeared like lovers embracing. She “started to see these anthropomorphic vine-covered trees everywhere, taking on the forms of various archetypes.” The scenes inspired a series of paintings titled With or Without Us that merges facets of landscape and portrait painting into verdant works expressing nature as a social entity.

The Los Angeles-based artist’s practice is influenced by myriad sources, especially literature and everyday experiences. “Sometimes the idea can come from reading, and sometimes I take inspiration directly from life, but I often do research to add more details as I go, even if the original idea didn’t come from anything I read,” she tells Colossal. With or Without Us takes cues from Richard Powers’ 2019 novel The Overstory, an evocation of the natural world comprised of interlocking narratives in which each character is deeply connected to trees.

For this series, Golden was fascinated by the invisible means in which trees communicate with each other using a network of soil fungi, an ecological survival mechanism that is under threat from deforestation and impacts of the climate crisis. By combining recognizable portrait imagery redolent of family photographs, headshots, or the art historical vogue for reclining female figures, Golden reimagines the leafy denizens of forests as individuals with distinctive personalities and relationships.

Find more of Golden’s work on her website and Instagram.

 

“Familiar Phantasm” (2021), oil on canvas, 60 x 60 inches

Detail of “Familiar Phantasm”

“The Hero” (2021), oil on panel, 48 x 48 inches

“The Muse” (2021), oil on canvas, 60 x 40 inches

“Blue” (2021), acrylic on canvas, 48 x 48 inches

Detail of “Intertwined”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Leafy Subjects Exemplify the Social Life of Trees of Shyama Golden’s Verdant Portraits appeared first on Colossal.

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Mikko Lagerstedt Photographs the Quiet Grandeur of Snowy Nordic Landscapes

“Winter Solitude.” All images Mikko Lagerstedt, shared with permission

Underneath soft light from the moon or the early morning sun, Finnish photographer Mikko Lagerstedt (previously) captures the quiet magic and mystery of Nordic landscapes. Ice clings to tree branches, an aurora streaks through the sky, and vast fields of snow cover the ground in scenes that are both serene and full of grandeur.

Part of the In The Solitude series, many of the images shown here are single-exposure photos edited in Lightroom, although a few utilize multiple shots to convey the majestic nature of the region. Lagerstedt tends to focus on the unique colors and textures of the area, including stars dotting a deep blue sky, lines etched into the earth’s surface by the wind, and strips of pastel light.

The photographer plans to offer prints of the collection this year, and you can find news about that release, in addition to an archive of his work, on his site and Instagram.

 

“A Cold Night in the North”

“A Passing Moment”

“In the Mist”

“Infinite”

“Resilience”

“Searching”

“Solitude”

“Stained Ice”

“Windswept”

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article Mikko Lagerstedt Photographs the Quiet Grandeur of Snowy Nordic Landscapes appeared first on Colossal.

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January 2023 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists

Photo © The Sm;)e Book

Every month, Colossal shares a selection of opportunities for artists and designers, including open calls, grants, fellowships, and residencies. If you’d like to list an opportunity here, please get in touch at hello@colossal.art. You can also join our monthly Opportunities Newsletter.

 

Open Calls

Aperture Portfolio Prize (International)
This annual international competition is designed to discover, exhibit, and publish new talents in photography. The first prize winner receives $3,000, an exhibition in New York, and publishing in Aperture magazine.
Deadline: January 6, 2023.

PHDC Request for Proposals at Festival Pier, Philadelphia (International)
PHDC is seeking a proposal for a public artwork for Festival Pier, at Spring Garden Street and Columbus Boulevard, with a budget of $1,100,000. Five finalists will develop and present their proposals and receive a $3,500 honorarium before one project is chosen for commission.
Deadline: 3 p.m. EST January 10, 2023.

Passepartout Photo Prize (International)
The Passepartout juried contest will award one photographer 500 Euros, exhibition participation, publication in a catalog, and promotion opportunities. This year’s prize also includes three additional awarding categories and has an entry fee of 25 Euros.
Deadline: January 15, 2023.

Wisconsin Academy of Sciences, Arts & Letters Call for Artists (Wisconsin)
Artists and curators living in Wisconsin are encouraged to submit proposals for an exhibition at the Overture Center for the Arts in Madison. There is a $5 application fee.
Deadline: 5 p.m. CST on March 1, 2023.

World of WearableArt 2023 Competition (International)
Entries are open for the World of WearableArt Awards Competition, which brings the work of international designers to life each year in a large-scale theatrical spectacle held in Wellington, New Zealand. As well as a total prize pool of over $185,000 (NZD), the competition offers the chance to access exclusive residencies and internships with global creative companies.
Deadline: March 2, 2023.

 

Grants

Gottlieb Foundation Individual Support Grant (International)
This grant is open to painters, sculptors, and printmakers working for at least 20 years with current financial needs.
Deadline: January 18, 2023.

Barnard Library Research Awards (International)
Two artists, scholars, writers, and other researchers will gain access to the Barnard Archives and Zine Library for a project that support access, equity, inclusion, and social justice. The award comes with $3,000 to support research.
Deadline: February 1, 2023.

National Endowment for the Arts Grants for Arts Projects (U.S.)
Applications are open for the NEA’s largest granting program, which offers $10,000 to $100,000 awards to projects from visual arts organizations.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST on February 9, 2023.

Adobe Creative Residency Community Fund (Ukraine or refugee)
Adobe’s Creative Residency Community Fund commissions visual artists to create company projects on a rolling basis. Awardees will receive between $500 and $5,000.
Deadline: Rolling.

 

Residencies & Fellowships

OSUN Center for Human Rights & the Arts Fellowships (International)
Scholars and artists with teaching experience and a research project are eligible to apply for this one-year fellowship in human rights and the arts at Bard College. Two fellows will receive a $65,000 salary, health benefits, and a research budget.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST on January 5, 2023.

AnkhLave Garden Project Fellowship (New York City)
Five BIPOC artists will be commissioned to create site-specific works in a public space and a traditional gallery. Artists receive a $1,000 honorarium and can be reimbursed up to $1,000 for other expenses. One artist will also be granted $10,000 to create an original treehouse.
Deadline: January 6, 2023.

*This Is Not A Drill* Community Fellowship  (New York City)
*This Is Not A Drill* is seeking socially-engaged artists, scholars, and arts workers who are interested in the intersection of art, technology, equity, and the climate emergency. Chosen applicants will receive access to NYU facilities, resources, and support, a $3,000 stipend, and a fall exhibition.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST on January 19, 2023.

Joshua Tree Highlands Artist Residency (International)
Open across disciplines, this residency offers a $1,000 stipend and space to work for a seven-week residency. There is a $45 application fee.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. MST on January 10, 2023.

Good Hart Artist Residency (International)
This residency offers 10 to 21-day stays to visual artists, writers, and composers at any stage of their careers. Each artist receives lodging, a $500 stipend, and food.
Deadline: January 11, 2023.

Hayama Artist Residency (International)
The residency offers two visual artists roundtrip flights to Japan, shared accommodations, and a weekly $200 stipend for meals and transportation. There is a $95 application fee.
Deadline: January 15, 2023.

Anderson Center Residency Program (International)
The Anderson Center offers multiple residency opportunities, for all early-career and emerging artists living in Minnesota or New York City. Most include stipends and lodging.
Deadline: Noon CST on January 16, 2023.

Solitary Artist Retreat in the Desert  (International)
This two-week solitary retreat in the Nevada desert is for artists focused on environmental awareness. There is a $20 application fee, but there is no cost for this program. Artists must cover travel and living expenses.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST on January 22, 2023.

Künstlerhaus Büchsenhausen Fellowship Program for Art and Theory (International)
Visual and media artists, art critics, theorists, and curators are eligible for this five-month fellowship. One chosen fellow will receive 4,000 Euros, a studio for working and living, a production budget, and money to invite experts to Büchsenhausen for professional exchange.
Deadline: January 29, 2023.

Sharpe-Walentas Studio Program (U.S.)
This program awards rent-free non-living studio space to 17 visual artists for year-long residencies in DUMBO, Brooklyn.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST on January 31, 2023.

Residency Unlimited’s Artist Residency Program (New York City)
Open to artists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and people of color, this program focuses on research-based practices that explore gaps in historical knowledge. The residency will run from April 3 to June 30, 2023, and comes with a $3,300 stipend and $500 for production support.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. EST on January 31, 2023.

Fine Arts Work Center Visual Artist Fellowship (International)
This seven-month residency offers 10 artists an apartment, a studio, a $1,250 monthly stipend, and $1,000 for relocation at the end of the program. There is a $65 application fee.
Deadline: February 1, 2023.

StudioWorks Artist Residency (International)
Visual artists and crafters are eligible for this four-week residency that offers a $2,000 stipend and workspace.
Deadline: February 1, 2023.

Glen Arbor Arts Center’s Artist-in-Residence (International)
Applications are open to artists working in multiple disciplines for this two-week residency. Studio space and lodging are provided, and there’s a $35 application fee.
Deadline: February 2, 2023.

MacDowell Fellowship (International)
MacDowell grants about 300 fellowships with studio space, meals, and lodgings across disciplines. The application fee is $30.
Deadline: February 10, 2023.

Ucross Foundation Residencies and Fellowships (International)
Ucross has two programs open across disciplines: a general studio residency and Ford Family Foundation Fellowships open to Oregon artists only. Chosen applicants receive studio space, living accommodations, and a $1,000 stipend. There is a $40 application fee.
Deadline: 11:59 p.m. MST on March 1, 2023.

Etant Donnés Curatorial Fellowship (U.S.)
Open to U.S.-based curators interested in researching the French art scene, these fellowships offer research opportunities and a $3,000 stipend.
Deadline: Rolling.

Do stories and artists like this matter to you? Become a Colossal Member today and support independent arts publishing for as little as $5 per month. The article January 2023 Opportunities: Open Calls, Residencies, and Grants for Artists appeared first on Colossal.

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