Barriers Made of Concrete and Oyster Shells Mitigate Erosion and Offer Alluring New Habitats on Australia’s Coastline

All images © Alex Goad/Reef Design Lab, shared with permission

Stretching across more than 160 miles of Victoria’s central coast, Port Phillip harbors a diverse marine ecosystem. In recent years, though, the Australian bay has experienced widespread development that’s damaged the vegetation protecting the land, leading to mass erosion and habitat destruction. At this rate, some of the current shoreline is predicted to be entirely underwater by 2100.

As a remedy, designer Alex Goad and the team at the Melbourne-based Reef Design Lab have created a series of conical modules that break waves and re-establish healthy ecosystems for aquatic life. Titled Erosion Mitigation Units and installed near the city of Greater Geelong, the two-meter-wide structures are made of concrete and recycled oyster shells layered into molds. Once removed and submerged in the water, the undulating, organic shapes offer small caves, tunnels, and hiding spaces for shellfish, octopus, sponges, coral, and other creatures. Overhangs provide resting spots for stingrays and globefish, and one-centimeter-wide ridges on the surface are designed to attract tube worms, mussels, and oysters. “After six months of being submerged, the modules have already been colonised by several shellfish species, sponges, and cold water corals and are visited by stingrays and local snorkelers,” Goad shares.

Both a buoy to conservation efforts and an alluring addition to the waters, the units serve several purposes, Goad says, explaining further:

Not only does creating more complex geometry lead to better wave attenuation and habitat for marine life, but creating a softer sculptural aesthetic for these types of structures is essentially like underwater gardening. Just like how we design our landscapes and public parks, I think the same sort of effort and respect should be paid when building in the marine environment. I wanted the installation to be enjoyed in a similar way to a public park, but instead of walking, you can swim through the undulating forms, each with its own ecosystem developing. Over time, the installation will be completely overgrown, and the sculptural forms won’t be noticeable, but I think that is part of the magic of the project.

Dezeen recently longlisted the Erosion Migration Units for the sustainability category of its annual design awards, and the lab’s MARS project, comprised of modular structures to restore coral reefs, will be on view at National Gallery Victoria in the coming weeks. The team is also working on several new designs at the moment and collaborating on the U.S. government’s Reefense project. Find more from Reef Design Lab on its site and Instagram.

 

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Shot From the Cockpit of a Boeing 767, Santiago Borja’s Photographs Capture Stunning Storms Around the World

All images © Santiago Borja, shared with permission

Illuminated by lightning or the setting sun, Santiago Borja’s dramatic photographs (previously) capture storms from a unique perspective: right beside them at eye level. As a Boeing 767 pilot, he observes stunning meteorological phenomena on his travels around the globe, spotting towering cumulonimbus clouds and powerful lightning strikes. “As long as we learn about nature and never underestimate its power, we can safely navigate through its features while enjoying the views,” he says.

Prints of some of Borja’s images are available to purchase on his website, and you can follow his ongoing travels and storm sightings on Instagram.

 

 

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Ikebana Connects Creative Traditions in ‘Common Ground,’ a Ceramic Project Tying People Together Through Earthen Materials

“Massachusetts.” Photo by Joshua White. All images courtesy of Inventory Press, shared with permission

“Before there was America the country, or the individual states and the ensuing territorial identities and resulting politics, there was the land that America occupies,” writes artist Adam Silverman about Common Ground. Born in 2019, the ongoing project is ambitious and optimistic, seeking to connect people separated by ideology, geography, and culture through the shared land we occupy.

While its goal is lofty, the premise of Common Ground is simple: Silverman harvests clay, water, and wood ash from all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and the five occupied U.S. territories—Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and Northern Mariana Islands—and then blends the materials together so that the substances and their origins are indistinguishable. That mixture is the basis of the artist’s ceramic vessels, which encompass two series of tableware and ceremonial pots. He explains about the latter: “The forms are not subtle, and although they stand on strong feet or foundations, they are battered, scarred, leaning over, showing the processes that got them here. The tops are open, symbolically ready to receive.”

A new book published by Inventory Press celebrates Silverman’s ceremonial pots, which are paired with sweeping arrangements made by ikebana students and teachers. Common Ground: With Sogetsu Ikebana Los Angeles documents the artist’s process and explores the impulse behind the project, particularly as it bridges American and Japanese making traditions. Spreads are full of diagrams explaining differences in materials, images of Silverman collecting and preparing his substances, and photos of the completed collaborative works that show myriad Ikebana creations emerging from the vessels.

Common Ground: With Sogetsu Ikebana Los Angeles is currently available from Bookshop, and you can explore more of the project on its site.

 

“Maryland.” Photo by Joshua White

“Pennsylvania.” Photo by Joshua White

“Louisianna.” Photo by Joshua White

“West Virginia.” Photo by Joshua White

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Cranbrook Academy of Art Announces Public Lecture Series With Artists, Architects, Curators, and Designers

Clockwise from upper left: Ghada Amer, Norman Teague, Risa Puleo, Roberto Lugo, Cannupa Hanska Luger (Photo by Reece Martinez), Yolande Daniels (Photo by Priscilla Mars)

The 2023–2024 public lecture series at Cranbrook Academy of Art brings together an innovative group of artists, architects, curators, and designers to address some of the most urgent issues of our time through performance, object making, curation, and critical writing. Together, they encourage us to think expansively about the role of creativity in building community and in shaping the world around us. Each speaker will spend several days on Cranbrook’s campus in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, conducting studio visits and sharing insights into their creative practice. 

The visiting artists include:

• October 19, 2023, 6 p.m.
  Risa Puleo, Independent Curator
• November 9, 2023, 6 p.m.
  Norman Teague, Designer and Educator
• November 30, 2023, 6 p.m.
  Hamza Walker, Director of LAXART
• December 14, 2023, 6 p.m.
  Cannupa Hanska Luger, Multidisciplinary Artist
• January 11, 2024, 6 p.m.
  Yolande Daniels, Associate Professor in Architecture at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and co-founder of studioSUMO 
• February 1, 2024, 6 p.m.
  Ghada Amer, Artist
• February 22, 2024, 6 p.m.
  Andrianna Campbell-LaFleur, Art Critic, Curator, and Historian
• March 21, 2024, 6 p.m.
  Yuri Suzuki, Sound Artist, Designer, Electronic Musician
• April 4, 2024, 6 p.m.
  Roberto Lugo, Artist, Social Activist, Poet, and Educator

All lectures are free and held at Cranbrook Art Museum. Recorded lectures will be available on the Cranbrook Academy of Art deSalle Auditorium YouTube channel. The lecture series is supported by the Gilbert Family Foundation.

Cranbrook Academy of Art is a dynamic community of architects, artists, and designers working together to shape the future of visual art and material culture. Ranked as one of the country’s top graduate-only programs in art, architecture, and design, Cranbrook is a place for students looking to earn their MFA or MArch within a program free from conventional classes and a fixed curriculum. Instead, we offer an unscripted approach to graduate education that centers the questions and interests of artists who choose to study here. The 11 disciplines of study include 2D Design, 3D Design, 4D Design, Architecture, Ceramics, Fiber, Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Print Media, and Sculpture.

Applications are now open through February 1, 2024.

Nearly 80 percent of Cranbrook Academy students receive financial aid in the form of gifts and scholarships to assist with the cost of study. This includes up to ten full-tuition Gilbert Fellowships for students from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, intended to provide resources and pathways to increase equity within graduate education. 

To learn more, visit cranbrookart.edu.

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Circular Drone Paths Nestle into Craggy Grooves and Valleys in Reuben Wu’s Unearthly Photos

All images © Reuben Wu, shared with permission

Peeking out from rocky gorges, flowing through a thin crack in the terrain, and elegantly sweeping upward among layers of stone, Reuben Wu’s drone paths conjure the uncanny. The Chicago-based photographer (previously) has been working with light painting for about a decade, transforming nighttime scenes into strange, otherworldly vistas. His latest project, The Inner Landscape, continues this tradition as it positions small, orb-like geometries among craggy formations.

Commissioned by Apple and captured on an iPhone, the series departs from Wu’s earlier projects like Lux Noctis in that the photos frame smaller spaces. He writes on Instagram:

Many of the landforms I illuminated were very far away and massive. In a way, I was pushing the drone to fly as far as it could to create this seemingly impossible epic night scene…The Inner Landscape feels much more intimate, where I am closer, or in the midst of the subject matter. The scene feels almost like part of my own mind.

The juxtaposition of darkness and artificial lighting “intensifies this mood of unreality,” he says, and similarly contrasts the quiet intimacy of the spaces with the unfamiliarity of the compositions.

Find an extensive archive of Wu’s works on his site.

 

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In the Hand-Painted Video Game ‘The Master’s Pupil,’ Adventure Awaits Within Monet’s Paintings

All images © Pat Naoum Games

After seven years of sedulous painting, planning, and perfecting, Australian game developer Pat Naoum finally released The Master’s Pupil in late July of this year. Taking a tactile approach to design, Naoum hand-painted the visual assets on paper before scanning them into the project. He pairs the digitized images with the lauded works of Claude Monet as players venture into the a unique world inspired by the 19th-century artist, roaming through iconic paintings such as “Impression, Sunrise“ (1872) and “Woman with a Parasol” (1875). 

Set inside Monet’s eyeball, the objective of The Master’s Pupil is to help the quintessential Impressionist finish his paintings. A small sprite swerves and jumps atop twisting vines, still lifes, and landscapes as it begins to understand Monet’s life, losses, and growing visual restrictions. After solving puzzles about color, physics, and space, finished levels transform into full Monet paintings.

The indie success is available now on Nintendo Switch and Steam for Windows and Mac. For more updates and information, check out Pat Naoum’s Instagram and website.

 

 

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Lively Blooms Suffocate Under Acrylic in Ant Hamlyn’s Pressed Sculptures

“Pink Daisy.” All images © Ant Hamlyn, shared with permission

Thorny roses, toxic bluebells, and the carnivorous Venus flytrap are pinned beneath sheets of acrylic in the works of Ant Hamlyn. The London-based artist (previously) continues his herbarium-style sculptures that consider the human impulse to pick and preserve flowers. Vivid specimens at the height of life are squashed under the synthetic material, appearing supple, lively, and in the midst of suffocation.

In his latest body of work, Love, Death & Velvet, Hamlyn incorporates velvet alongside shiny, inflatable plastic. The soft, smooth fabric is an expensive, laborious textile historically accessible only to the wealthy, and using it for forget-me-not petals and colorful bouquets adds questions of value and comfort to the simultaneously playful and menacing sculptures. “The tactile act of hand stitching, stuffing, and squashing can either be seen as preservation or destruction,” the artist said recently. “Similarly to nostalgia, on one side remembering a fond place or memory, on the other, longing for a time that can never be replaced. I like the idea that my works have this melancholy twist.”

Love, Death & Velvet will open on October 20 at Yusto/Giner in Madrid. Until then, find more of Hamyln’s work on his site and Instagram.

 

“Red Roses”

“Bluebells”

“Daisy Disk”

“Velvet Forget-me-nots”

“Vase”

“Velvet Bouquet”

“Velvet Venus”

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