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”

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 Large-Scale Installations, Sam Wilde Imagines a Post-Natural Future in Lurid Color appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/amZ6gCu
via IFTTT

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

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 Close-Up Photographer of the Year Showcases Mindboggling Macro Images of the Natural World appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/WpMh6dE
via IFTTT

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.

 

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 SpY Transforms a Ghent Building into a Spiny Thicket of Bright Orange Traffic Cones appeared first on Colossal.

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

An Italian Basilica, Mountain, and the Moon Magically Align in an Extraordinary Photo

Image © Valerio Minato, shared with permission

Looking out from the high elevation of Castagneto Po in Italy on December 5, Valerio Minato photographed an extraordinarily magical alignment across the way in Piemonte. Already glowing in the darkness, the hilltop Basilica of Superga sits directly in the center of the Monviso mountain with the moon precisely framing the pair.

Minato planned the perfectly positioned shot well in advance—watch the night unfold on Instagram—and explains the distinct lighting within the image. “Even though the setting moon was captured in a crescent phase, the exposure was long enough for doubly reflected earthlight, called the da Vinci glow, to illuminate the entire top of the moon,” he says.

Minato frequently photographs cities and landmarks around Italy, which you can view on his site. Find prints in his shop. (via Kottke)

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 An Italian Basilica, Mountain, and the Moon Magically Align in an Extraordinary Photo appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/3Zo72ct
via IFTTT

A Mesmerizing Video-Filtering Technique Called ‘Motion Extraction’ Helps Visualize Time

How do you visualize seemingly imperceptible changes over time, like trees rustling in the wind or cabinets shaking when someone walks by? Michiel de Boer, a.k.a. Posy, devised what he terms “motion extraction,” a filtering technique that leaves only the variances in time visible.

In a compelling and instructional video, de Boer explains a rather straightforward editing technique he uses to isolate movement over time. Examples include how to reveal a camouflaged deer walking through a forest and rain plunking into puddles, transforming scenic landscapes into what appear like glowing, abstract animations. As Kottke notes, the most stunning moment shows a man walking through a gravel bed, his footprints suddenly illuminated as bright splotches where the rocks have shifted.

Check out the tutorial-turned-artwork above, and find more of de Boer’s educational experiments on YouTube.

 

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 A Mesmerizing Video-Filtering Technique Called ‘Motion Extraction’ Helps Visualize Time appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/iLCDj31
via IFTTT

Remarkable Drone Footage Captures a New Volcanic Eruption in Iceland

All images © Isak Finnbogason

Photographer and drone pilot Isak Finnbogason captured stunning footage of a new eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes peninsula in December, documenting the nearly two-mile-long lava vent on the first day it was active. Streams of magma rolled across the snowy landscape, creating a dramatic contrast between the frozen surface and molten earth surging up from below.

See more of Finnbogason’s aerial shots on his YouTube, and follow him on Instagram for updates. You might also like this video, filmed at night, which just shared of last summer’s incredible eruption.

 

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 Remarkable Drone Footage Captures a New Volcanic Eruption in Iceland appeared first on Colossal.

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

Undulating 3D-Printed Ceramic Tiles by Studio RAP Envelop a Boutique Facade in Amsterdam

All images © Studio RAP, shared with permission

Visitors peering into the storefronts along Amsterdam’s popular P.C. Hooftstraat are greeted by a striking, technologically advanced new facade by Studio RAP. Utilizing custom-built 3D printers, the firm conceived of white and brick-colored ceramic tiles that undulate across the surface, fusing historic architectural styles with contemporary design.

On the first floor, pearlescent pieces capture your attention at eye level, and on the higher floors, three shades of red mirror the original cross bond, or brick arrangement. A laser-cut steel framework perfectly aligns with the outlines of the blocks, its metallic edges employed as a high-tech reference to the original flush joints, or mortar.

Studio RAP created the delicate curves and fold-like details as a nod to stitch patterns and knitted textiles, responding to the building’s function as a boutique and creating a playful tension between tough building materials and associations with softness and pliability.

See more projects on Studio RAP’s website, and follow updates on Instagram. (via Yatzer)

 

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 Undulating 3D-Printed Ceramic Tiles by Studio RAP Envelop a Boutique Facade in Amsterdam appeared first on Colossal.

from Colossal https://ift.tt/W17Ij9G
via IFTTT