Red Bull Art of the Can

Liberty Rising, Irene Juliet Deely, Boise, Idaho, Metal

OMG! I realized that today was the last day for the Red Bull Art of the Can exhibition at the Galleria in Dallas! It's the night before the first day of school, and I'm in a panic that I HAVE to go to the mall (which I hate to do) and go see the exhibit and take some pictures. Mr. Miller graciously accompanied me and we zoomed to the middle of the mall to see the exhibit.

I'm teaching sculpture this year, and I thought I have to show my students this work. I have this great book that shows you how to work with tin cans to make art (I even have my own tiny rocking chair made from a tin can) - this might be a great project for my students to do. There could even be one of them who might come up with a fantastic sculpture utilizing this technique!

We zoomed and I frantically documented the exhibit. I loved seeing the work - so imaginative, so well crafted, so artistic! From the huge plane that hung overhead, to the fashion items, paintings, and sculpture, this competition draws from all ages and art backgrounds. In 2010 there were only two venues: July 31 - Aug 22, 2010, the Galleria, Dallas, TX and the spring show in Miami, Fl, South Beach, March 4 - 14, 2010. I don't know when the deadline is for a 2011 show, but keep your eyes peeled. I'm really glad we made it to the last day of the exhibit.

Here's what the website says for Liberty Rising: 'For full-time studio artist and gallery owner Irene Juliet Deely, inspiration didn’t come from a statement but from a question: “When pursuing big dreams one often comes face to face with obstacles that demand extraordinary effort to overcome. What might help to fuel such achievements?” she asks. The model for her sculpture is an eight-foot cast bronze that is currently on exhibit in San Antonio. “Liberty Rising” displays the indomitable spirit of Liberty cloaked in voluminous folds of Red Bull’s red, silver and blue.

“Liberty Rising” incorporates 42 Red Bull cans into an intricate welded-metal form of a familiar American icon. The judo-kick stance makes one think of Lady Liberty as an action figure with a sense of humor to boot. The sculpture is indicative of the title of Irene’s own gallery, “Woman of Steel.”'



I've included this exhibit with an Environmental Art tag because at the exhibit, there was a sign that said "Recycle". Simple sign - simple action. Do it.

Artist of the Week - Justine Smith

Money, money, money! That is one of the major topics in the news right now - AND, we get minute by minute updates - what's up, down, gone, promised, lost, hoarded, slashed or stashed. It got me thinking about artists that might work with money, so I googled and found Justine Smith, a British artist whose medium is primarily paper and can be more specifically money. Here's what her website has to say about this piece I'm featuring, "Money Map of the World" 2004/05.

"Her work is an exploration of our relationship with money and our response to it, in a political, moral and social sense, whilst also exploiting the physical beauty of the note. A Banknote is not only an abstract representation of our labour, but the imagery depicted on it also symbolises the ideas and ideals of a given country's culture and the society that its people live in.

The 'Money Map of the World' compounds many of Smith's ideas relating to money. This piece of work took seven months to produce and is made up of banknotes from every country in the world. The images and cultural symbols on the banknotes are significant and can give an indication not only of the economy of a given country, but also important aspects of its culture. Aside from more obvious images of the local flora and fauna, one can also see elements of a country's history, religion, its aspirations and defining achievements. In some areas such as the Middle East, spiritual and cultural alliances can be seen as groups of countries appear to merge due to the similarity of Islamic design on the banknotes. One can also see economic alliances such as the Eurozone, or West and Central African states, which share common currencies between a group of nations. Similarly, one can also see traces of old empires - some countries borders are naturally formed by rivers or mountains, but other countries borders are man-made and to an extent divided by money."

Have you ever thought about the artistic design that goes into money? The images that are promoted, the ideas, the POWER symbols. When do we stop "seeing" money - what does it represent to you? What do you think about the cutting up of money to create an art piece? We "buy" materials to make art; is it the same when we "buy" money as an art material? Look at the areas certain bills covers - does that indicate the power of the country? What makes some countries money stronger than others? Interesting stuff...

The Art of the Rubik's Cube

There is a quiet craze in our school over the Rubik's Cube - students shuffle through the permutations looking for the "solution". Brian Chorr is the driving force behind the popularity. He recently sent me this link "Ms Miller, here's some of that stuff I was telling you about." with this link in the post title. Okay, Brian - it is blog worthy! I had no idea you could create patterns using this puzzle machine! I thought it had one desired solution (matching one color on each plane) - au contrair! Now I see the pure potentiality of artistic creation in rubik's dimensionality. Oh, and dear reader, as my students already know - multi is my favorite color! Viva Rubik!

Driftwood Horses

I'm thinking about 3 dimensional art today and remembered this email I got from a friend a while back with pictures of horses made of driftwood. Really beautiful! One of the biggest problems for these works is balancing the sculpture since horse's legs are really thin compared to their body mass. I've linked the artist's website to the title for more viewing of the process as well as her work.

Pencil Tip Art - Jennifer Maestre

LOVE this sculpture! Such a simple material - pencils along with the use of repeating a unit over and over. This work has a real psychological presence as well as being VERY textural! I think of Venus Flytraps, porcupines, sea creatures. I am drawn to this work and creeped out by it as well. I have the link attached to the Blog Title so you can see more. Unfortunately, this site has no information about the artist! I did a quick Google search to find out who they are, but was unsuccessful. Let me know if someone out there figures out who the artist is - inquiring minds want to know! Thanks, Mr. Martin!**Update comment 10/24/08** Thanks to the high school art teacher in Lawrence, MA that found a link to Jennifer's work. I've put a hyperlink to her website in the post title - check out her work!

Dust Art

Easy come, easy go. That saying really applies to Scott Wade's artwork. He must live in a really dusty place, cause the collecting of his art material doesn't look hard. The first good rain that comes will wash it away, which I think makes it extra special. It's like an art happening - on display for a limited amount of time for only a few to enjoy. Thanks for the pics! You made my Art Blog!

Graphs as Art