Currency collages by mark wagner. Dec 16, 2013 currency collages by mark wagner currency collages by mark wagnerimage courtesy of mark wagner using myriad fragments of legitimate monetary bills, american artist mark wagner intricately crafts collages that speak to the cultural, economic, and political roles that currently play in contemporary society. a blade and glue are the artist’s primary tools, as he cuts and tears away morsels of U.S. paper dollars and reorganizes them into complex and ornate visuals. materializing portraits, landscapes, and historical scenes, wagner transforms the icon of capitalism into representational snapshots, from the story of the founding fathers, to mythological tales. asking the observer to question its influence and relationship to art, the assemblages steeped in symbolism and concept simultaneously prove that a single dollar bill is a ripe aesthetic medium. wagner’s work was recently exhibited at miami project art fair, a satellite event coinciding with art basel miami beach 2013.
Portraits of People Around the World Inspired by "Humans of New York" Art and photography are always great sources of inspiration but Brandon Stanton's Humans of New York series, in particular, seems to have struck a chord with people all across the world.
Following in the footsteps of the photographer's ongoing portrait series, several Humans of… projects have popped up. It turns out, there are interesting people all across the globe, not just in New York! With over seven billion people roaming this earth, it should come as no surprise that you're bound to run into someone with a story. Personalities walk the earth, from Belfast and Berlin to Tehran and India. Through Facebook, many pages dedicated to regions of the world have emerged in an effort to provide a candid perspective of these real people. While it's interesting to hear quick quips and funny little stories, the portraits also provide insight into the lives of people from all walks of life.
Surreal and Explorative Self-Portraits by Ben Zank (Interview) EmailEmail Benjamin Zank, a young artist from New York, invites us to experience his own perceptions through photography.
This former journalism student discovered his passion in photography only a year ago. Now he works almost exclusively on self-portraits that express quite the existential thrill. The basic themes of Zank’s creations often involve diverse power struggles and the exploration of his own emotional experiences. However, Zank told Demilked that the concept was unintentional.
Take a look at Zank’s most attention-gripping photos below and read his thoughts about his artwork and his relationship with photography. Source: benzank.com | Facebook. Magical Light Installations at Lyon Light Festival in France. EmailEmail The Lyon Festival of Lights is an annual event famous for bringing millions of citizens and city visitors together to celebrate beauty, art, and the honor of the Virgin Mary.
Every year Lyon, the second largest city in France, becomes a miraculous haven of charming light installations and projections situated in various places among the historical city monuments. “Disabled” Mannequins Challenge Our Perception of Beauty. EmailEmail Pro Infirmis, a Swiss-based charity organization for people with various disabilities, set out to shake up people’s ideas of what is beautiful.
The charity organization created a set of “disabled” mannequins as a means to celebrate the International Day of People with Disabilities on December 3rd. The campaign, named “Because Who is Perfect? Get Closer,” created mannequins perfectly reflecting the distinctive physical features of 5 people with different disabilities: people with scoliosis (a curved spine), people with shortened limbs and a woman in a wheelchair.
The stunning final production of the project has been displayed in showcases on Zurich’s main shopping street. The project aims to raise awareness about various disabilities and remind the public that external beauty can have different faces. Source: proinfirmis.ch.de. Painstakingly Intricate Floral Drawings Of Insects By Alex Konahin. EmailEmail Latvia-based artist Alex Konahin creates extraordinarily ornate, detailed and beautiful drawings like these using just pencils, pens and india ink.
His distinctive and unmistakable style uses classic floral twists and other detailed design elements to create visually rich drawings. Besides these great drawings of insects, he has created equally impressive drawings of other subjects as well, which you can check out on his Tumblr or Facebook profiles. Interestingly enough, his rise to success came in a non-traditional way – he told Don’t Post Me magazine that “No exhibitions or publications have influenced my career.
For all my achievements I’m grateful only to the internet.” More Satirical Illustrations By Pawel Kuczynski. New Illusory Makeup Portraits By Alexander Khokhlov. EmailEmail Muscovite photographer Alexander Khokhlov (whose previous black-and-white series we’ve written about here) has created yet another series of striking makeup portraits, and this time, it’s in color.
In 2D Or Not 2D, Khokhlov tries to convince us that the models’ stunningly-decorated faces are 2D works of art. Infinity Mirrored Room In New York By Yayoi Kusama. EmailEmail Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama’s incredible ”Infinity Mirrored Room – The Souls of Millions of Light Years Away” installation at the David Zwirner gallery in New York creates the appearance of endless, near-boundless space.
She achieves this effect by creating cubic rooms in which every surface, except the viewer and a small standing platform, is mirrored. Inside the room, hundreds of hanging, flashing, multi-colored LED lights make the observer feel as though they might be standing in a galaxy or a cloud of star dust. Although she has created similar rooms at exhibitions elsewhere, this one was created uniquely for this gallery, which will be on display up until December 21st, 2013. via: mymodernmet.com Source: delidoko Source: thomas_welch Source: danhollis6767 Source: brooklynarchitect. Chinese Sculptor Spends 4 Years Creating World’s Longest Wooden Sculpture. EmailEmail Chinese artist Zheng Chunhui’s incredible 12.2-meter-long (over 40 ft) wooden carving, which has entered the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest continuous wooden carving in the world, is a testament to human craftsmanship, creativity and patience.
Chunhui’s work was inspired by “Along the River During the Qinming Festival,” a long Chinese scroll painting from more than 1,000 years ago depicting the activities of both rich and poor during the Qinming festival. It took Chunhui four years to complete the incredible masterpiece, which is carved from a single tree trunk and features hundreds of people, animals, plants and buildings re-created in painstaking detail. Source: dailymail.co.uk. Exhilarating Shots of Thrill-Seekers Strolling Atop Skyscrapers. One of our favorite thrill-seeking photographers Tom Ryaboi continues to scale tall skyscrapers, expanding his Rooftopping series with incredibly daring perspectives from up above.
The Toronto-based photographer, who has had an inescapable affinity for great heights since he was a toddler climbing his parents' refrigerator, manages to trek to the top of vertigo-inducing towers with a team of like-minded friends and snap beautiful shots of them against the amazing cityscape.
Whether they feature someone dangling their feet from the edge of a building, tip-toeing on the ledge, or hanging from a rail, each image presents a unique, aerial viewpoint of these young adventurers exploring and appreciating their urban landscape. As Ryaboi told us in the past: "Sitting on a roof of a skyscraper in the core of the city, everything slows down, the sounds from the busy streets are muted and the speeding cars and people below become small and inconsequential.
Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2013 Winners and Honorable Mentions. Essence of elephants. Greg du Toit, South Africa. Grand Title Winner Wildlife Photographer of the Year, 2013. Mother. Udayan Rao Pawar, India. Grand Title Winner Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year (11-14 years), 2013. Makeshift dwellings made uninhabitable by carlos no.
Sep 29, 2013. Photographer Captures Albanian Women Who Have Lived Their Lives As Men. EmailEmail Photographer Jill Peters spent time exploring a unique and ancient Albanian phenomenon of “burneshas” – sworn in virgins, who must renounce their femininity and spend their lives as men. The tradition dates back to 15th century, and would be practiced in families where there would be no men to take over family’s businesses. Artist Draws Hauting Shadows in Abandoned Psychiatric Hospital. EmailEmail As if psychiatric hospitals were not creepy enough, Brazilian street artist Herbert Baglione inhabits them with his own ghosts.