Interview: Aaron De La Cruz. By Eva Glettner Prolific artist Aaron De La Cruz was initially inspired to paint because he idolized his older brother. His now-signature style—which bounces from design, graffiti to illustration—is highly stylized and technical, blending influences from Mayan art to modern street stylings. While meticulously created, surprisingly, his large-scale murals are painted entirely freehand. The artist's black and white silkscreened art graces the walls of Ace Hotel rooms thanks to an idea conceived by Arkitip founder, Scott A. Saint Angelo back in 2009. And now, visitors at the Ace Hotel, Palm Springs will also be mesmerized by his recently completed mural on the side of the famed Commune event space. When I was around seven, he took me to the side of a freeway and painted a batman logo with our last name inside of it. Tell us a little about your artistic background.
I have a background in art most of it being self-taught, but I did spend four years attending art classes in school. Design42Day. Will London Be The First City With Commuter Swim Lanes? Love it or hate it, New York City’s High Line has inspired a renaissance in urban design. Dozens of cities across the globe are trying to re-create the so-called High Line Effect--hell, even New York wants another. This fall, the mayor of London and the city’s Landscape Museum hosted a conference and competition aimed at helping the metropolis develop its own High Line–inspired project. London, like New York, has no shortage of unused industrial artifacts, and the organizers are hoping that the competition will create buzz and public excitement over the idea. The winner of the open competition will be announced on October 8, but the shortlisted proposals are already online. “Entries have included ideas for gritty flyovers to become trellised with wildflowers, streets to become orchards and buried rivers to be opened,” explained the museum’s director in an op-ed on the conference.
“The city’s canals have lost their original purpose,” the duo explain. [H/t Design Boom] Outdoor Light Projections by Javier Riera. Spanish artist Javier Riera uses the medium of projection art to create light and geometry interventions on landscape. His work investigates the relationship between nature and geometry, the latter being interpreted as "the language which precedes matter and is capable of interacting with it in a subtle resonance revealing hidden qualities in his workspace. " Speaking about his work Riera says, "My interventions are ephemeral and don't leave any tracks upon the landscape, they happen and they disappear. " Find out more about Javier's work here. via [Beautiful/Decay] Mark Jenkins // Glazed Paradise. Kristiansand, Norway London, England Montreal, Canada Cologne, Germany Besançon Rome Rio de Janeiro Tudela London Dublin Moscow Winston-Salem Seoul Royan Bordeaux Puerto del Rosario Barcelona Malmö Washington DC Washington, DC.
Colorful Umbrellas Installation. Une très belle installation de parapluies multicolores dans la ville de Águeda au Portugal. Une rue complète a été entièrement décorée avec des parapluies suspendu et flottant dans les airs, le tout capté en images par la photographe Patricia Almeida. A découvrir en détails dans la suite de l’article.
THINK BIG / Florentijn Hofman Talks To Yatzer. Florentijn Hofman, photo by Alexey Snetkov Rubber Duck, St. Nazaire (FR), 2007, photo © S. Bellanger If public art is to be measured by people’s reactions, then Florentijn Hofman’s ranks pretty darn high. People have been known to literally run towards his work and one woman even had to get her car towed out of the harbor, when she stopped to take a quick snap of his famous 'Rubber Duck' as she had forgotten to use her hand brake! How is it that you're not afraid to Think BIG? Dead Fly, Work in progress, Rotterdam august 2012, photo © Florentijn Hofman Dead Fly, Work in progress, Mexico august 2012, 3D rendering: Paul Alarcon Fat Monkey (Macaco Gordo), Sao Paulo 2010, photo © Raquel Brust Is using local materials a BIG deal? Stor Gul Kanin, Örebro (SE) 2011, photo © Lasse Person Slow Slugs, Work in progress, Angers august 2012, photo © Nicolas Courtade I hear you get BIG reactions to your work.
So what would happen if no one was allowed to take pictures of your work? Sources: Florentijn Hofman. 2012 Festival des Architectures Vives. The 2012 Festival des Architectures Vives (Festival of Lively Architecture) was held this year from June 13-17th in Montpellier, France. Eleven teams were selected from to create an architectural installation among the urban courtyards of private mansions and one was juried to be the winner. The FAV Pavilion (above) called Wood Box was designed by AtelierVecteur. The winner – Premiere Neige by École d’architecture de l’Université Laval, Le collectif de la fourchette, Emilie Benoit Beaulé, Alexandre Boulianne, Jean-François Laroche, Eric Lizotte, accompagnés de Marianne Charbonneau, Etienne Bernier, Jean-Philippe Saucier – Québec, Canada Invitation a la Levitation by Cyril Rheims, Mathieu Collos, Pérols – Montpellier, France Reframe by Adam Scales, Pierre Berthelomeau, Paul Van Den Berg – Rotterdam, Pays-Bas Smooth Rock by MN-Lab: Gwenole Mary, Arnaud Negre – Nîmes, France Cite Surprise, Cite Surprenante by Tri-Oh!
ByeByeBalloon by Shalumo: Samuel Berthomeau, Lucie Mothes – Bordeaux, France. Hanna Nyman Wallpapers. Urban Shed International Design Competition. Why Street Art Matters. Some city councils get it, others don’t. Tapping the creative talents of street artists, illustrators and graphic designers is an effective and cool way to make bland public spaces, old buildings, bridges and car parks new again, and to freshen up the concrete jungle. It is also an effective way of keeping graffiti away. Plus it draws attention to the building or structure as “potential” not as something to be hated. Maybe it will even bring a buyer, a new occupant or additional creative ideas about how to revitalize the building?
Street artists and muralists bring with them vibrant and a new perspective that architects or designers may not have. Contact Access Agency so we can help. - Bill Tikos. Mike Hewson - Public Installation - New Zealand. In Christchurch, New Zealand, 10 massive optical illusion-inducing mixed-media art pieces by Mike Hewson pay homage to the former Christchurch Normal School which opened in 1876. The building, completely renovated for apartment and retail use in 1981 and renamed Cranmer Courts, was damaged badly in the February 2012 magnitude 6.3 earthquake and it is now destined for demolition. Before it is gone forever, Hewson wanted to pay homage to the building that used to house a vibrant community. He covered the total of 130 square meters of plywood with mixed-media images depicting artists and others who lived and worked in the building.
Private donations and Hewson's own money covered the $15,000 installation costs. New Zealand-born (in 1985) Mike Hewson is a civil engineer, graduate of Canterbury University (2007). Pics Of Silly Cell Towers Dressed Like Trees. In many parts of the world, a cell phone tower is a necessary evil--a man-made eyesore in the middle of an otherwise relatively pristine natural environment. To combat this disparity, many new towers today are installed wearing a semi-convincing tree disguise.
In his series Invasive Species, photographer Dillon Marsh studies the wide variety of fake-tree cell towers on display in Cape Town, South Africa, and the surrounding countryside. And there’s a surprising richness to be found in all the fake, reception-giving vegetation. In part, that has to do with Cape Town’s rather complex history with the things. Still, all that variety doesn’t mean that they’re expertly camouflaged. With their subterfuge so plain for all to see, the disguised towers are sort of endearingly pathetic when you encounter them in the wild.
See more of Marsh’s work on his site. [Hat tip: Wired] Monumenta 2012.