Interesting use of fabric

DO HO SUH
Specimen Series: New York City Apartment -1, 2011
polyester fabric
dimensions variable

Mamika

A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn't stop smiling.

Frederika was born in Budapest 20 years before World War II. During the war, at the peril of her own life, she courageously saved the lives of ten people. When asked how, Goldberger told us "she hid the Jewish people she knew, moving them around to different places every day." As a survivor of Nazism and Communism, she then immigrated away from Hungary to France, forced by the Communist regime to leave her homeland illegally or face death.

Aside from great strength, Frederika has an incredible sense of humor, one that defies time and misfortune. She is funny and cynical, always mocking the people that she loves.

With the unexpected success of this series, titled "Mamika" (or grandma in Hungarian), Goldberger created a MySpace page for her. She now has over 2,200 friends and receives messages like: "You're the grandmother that I have dreamed of, would you adopt me?" and " You made my day, I hope to be like you at your age."

Initially, she did not understand why all these people wrote to congratulate her. Then, little by little, she realized that her story conveyed a message of hope and joy. In all those pictures, she posed with the utmost enthusiasm. Now, after the set, Goldberger shares that his grandmother has never shown any signs of depression. Perhaps it's because her story serves some sort of purpose. That through the warm words of newfound friends, she's reminded of just how lucky she is to be alive.

We got in touch with Sacha Goldberger, the grandson and talented photographer to ask him more about his background and creative process. He told us this: "I've been photographing for four years now and before that I worked as a creative director. My grandmother is very professional. I'd show her some poses, and she'd propose some of her own. I like to tell stories and I also work with some very creative friends."

Read the latest news and see more photos of this super grandma, here.

The Beauty of Repetition

"For a long time now I have preferred to use materials that are not bland i.e. have some kind of history of weathering or use. One day about four years ago out in the studio I was looking into my childrens box of outgrown / discarded toys which happened to be stored in the same building and responded to the random collection of colours shapes and forms they made. I figured that if I could find a way of putting them together to constitute a larger form they would have great potential as larger scale sculpture.

Over the next while I experimented with two other construction methods (which both had their downsides) – before one day about a year ago in frustration I tried putting a screw through one toy and then many others. To my surprise most didn’t crack or shatter and the new series has been largely based around and developed from that fact.
Ideally the pieces will work on many levels. The toys themselves interest me in their own right as mini sculptures by unknown and uncredited artists. Mostly I use the toys abstractly as forms with which to build muscle bone or internal or external organs but all types of human pursuits can be referred to and represented through them – things loved or hated – things used and carried as tools etc etc. They provide interest in surface detail whilst making their contribution to the totalities. The toys also provide a moving history of fads and fashions as they pass through the media and our awareness temporarily significant and then forgotten. "

Robert Bradford. 

Original Post here.

Extraordinary Papercut

Japanese born artist Kako Ueda chose the versatile and fragile paper as her expressing medium because of its rich history in Japanese culture as well as for the meticulous process of cutting paper to make images and its fascinating result. The paper cut-out piece has the aspect of an illustration but also its own physicality, “a 2 and a half dimensional medium, so to speak”.

Ueda’s inspiration comes from nature and its ever changing relation with culture; her intricate paper artworks depict organic beings-insects, plants, animals- being influenced by civilization, life and death cycle, and the human body seen as ecosystem, an idea based on the ancient Chinese and Greek philosophies.

Original Post here.



From Ueda's artist statement:
"Cut paper exists in many cultures and is normally perceived as a craft medium. In Japan where I was born, this medium is used for stencil making - a way to make patterns for kimono wear. I became attracted to the medium because of its history as well as its process of cutting to make images. Cut paper piece has a look of a drawing at the same time has its own physicality.


I am interested in organic beings -- insects, animals, and human bodies -how they are born out of nature byut constantly influenced and modified by culture."

Art and About 2010

Art and About 2010 City of Sydney

Interesting way to re-look public historic sculptures. Queen Victoria and others dressed up and flamboyantly decorated around Sydney.

Video Projection by ETA Studio

Excellent video projection on building. 2010

Underwater Sculptures

Interesting method of exhibiting sculptures. More of Jason de Caires Taylor's works here.