Friday 17 February 2012

3D Street Art

Edgar Mueller
Inventing and beginning a new art craze is difficult as there are many already out there, however artists such as Edgar Mueller have done this brilliantly. Graffiti art is nothing new to the world but 3D graffiti on roads and public streets is. These incredible images bring real life as well as fantasy environments into public areas, mainly portraying disaster scenarios including crumbling ground and even shark attacks in the middle of cities. I feel this is a brilliant sense of illusion for the viewer and the best result for this work is the scale and attraction it brings. Across the world towns and cities are now beginning to border off these kind of works as they are now seen tourist attractions. This is a craze which I believe will not fade away and there are plenty of empty roads and streets waiting to be sprayed.

Wednesday 15 February 2012

Pop Art

Andy Warhol
The 1950's introduced a new exciting and bright art movement called 'Pop art'. It started to challenge the norms similarly to previous movements, however this included culture and was a different method of expressionism. It created a boom for advertising whilst changing the conventional colour system art was known for, along with composition. I feel pop art is key within art history which has brought abstract and culture into the 21st century and can be seen everywhere.


Architecture

'Birds Nest' - Beijing Olympic Stadium
Although architecture is not quite an invention, as it could theoretically date back to the cavemen, it has almost been re-invented constantly over time. One great example of this is the 'Bird's Nest' in Beijing. Used as the Olympic stadium in 2008, named to many as the greatest presented Olympics ever, this structure is very original and well designed. It is know across the world from its tangled silver beams inter-changing to fit the nickname - 'The Birds Nest'. It is one of my favourite pieces of architecture especially when used at night as the design is emphasised by the bright lights which can be seen for miles. 

Friday 10 February 2012

Modernism Sculpture

Reclining Figure - Henry Moore
The Modernist movement includes Cubism, Abstraction, Dadaism, Surrealism, Futurism, Expressionism and Pop-Art. It is most exciting, in my opinion, within sculpture work. Henry Moore has produced several pieces revolving around the modernist theme due to the different unconventional design and shape. His work tends to be in a smooth style and he emphasizes this by using materials such as bronze, stone, chalk and graphite.

Wednesday 8 February 2012

Installation Art

Embankment - Rachel Whitread
1970's brought installation art to the world, however it is only within the last 10 years it has exploded onto the art scene. Artists such as Rachel Whitread create scenes within a room of an alternate perception. Here cardboard boxes were used to produce plaster casts preserving the detail and bumps on each individual box and later re-fabricated each of them into a translucent polyethylene to add an interior effect. Although it has no influence on my own work and I have little enthusiasm for this form of process, installation art is as big as ever and artists everywhere are trying out new ideas.

Monday 6 February 2012

Graffiti Art

Banksy - Graffiti
Graffiti Art in my opinion was established in the art world by one man; Banksy. The controversial artist has produced many pieces of work similar to this, all being untitled due to him hiding his identity (mainly to dodge arrest or fine). The most striking element of his works are the messages coming through and ideas he is trying to portray. With each piece he makes a big political statement and has mixed opinions from the public regarding his work. I enjoy the simplicity of the process which makes a massive impact on public opinion, even though in recent years Banksy art has become very commercial.

Digital Photography

Rusted Pipe - Nik Strangelove 
The negative camera was a big and historic invention yes, but it was digital photography which has impacted the art world and the way artists work. In my opinion photography became known as an art ever since the introduction of the digital camera, due to the images that could be produced and manipulated. Nik Strangelove is one of my favourite photographers and in this image he highlights the fact you can capture miniature detail to create an effective composition from an everyday object. Digital photography is a form of art which is not very old, however it is known as a norm amongst compositional and development work in any other process or media. This makes it one of the most key inventions which has changed the direction of art and its landscape.