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.

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. 

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.

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.

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.

Computer Art

Abstract Computer Art
Drawing and Painting has dramatically changed since the invention and beginning of computer art. Artists no longer need a brush, pallet or even a canvas as one computer screen is the only tool needed. This is fast becoming the way sketches and artwork are being created, with the latest technology such as touch screen computers, mobile smartphones and tablet screens making it so easy to get creative without the mess or extra items. Many art forms are now being created using a computer, for example animations no longer require the key principle of thousands of pencil and paper work but now can be digitally created on a screen with next to none drawing ability. I feel this will be the future of art across many forms and possibly bring the end of the paint brush.

Cubism

Pablo Picasso - The Guitar Player
The title Cubism was invented in the early 1900's mostly by Pablo Picasso and George Braque and the technique re-invented after huge inspiration from African and Native American art. Geometric shapes were used throughout this period to produce works of art that looked reconfigured and incomplete. The creation of Cubism changed the art world forever and developed the way artists think and create art. Although I do not feel to Cubism and later works of Picasso, I have to agree that this movement has given artists a much broader imagination and thought process.

Canaletto And The Camera Obscura

Canaletto - Sketches
Camera Obscura
Canaletto is one of the most famous and precise Venetian landscape painters in history. Evidence suggests however, that even he needed help from a very controversial invention; the camera obscura. Many believe Canaletto needed this tool which allowed him to effectively trace a landscape image and evidence such as these drawings from his sketchbook show that his work is suspiciously precise and the individual unattached pages fit perfectly together when combined. The invention of the camera obscura to some critics has ruined techniques to produce landscape art. In my opinion it was inevitable that such an invention would be produced to help guide artists to their masterpiece's, just think about the kind of technology and constructions which have been made across the years.