Giacomo Costa

Bio

• Born in Florence in 1970
• Currently lives and works in Florence

His Work

• "He lives freely without pressure. Nevertheless, it turns out that in his creation, elements stemming from his past experiences co-exist acutely. So this passion takes shape in his creations of structures, disproportionate buildings, the solitude that finds form in the absence of human shape, the all powerful man-made wall; gigantic, unbridgeable, separating all.
  
  The use of 3d technology allows him a total freedom and as a painter he first poses a form and then with the inspiration he composes. Thus an image can take weeks for him, up until recomposing. Breaking it up, to recreate the space and thus his work on the same creation can last several months.
  
  Like he specified to us during our interveiw, his creations are realistic and at the same time, they are not. In some of his creations, one sees multiple themes, like the problems of environment, the loneliness of the great urban settings, the gigantism which takes along the world, of the cities separated down the middle by a metaphysical wall or flooded under water.
  
  For Giacomo what counts is that everyone sees what they have a desire for seeing. He leaves free interpretation open for each one of us, positive or negative."-Fine Art TV

I love that this work was described as atypical ..

Website

Arthur Roger Gallery

Press Release

Green Urban and Suburban Spaces

"Let us a little permit Nature to take her own way; she better understands her own affairs than we." ~Michel de Montaigne, translated

Golonu, Berin. "Greening the Revolution." Art Papers: Striking Ideas+Moving Images+Smart Text. November/December 2008, pp.38-44

This article is in reference to the green movement that is rapidly spreading, and catching on to those who are interested in the preservation and rehabilitation of the environment.  Although creating green atmospheres in urban and suburban spaces is occurring in other parts of the world, Berin makes an interesting observation that this green initiative is most relevant in the United States, as it "has one of the largest carbon footprints on the globe." Activists, farmers, environmentalists all play huge roles, while artists are leading the cause by producing a glimpse into the future of what our "green and bountiful" cities may look like.  WORK Architecture company has been working in collaboration to build a fully sustainable farm in an urban courtyard (including the chickens), for the purpose of hosting a fundraiser to gain support for their efforts.  This collaboration included over thirty artists, designers, engineers, farms, and green suppliers.

Some question the idea of art effectively producing practical solutions to the current concerns of our environment, and in the article it is argued that what was created was actually art or not. The way I see it, this huge collaboration created something that forced the community to raise questions, which will almost force everyone who sees it to be immersed in its process, even if it only involves becoming aware of the efforts of others to create a more green society.  In my work, I am creating photographs that illustrate futuristic abundance of "green" .. where nature is dominant and urban structures are set on the back burner.  

Andy Goldsworthy

Bio

• Born in Cheshire, England 1956
• Attended Bradford Art College 1974-75
• B.A. Preston Polytechnic, Lancaster Annex, Lancashire 1975-78
• His work is sculpture based but taken to another realm through his photography.

His Work

Goldsworthy's innovative creations with natural elements "produce uniquely personal and intense" pieces of art.  Using elements found in nature such as snow, ice, leaves, bark, rock, clay, stones, feathers, petals and twigs he builds outdoor sculptures that interact with their environment.  As described, his work creates a sympathetic contact with the natural world, as his work disappears the process his documented by his work in "superb color photographs."

"Goldsworthy deliberately explores the tension of working in the area where he finds his materials, and is undeterred by changes by changes in the weather which may melt a spectacular ice arch or wash away a delicate structure of grasses. The intention is not to “make his mark” on the landscape, but rather to work with it instinctively, so that a delicate scene of bamboo or massive snow rings or a circle of leaves floating in a pool create a new perception and an ever growing understanding of the land."

(Hollis, Jill, Cameron, Ian. Andy Goldsworthy: A Collaboration with Nature, New York: Harry N. Abrams Incorporated, 1990)

I chose Andy Goldsworthy's art because of the life he is able to portray within these natural objects.  Energy and space are crucial.  He recognizes that change is the key to understanding his work.  Parallel to my work this past semester, portraying nature as the dominant force is one of the main concepts I am working with as well as changing environments.  Human interaction is present with Goldsworthy's manmade natural objects, which is an interesting opposition to my incorporation of synthetic manmade objects.  His creations are powerful and his photographs are striking.

Interview with TIME

Gallery Lelong

Andy Goldsworthy

PDN Photo Annual Submission

PRINTS

Paul-

I have been working on two completely new images and decided to scrap the one with the dandelions all together. Your opinion on the first and second images would be great, I'm pretty confident in the first, but am not so sure the second fits as well because of the lens distortion that isn't present in any of the others. - as well as the actual birds.  As far as the third image goes, I took your advice and covered up some of the bright white in the clouds, as well as worked on making the foreground with the fence less flat- I also decided to ditch the idea of the texture over the red brick and just mute the color a little. So hopefully its working better?  The fourth image i just slightly altered, making the building larger and the background more out of focus....  My major issue is with the last image.  I decided that the sign being so close to the front of the image wasn't allowing my eye to move into the background, so i just pushed it back, and took the layer with the ivy off, the original lighting made it pop a bit more.  I also added some shadows in the foreground, It was a simple solution and I think it looks a lot better, but I still am not completely sure thats enough.  Do you think It would be in my best interest to just try to put together a totally different image in its place?  

Thanks for your feedback!

Carrie

Olafur Eliasson

Bio

• 1967- Born in Copenhagen.
• 1989 - 1995, Studied at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in Copenhagen.
• Lives in Copenhagen and Berlin.
  
• " He has participated in numerous exhibitions worldwide and his work is represented in public and private collections including the Solomon R Guggenheim Museum, New York, The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, the Deste Foundation, Athens and Tate. Recently he has had major solo exhibitions at Kunsthaus Bregenz, Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris and ZKM (Center for Art and Media), Karlsruhe and represented Denmark in the 2003 Venice Biennale."

His Work

• "The basic elements of the weather – water, light, temperature, pressure – are the materials that Olafur Eliasson has used throughout his career. His installations regularly feature elements appropriated from nature – billowing steam replicating a water geyser, glistening rainbows or fog-filled rooms. By introducing ‘natural’ phenomena, such as water, mist or light, into an un specifically cultivated setting, be it a city street or an art gallery, the artist encourages the viewer to reflect upon their understanding and perception of the physical world that surrounds them. This moment of perception, when the viewer pauses to consider what they are experiencing, has been described by Eliasson as ‘seeing yourself sensing’.
  
  Many of Eliasson’s works explore the relationship between the spectator and object. In Your Sun Machine (1997) viewers entered a room which was empty apart from a large circular hole punctured in the roof. Each morning, sunlight streamed into the space through this aperture, at first creating an elliptical, then a circular outline on the walls and floor. The beam of light shifted across the room as the day progressed. The movement of the ‘sun’ across the room was apparently the central focus of the work, but in observing this, the viewer was reminded of his or her own position as an object, located on earth, spinning through space around the real sun.
  
  For The Mediated Motion at the Kunsthaus Bregenz in Austria (2001), Eliasson created a sequence of spaces filled with natural materials including water, fog, earth, wood, fungus and duckweed. During their journey through the exhibition, visitors were confronted by a variety of sensory experiences – sights, smells, and textures – which had been precisely articulated by the artist. Eliasson also modified the dominant orthogonal character of the building, including the insertion of a subtly slanting floor, which made visitors become more conscious of the act of movement through space." -Tate Modern

Website

MoMA

Environmental

www.greenmuseum.org

This article examines an artist who works with the Solar Living Center in Hopland, California, to create alternatives to living technology.  Baile Oakes began by designing a yearly solar calendar.  As a sculptor and author, Oakes created a calendar that is described as "a gently sloping plaza and gathering space at the entrance of the main building with a sunset activated spiral fountain.  A six foot tall brass staff fits into holes along the basin and records the weekly location of sunrises and sunsets. Stone monuments mark the position of the sun on Equinoxes and Solstices reminding visitors of the passing of time on a planetary scale. Both environment and timepiece, the Solar Calendar helps reconnect us with our place in the universe."  Many of Oakes' artworks highlight natural phenomena such as the solar calendar, desert landscapes, and the importance of water. His mission is to "Baile Oakes is on a mission to "use our visual language to help bring our culture to a fuller understanding of our place within the living systems of the Earth."

I think that this relates to what I am doing, because I have been trying to figure out how to create a successful presentation for my final, and his work is mainly about the interactions between the art and the people.  I really need to find a way to make my art more involved.  This has made me consider placing my images in nature and re-photographing them, to make it seem more like an experience than just presented images.  

Baile Oakes Artist Statment