Your Weekly Mixx! DAF’s Weekly Mixx is a selection of nine contemporary artworks and/or art related videos chosen from artist and gallery submissions and from our own search for new and interesting works. This week, we feature the work of Tschabalala Self, Takashi Nakagawa, Ralf Wall, Michael Carson, Hua Tunan, Aurora Robson, Alaa Abou SHAHEEN, Julie Alice Chappell and a video essay by Jonathan Kiefer; Art:Film -“Filmmakers can’t seem to resist recreating some of our greatest paintings in movie form. See if you can spot them.”
Aurora Robson: Recycled Art
Aurora Robson was born in Toronto, Canada in 1972 but grew up in Hawaii and has lived in New York for 20 years. She has a BA in Visual Art & Art History from Columbia University and is a certified structural welder. Robson currently lives and works in Brooklyn with her husband, cinematographer Marshall Coles and daughter Ona.
Robson uses everyday waste such as discarded plastic bottles and junk mail to create intricate sculptures, installations, and collages. Over the years, Robson has intercepted tens of thousands of bottles, saving them from their ultimate destination at the landfill or costly recycling plants. The fate of her junk mail follows a similar path and have now become part of her stunning ink collages.
“Deeply concerned about the natural environment, Robson sees herself as an eco-activist who uses her art to address urgent issues poetically, not polemically. She is best known for assembling cast-off plastic bottles, which she colorfully paints, into wildly inventive hanging sculptures the smaller ones sometimes containing LED lights and large works that fill entire rooms.” (Art in America Magazine Oct. 2009)
In addition to her work as an artist, Robson is Director/Co-founder of Lumenhouse, a photo studio, artist in residence program, exhibition space and community/cultural event space located in Brooklyn. She is also the founding Director of Project Vortex, an international organization of artists, architects and designers working with plastic debris – working with Project Kaisei to reduce the amount of plastic debris littering our oceans and shorelines.
Robson’s work has been exhibited in numerous solo and group shows across the United States, and has been featured in magazines such as Art in America, Juxtapoz, Artworld Digest, and the cover of Arts Houston to name a few. Most recently, she was awarded the 2010. The Arthur Levine Foundation Grant.
To see more of Aurora Robson’s work, visit AuroraRobson.com.
See stuffed toys made with recycled sweaters.
Earth Day 2010:
5 Eco-Artists Making a Difference
Own World © Jerico Santander
It’s Earth Day everyone – a day established to inspire awareness and appreciation for the earth and our environment. Founded by U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson as an environmental teach-in in 1970, Earth day is now celebrated on April 22nd in almost every country around the globe.
In celebration of Earth Day 2010, I present five artists whose work raises awareness about our relationship with the earth and/or use materials and resources in an eco-friendly way to create their art.
First, what is environmental art? According to GreenMuseum.org, eco-art is “in a general sense, it is art that helps improve our relationship with the natural world. Some environmental art:
- Informs and interprets nature and its processes, or educates us about environmental problems.
- Is concerned with environmental forces and materials, creating artworks affected or powered by wind, water, lightning, even earthquakes.
- Re-envisions our relationship to nature, proposing new ways for us to co-exist with our environment.
- Reclaims and remediates damaged environments, restoring ecosystems in artistic and often aesthetic ways.
And now the artists:
1. Sara Hall: Glass Artist – Hall’s recent work in architectural glass focuses on the integration of art and solar technology. Energy that is gathered through the solar cells is used to illuminate both the artwork and its surroundings at night. Hall says, “By forging an image with a source of renewable energy, we create a powerful story about how we can live in this world: It gives us a chance to dream about who we can be.” See more at SaraHallStudio.com.
2. Chris Jordan: Photography/Digital Art – Jordan’s photographs and digital photo compilations depict images of western culture’s consumerism revealing the startling statistics of our daily consumption. He transforms the data about everyday items such as paper cups, cell phones, plastic bottles, and other mass produced goods, and makes large-format, long-zoom artwork. “Collectively we are committing a vast and unsustainable act of taking, but we each are anonymous and no one is in charge or accountable for the consequences. I fear that in this process we are doing irreparable harm to our planet and to our individual spirits.” See more at Chris Jordan.com. An inspiring TED talk is featured on Daily Art Fixx here.
3. John Dahlsen: Environmental Assemblage Art – Australian artist Dahlsen creates works of art from the vast quantities of plastic and litter washed up along the Victorian coastline. Dahlsen says, “Making this art has been a way of sharing my messages for the need to care for our environment with a broad audience. I feel that even if just a fraction of the viewing audience were to experience a shift in their awareness and consciousness about the environment and art, through being exposed to this artwork then it would be worth it.” See more at JohnDahlsen.com.
4. Laurie Chetwood: Architecture – Chetwood’s “Urban Oasis” opened on 19th June 2006 as a temporary structure on Clerkenwell Green and is a demonstration of sustainability and renewable energy working. The 12 metre high kinetic structure mimics the design of a growing flower: its photovoltaic “petals” open and close in response to the sun and the moon utilizing daylight to generate power. This is supplemented by a hydrogen fuel cell and wind turbine to make it self-sufficient. It even uses rainwater it has collected for irrigation and cooling. At the base, the Oasis has five “pods” inside which people are secluded from the noisy and polluted city surroundings, enjoying cleaner cooled air and relaxing sounds. See more at Chetwoods.com. See the Oasis in action here on YouTube.
5. Aurora Robson: Sculpture – New York based artist Robson uses everyday waste such as discarded plastic bottles and junk mail to create intricate sculptures, installations, and collages. In the past year, Robson has intercepted about 30,000 bottles, saving them from their ultimate destination at the landfill or costly recycling plants. The fate of her junk mail follows a similar path and have now become part of her stunning ink collages. Robson’s environmentally conscious works grew out of her love and appreciation for nature and from the nightmares she had as a child. Her goal is to “take something inherently negative and transform it into something positive.” Her art is “ultimately about recognizing and embracing new possibilities while encouraging others to do the same.” See more at AuroraRobson.com.
For more information about eco-art, visit GreenMuseum.org. For more about Earth Day, visit Earth Day Network.
Related Books:
Green Guide for Artists: Nontoxic Recipes, Green Art Ideas, & Resources for the Eco-Conscious Artist
Eco Craft: Recycle Recraft Restyle
Good Earth Art: Environmental Art for Kids (Bright Ideas for Learning)
