In his essential biography, posted on his website, photographer Federico Masini tries to sum himself up as follows: “Fan of Nietzschean philosophy, Edgar Allan Poe, Kurt Vonnegut, TS Eliot, William Blake, Black Metal, Lars Von Trier, crap films, Great Old Ones, tears, big explosions, penguins and robot giants“. It is in this whirlwind of cultural references and sensations that the Turin-based photographer’s shots are born. He is able to combine close-ups of human bodies and splendid landscape views thanks to his passion for travelling. He describes himself as “just a bit of a hippie really” but this component is indispensable for reading the variety of subjects and cuts in his photographs. It is not a monochrome tale that of Federico Masini but a wide range of life situations, verisimilar or as if taken from the theatre of everyday life. Clenched teeth, bottles broken against rocks, a naked body abandoned in a lake as if it were Millais’ Ophelia, these are some of Masini’s visions, whose work can also be followed on his Instagram account.
Jeremy Olson’s work leaves the viewer with many question marks. The paintings, as well as the sculptures that the artist creates, either 3D printed or mixed media, represent clearly imaginary worlds in which monsters live, performing actions so human that they create a curious alienating effect. The artist’s landscapes take up the concept of the interregnum, or an era, or a place of transition between different historical epochs, in which mutation occurs. There is a notion of the future in Olson’s work; the subjects are in fact anthropomorphic monsters, at home in contexts on the brink of catastrophe, such as a house with its roof caved in or a forest that appears to have been destroyed by fire. In this global collapse, the characters perform very simple actions such as scrolling on a smartphone, perhaps leaning against a red dragon as if it were a comfortable sofa.
The landscape component is very evocative. Jeremy Olson depicts spatial, alien landscapes, both in colour and form, often abstract elements are inserted into the landscape out of the blue, making no connection with the landscape, in some cases created with naturalistic elements. A small mountain landscape becomes an exhibition model, leaving one with the continuous feeling, when observing Olson’s complete production, of moving from the micro to the macro, with doubts as to where we ourselves are viewing these worlds from.
There are design brands that just naming them is enough to define a precise taste and a history of great projects. Artemide is among them, a brand that since its foundation in 1960 has pursued the culture of product and “making”, collaborating with great architects and designers, also for its new products, presented in these days at the Light+Building fair in Frankfurt. The new products presented by Artemide join those unveiled at the last Milan Design Week, continuing the idea of producing light through a synthesis of humanistic vision and scientific research.
The new projects ALE.01, Eggboard Circle, Zephyr, Hoy Refractive, Turn Around floor and A.24 Wall are a crossroads of emotion and function, designed for home or work environments, with obvious attention to the aesthetic component but also to energy saving. Table or ceiling lamps, the variety of Artemide’s latest models reflects the brand’s history, its connection with the need to innovate forms and think design in relation to the way people experience the spaces they inhabit. All the new products can be found on the official Artemide website.
On the occasion of the MMCA Hyundai Motor Series 2022, an annual exhibition art project staged in Seoul (South Korea), artist Choi U-Ram presented one of his latest works, managing to combine art, technology, inventiveness and existentialism by putting them in perfect balance with each other, in the true sense of the word. “Round Table” is a work of art that touches on the concepts of kinetic art and technological experimentation, representing a group of 18 headless mechanical figures made of straw and balancing a black table on their backs. The disc, with a diameter of 4.5 metres, is in continuous motion, made to sway by the figures balancing the tilt through their own movements. The aim of the 18 figures is actually to carry towards themselves a sphere, ‘head’ as the artist calls it, resting, free to roll, on the board, without ever reaching a destination.
Un post condiviso da SOMEWHERE (@somewhere.global)
The work is as perpetual as the movement of the waves, the 18 ‘bodies’ are in continuous motion, caught up in a hasty attempt to claim the lead, which however escapes everyone from time to time. No one wins and no one can assert their precedence, the rest of the group will make sure to push away the object of desire through well-organised movement. Choi U-Ram is about man’s continuous need to possess objects that satisfy his cravings and to organise himself as a collective only when the aim is to hinder a minority, isolated in their own efforts. “Round Table” is about the natural cycle, human life, desire and existence, visit the artist’s official website to discover all the works.
Un post condiviso da 국립현대미술관 (@mmcakorea)
The work of artist and illustrator Lola Dupre has been contended for by the world’s leading magazines and brands for the past few years, her collages having been published in the New York Times, TIME Magazine, and among the pages of Vogue, among others, or have accompanied Nike campaigns. Based in Glasgow, Scotland, Dupre makes collages that deform the bodies of humans and animals, not forsaking the realism of the subjects but almost playing on the possibilities of manipulating them, to make them an alternative version of themselves, sometimes grotesque, in other cases fantasy.
Cats end up having a thousand eyes and barbed tongues, women’s and men’s necks elongate as in a Modigliani painting, all harking back to a concept of an experiment, performed in a laboratory or in a dream. The reference to the Dada world is strong, as well as to surrealism, the avant-garde thrust is contained, however, by the compositional scheme of the works, which has much in common with traditional art in its close-ups and genre subjects. Discover all of Lola Dupre’s works on the artist’s official website and Instagram account.
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