A 32 foot tall Confucius sculpture by Zhang Huan

Zhang Huan was born in An Yang City, He Nan Province, China in 1965. Typically a performance artist, he occasionally dabbles in painting as well as sculpture, as you can clearly see above. It’s technically called Q Confucius No.2 and is made from silicone, steel, carbon fiber and acrylic. The piece was constructed to respond to cultural questions, Zhang says:

Faced with rapid economic and societal changes and energy and climate challenges, how can we achieve sustainable development? What responsibilities come along with China’s rise in international importance? Where is the sense of spiritual belonging for contemporary Chinese?

These are certainly important questions and a part of the reason I asked the TFIB team to dedicate this week to Chinese culture. China currently finds itself in such an interesting moment in time, being one of the richest and poorest countries in the world. I’m not sure I can entirely grasp the depth of what Zhang is trying to say with this piece, but I can certainly appreciate the beauty it beholds and the craftsmanship that went into it.

You can see more photos of the piece by clicking here.

Bobby

Jaw-dropping calligraphy by Luca Barcellona

Click images to enlarge

I believe I came across Luca Barcellona and his incredible calligraphy skills some time last year, but for whatever reason I decided not to post about him. Cut to last week when I rediscover him and fell back in love with his sexy hand-drawn type. Luca has a studio in Milan where he works from, creating these beautiful letters. It’s pretty rad to browse through his Flickr account and see all the process shots of the work he does. I can’t even begin to imagine how long it takes to earn the confidence to draw like that. It all seems so flawless and effortless.

To get a good sense of what I mean, you should take a few minutes to watch the video below of him working. His hands are so steady and unflinching. I wish more people took the time to learn a craft like that.

Bobby

Surreal video works from Sam Spreckley

Scotland based sound designer and video editor/director Sam Spreckley has totally captured my attention. About 5 days ago he released a new video called Surface ii, which is the combination of 8mm film melting and being destroyed paired with some really interesting and kind crazy sound design. The end result is this extremely detailed, nuanced piece of art that’s quite interesting. The sound choices he made are often quite odd but always fit. I hear things like ballons being stretched, bottles being broken and wires being tightened, things like that. He also does a nice job of panning the sounds back and forth between speakers, which gives it a layer of intricacy.

I’d also recommend the video he did below called Oil and Water… which is just oil and water. Except it’s got Sam’s magic touch, so it’s these basic materials that are being turned into art. The way he lit the video gives it a beautiful quality, and the symmetry created by mirroring the screen makes it seem so perfect. Really looking forward to seeing what he comes up with in the future.

Bobby

‘The Disciples’ – A Series by James Mollison

Over the course of three years, photographer James Mollison photographed fans at a number of concerts around the world. The resulting images form a fascinating body of work which he calls The Disciples. For Mollison, these concert crowds are almost like different tribes; he describes them as becoming like an extended surrogate family.

It’s a fun, fascinating, and at times frightening portrait of popular culture, highlighting the extent of how people aim to emulate celebrity and how they use it to form their own identity. The series exists both as an exhibition and as a 128-page book; published by Chris Boot. Above are only a few Disciples from the series. Many more can be viewed on Mollison’s website here.

Philip

Tauba Auerbach lives in a brightly colored universe

I’m severely behind the times on this, but Tauba Auerbach is my new hero. I came across her work last night and have been pretty obsessed since then. For those like me who are unfamiliar with her, she’s a San Francisco based artist who went to Stanford and now makes some really beautiful art. It’s all pretty conceptual, like the stack of gradient colored paper bound like a book, or the third piece above which is acrylic on canvas, even though it looks like something you’d make on a computer. Words can’t do her art justice, just click here to see a huge trove of her work and get obsessed like me.

Bobby