PSPS

Light Travel

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Wed, 16 May 2012 12:49:00 +0000

Traveling Light is currently on show at PSPS until June 9th

Exploring sources of inspiration, this exhibition of four contemporary NYC artists delves into the origin of spirit and the movement of light through space, quantifying in visual forms what cannot be seen but nevertheless remains all pervasive.

From the breath, to the body, to the light of the mind, the instigating point of curation in this group show is Agni Zotis' 5 min video piece entitled 'Meditator'. Capturing the intimate process and practice of a deep breath meditation, the piece bares her naked self in the lotus position, performing her fire breath meditation. From shallow to deep waves of inhaling and exhalation, this is the source of life - the space and state from where her role as an artist flows. Agni further explores this intimate personal and universal state in her paintings, capturing the light within in her Firewalk series- reds and blues sensitively merging in alchemical fashion to reveal the illusive green ray and iridescent overtones. 'Liquify' captures the body of water that characterise the Earth, inner forces, direction and the vessels that are used to hold these life giving forces.

Stephan Fowlkes' 'Velvet pElvis', whilst being a light and fun play on the original hipster further explores the central role of the body in the transmission of light. Looking at the core of the feminine physical center, a female pelvis has been cast and tenderly caked in deep red velvet, signifying the life giving power, the deep red center of the sacred feminine. Also by Stephan Fowlkes, 'aSpire', is a towering form made of 178 pieces of reclaimed wood, fashioned and shaped into an ascending spear that builds from blocks into a structure that elegantly and dynamically pierces the space in which it exists. Being both positive and negative space simultaneously, It considers big questions, like where we come from, where we are going, and how we effect the world.

Scott Cousins' piece 'Your soul has such a beautiful smile' characterizes the trace of a messenger in his movement through space. A pair of shoes suspended in motion, stepping as light on air, it presents notions of the ethereal nature of a spiritual path- the lesser traveled way. In some ways reminiscent of Hermes winged heels, this contemporary Hermetic form has a playful sentiment, as deep as you wish to perceive and as light, fickle and sprite like as our contemporary throw away culture. Visually Scott Cousins' work gives form to less tangible metaphysical realities and in 'News from the Known Universe' this essence is portrayed in in layers and variance, mark making and light intertwined in subtle washes, careful incision and heavy impasto Richter like swaths of oil paint.

Paul Seftel's paintings further capture the inimitable essence of light and spirit, building from tremendous depth and darkness in layers of minerals and pigments. 'Royal Myste' captures the electric and ancient spiritual magic of the color purple- blue and red forging together imperceptibly to create a color that cloaks the piece like a robe, atmosphere constantly appearing to shift and glimmer like the most pregnant and weighted night air. 'Time Travelers' Mirror' and 'Experience is Everything' also look at atmospheric conditions as they build the world in layers of space and time, and consider how we soulfully move through these spaces of deep seeing, creating and perceiving the illusions of the world- and the breath and light of which we are a part.

Velvet pElvis by Stephan Fowlkes

Great Reception

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Fri, 11 May 2012 17:36:00 +0000

Thanks to all who joined us for the opening of Traveling Light. There was great flow and people seemed to really enjoy the work, even when the wine ran out. Thanks to all our supporters and the artists for yet another great show and curatorial coup at PSPS.

The exhibition will be up until Saturday June 9th, hrs Thurs- Sat 12 - 6pm and by appointment.

Traveling Light is a visual rendering of our contemporary fascination with the metaphysic of consciousness. Drawing inspiration from the breath, the body, and the movement of light through space, come experience, light, depth, humor and wonder in the paintings, sculpture and video works by Agni Zotis, Stephan Fowlkes, Scott Cousins and Paul Seftel.

Traveling Light - Upcoming Group Exhibit

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Wed, 02 May 2012 20:20:00 +0000

News From The Known Universe by Scott Cousins, 2012.
50" diameter. Oil, charcoal, pigment and incised lines on linen panel

'But Time... how Time first grounds us and then confounds us. We thought we were being mature when we were only being safe. We imagined we were being responsible but we were only being cowardly. What we called realism turned out to be a way of avoiding things rather than facing them. Time... give us enough time and our best supported decisions will seem wobbly, our certainties whimsical.' from Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes.

Opening Thursday May 10th, 6-9pm. Please join us.

Exploring the self, the human condition, transformation and transcendence, this upcoming show at PSPS brings together sculptural forms, pigment rich abstraction and video to investigate the metaphysical nature of the body, consciousness and experience.

Showing works by Agni Zotis, Stephan Fowlkes, Scott Cousins and Paul Seftel, there are many common threads in thinking and vision of this group of New York artists. Believing that originality forms from self knowledge and exploration, rather than through formal education, they all share a true passion for exploring what cannot be seen, drawing inspiration from experience, spiritual awareness, and material process. Looking to understand one’s place in the world in the same way as scientists, philosophers and theologians, visual art is their collective means and method of communicating what truly cannot be expressed in words.

What we find is the voice of a generation emerging, one that considers bigger questions of consciousness, form and formlessness, finding elegant and direct ways to expound these notions and living realities. A universal and common language appears, these colorful rhythms attempting to communicate the essence of who we are, and where we are, now.

Traveling Light runs from May 10th - June 9th.

Invisible Colors

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:31:00 +0000

From the underworld to the heavens, light bands together and transitions slowly, each shift creating a new space of seeing. The deep blues and green evoke soothing and mysterious qualities of life beneath the deep blue sea, the changing light spilled upon the earth, and the limitless oceans of space.


The Blue Bands 2012 by Paul Seftel 12 x48"

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 22:01:00 +0000

PS :Emerald Forest 2010 48 x 84" mixed media on canvas

The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao
The name that can be named is not the eternal name
The nameless is the origin of Heaven and Earth
The named is the mother of myriad things

Thus, constantly free of desire
One observes its wonders
Constantly filled with desire
One observes its manifestations

These two emerge together but differ in name
The unity is said to be the mystery
Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders

Word of the day, Parhelion

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:46:00 +0000

Sun Dog 48 x 48" quartz sand, marble dust, mica, pigment, metal patina and polymer on canvas

Whats in a name?

A sun dog , scientific name parhelion from Greek παρήλιον (parēlion), meaning "beside the sun"; also called a phantom sun, is an atmospheric phenomenon that creates bright spots of light in the sky.

Sundogs are made commonly of plate-shaped hexagonal ice crystals in high and cold cirrus clouds or, during very cold weather, by ice crystals called diamond dust drifting in the air at low levels. These crystals act as prisms, bending the light rays passing through them with a minimum deflection of 22°.

If the crystals are randomly oriented, a complete ring around the sun is seen — a halo. But often, as the crystals sink through the air they become vertically aligned, so sunlight is refracted horizontally — in this case, sundogs are seen.

We Are Star Dust

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 13:30:00 +0000

PS : We are Star Dust 2012

48 x 48 " Pure pigment, quartz, marble dust, mica, copper, bronze and polymer on canvas

Exploring the deep space where color and perception come from, in these new works, pure pigments and powders have been mixed together in ancient forms of gesso. Quartz, marble and mica create an energetic aggregate, the pigment, water, acrylic binder and metal patina curing into a stone mineral form. The inspiration and conception comes from the energetic and mystical nature of color. Layered from deep pinks into blues, the magic hour and colors of twilight are explored through this palette. Metal mineral hues of blue and green explore transformative processes, suspending, blending and colliding colors to produce variations and subtleties that reveal almost imperceptible dream like atmospheric states.

Royal Myste

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 21:42:00 +0000

PS: 2012 Royal Myste 48" x48" mixed media on canvas

Color is part of the Illusion that cloaks the world. From the oily colors of night to the bright midday sun, everything we see that makes the physical world is washed in ever changing veils of color.

Goethe's great work with Color Theory was all experiential. Descartes explored the notion of the color Blue as a way to understand life and God- being so ineffable, that it could not be described, just experienced. So too are these new works, exploring the cosmos deep within, the emergence of form and the magical transition of color that gives birth to lucid visions.

MEMORY FOSSILS

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 04:00:00 +0000

Bronze Golden Spiral

A secret keeper. Just add light.
Made in Chelsea NYC.

Artist designed and crafted cold cast bronze and acrylic resin 4GB USB thumb drives.

The word ammonite is derived from Ammon, an Egyptian god who took the form of a ram. Pliny the Elder wrote "The Horn of Ammon, which is among the most sacred stones of Ethiopia, has a golden yellow colour and is shaped like a ram's horn. The stone is guaranteed to ensure without fail dreams that will come true."

Since ancient times, it has been believed that ammonites bring stability and order in life, easing spiritual growth and development. Inspiring insight they were always used to help to assist one in seeing the "big picture".

Extinction coincided with the extinction of dinosaurs. Because of their rapid evolution and wide distribution, they have been extremely useful in indexing and dating rocks. Ammonites inhabited the world's oceans and now appear as fossils in marine rocks. 150 million years ago, this ammonite ended up in a bed of fools gold. Caught within an everlasting spell, it was turned to stone. In the aeons that passed, flesh became mineral. Hardened and shining, emblazoned by the glory of time, it was loosened from its ancient perch. Set free into the world of collectors, this one has been cast away. Awakening with memory, endless time and boundless space are held in this small treasure of creation.

In Southern England they were called snakestones and were used as amulets to prevent snake bites. In North America, the Blackfoot called ammonites insikim or buffalo stones because they look like sleeping bison. They were used in spiritual ceremonies. A man could find a buffalo stone on the prairie if it called out to him.

In India, ammonites found in the valley of the Gandaki River in Nepal and northern India are called Saligrams. They are considered the direct symbol of Lord Vishnu, as one of Vishnu's avatars (incarnations) was stone (Sri Saligram). The stones are kept in temples, monasteries and households as natural symbols of Vishnu.

In the Western Isles, Scotland, ammonites are known as crampstones and were once used to cure the cramp in cows, using by soaking the fossils in water and using that to wash the cow. In Germany, they called ammonites dragon stones, and put them in a milk pail to bring a cow back to milk. It has also been said that the original discus used by the ancient Greeks in their Olympics was a fossilized ammonite.

Mineral Memory

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Sat, 14 Apr 2012 22:01:00 +0000

The genesis of Mineral Memory collection.

150 million years ago, an ammonite became a fossil. Ever exploring patterns of nature, oceans, space, and cycles of time, these prototypes have been hand cast in quartz, bronze and resin here at PSPS.

As time keepers, archives, amulets and artifacts of past and future memories, these mineral memories are being created as collector editions, embedded with tiny USB thumb drives. Preloaded as a numbered edition with sublime curated content and video art, great things come in small packages. There is also plenty of space for your own past and future memories.

1.0 prototypes... onto next phase

cold cast bronze prototype 1.0

Naked Transformation

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Sat, 10 Mar 2012 23:01:00 +0000

4 Elements Finale Party

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 19:00:00 +0000

A big thanks to everyone who came out last night and made the Finale Party a success! A great time was had by all. If you missed us, the show will be in the Project Space through March 16th.

The Story So Far...

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:43:00 +0000

Sometimes elegant and other times raw, the picture plane is filled with rich layers of paint built up through various hands. Classical techniques of mixing raw pigment with lime-based gesso creates broad surfaces with a fresco feel. Themes emerge; a mythological goddess stretches out into a spectrum of color, birds agitate and becalm the space, figuration appears and disappears in the background, while flat areas of pure color juxtapose depth of field. Ideas of classicism, surrealism, pop, abstract expressionism and appropriation are explored and reassembled in a fauvist paradise. But within this varied field of references there is an ultimate cohesion, a common tongue.

cropped image of 8'x8' mixed media on canvas

close in crop of 8'x8' mixed media on canvas

close up crop of 8'x8' mixed media on canvas

8 x16' mixed media on panel

Fauvists paradise

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 19:40:00 +0000

The palette of the collaboration came about organically, mixing lime and marble dust into the base layers of the fresco painting. Finding commonality allowed for playful figurations and abstract placements, like this frigate bird cameo that JB introduced, next to a color response to one of De Kooning's 'Queen of Hearts.' a frog playing a reed at her fee, the piece beceomes a whispered story of paradise as seen by artists past and present.

4 ELEMENTS : A Collaboration

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 20:35:00 +0000

4 ELEMENTS tracks the process of creating a large-scale collaborative painting that spans the walls at PS Project Space, 548 W 28th St. 3rd fl. NYC 10001, from February 2nd - March 11th 2012. Artists Nic Bevilacqua, Justin Brunelle, Fletcher Crossman, and Paul Seftel combine their four distinct styles into a fluid exploration of new possibilities.

Preview reception on February 16th, 2012 from 6 to 8:30 pm,

Closing exhibition March 8th, 2012 from 6 to 8:30 pm.

PRESS RELEASE

Four artists in Chelsea are experimenting with a whole new approach to creating a painting. All four will be collaborating on a single piece, and it’s a huge one – thirty five feet long and traversing the entire walls of PS Project Space.

The project is entitled 4 Elements and will be created over the course of four weeks. Each of the four artists in the group has a distinct visual language and contrasting approach to painting. They all share inner elements of artistic tradition - the realist, the abstract, free-drawing, and conceptual symbolism – and are excited to discover what happens when such varied approaches combine.

“It helps that we all respect each other’s work,” says Fletcher Crossman. “We all share a passion for exploring new directions. It comes to life when we leave our egos at the door and attempt to create as a single organism. What a fascinating dynamic.”

For the initial stage the artists have lined the walls with 8 ft high canvases and are deliberately avoiding planning what kind of image to create. The actual process of applying paint will be left to develop organically, with the artists learning how to work as part of mutually beneficial team.

“Painting is usually a solo activity,” says Nic Bevilacqua, “and you’re in total control of the outcome. 4 Elements is about releasing that control and seeing if what comes out is better than the sum of its parts. It happens when rock bands play together, so it’ll be interesting how that happens here.”

"This project is engaging for me in both artistic and social terms," adds Justin Brunelle. "While collaboration may be a dance of many rhythms under a shared umbrella, ultimately, fusion is the goal."

“I’m excited by how organically this project is coming together.” says Paul Seftel. “Justin, Nic and Fletch all have great vision and energy, it’s not simply a mural we are creating, but a projection of some minds across the walls of space. It’s limitless.”

The 4 Elements project runs at PSPS 548 W 28th St. 3rd fl. NYC 10001 from February 2nd, - March 11th 2012.

Holographic pigments

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 03:18:00 +0000

In addition to the vivid saturation of pigments, stone & metal patina and skillful layering of elements in creative process, the holographic effect when using chromadepth 3D lenses engulfs the viewers and pulls them into direct experience with their own colorful imagination.

There is a lush form of organic and raw beauty on the surface layered with the transformation of the actions and bones beneath. The abstract becomes seemingly more concrete, enabling more people to understand through a feeling the way of nature and the process of memory.

PS : World In a Whales Eye 2011 77 x 55" gesso, limestone, quartz, iron, copper, mica, pigment, wax on polycarbonate.

PS : Blue Planet 30 x30 " mixed media on canvas

PS: Heart of Space 44 x 60" gesso, limestone, polymer, iron,pigment, gold leaf and wax on polycarbonate

Flow

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 02:59:00 +0000

Textures and colors speak for themselves and vision blends seamlessly in the fore, middle and background. Light, night, clouds and vision are veiled in shimmering layers of drunken rich saturation, the canvas capturing a paradise beyond, like a pool and waterfall in the forest at the end of time.

The ground of our green earth experiences its self as art. This is what comes to the surface of my alchemist mirror.

PS: Are we nearly there yet ? 2009. 84 x 48 x 3" Mixed media on canvas

The ground of our green earth experiences its self as art. This is what comes to the surface of my alchemist mirror.

Water Dragon dreams

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 18:53:00 +0000

Magic carpet dreams. Life as Art temporary installation

Today is the Chinese New Year. The Year of the Dragon.

This week, I'm ramping up the season with a selection of divine cosmic beasts and dream vehicles - showing some new works and holographic visions in pigment and plaster. Open late Thursday 26th. Come by.

Exciting things in the works. February will host a new project focused on collaboration. Four artists with more than 50 years of shared experience working with paint will come together to produce a large scale contemporary mural fresco on panels that will cover the walls of PSPS.

The process will be something like that of an alchemists lab, experimenting and discovering form and language of a shared voice using architectural materials, historical pigments and techniques from lime plaster and marble dust to metallic pigments and contemporary polymers.

Creative forces binding together, a form will come from the abstract, the unknown ether. The intent is to produce in process and outcome a large scale work that is as beautiful and intrinsically valuable as it is challenging.

Space Within Limited Editions

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Sun, 15 Jan 2012 22:48:00 +0000


4 x 5 film photograph by Greg Holm 36 x 48" Edition of 5 $3000 48 x 60" Edition of 5 $5000

Air beneath wings

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 19:03:00 +0000

The air bubble has unexpectedly lifted us to land in different corners.
It has been a great success and a fantastic way to transition into 2012.

'SPACE WITHIN' INSTALLATION NOW CLOSED, DUE TO ARTIST MIGRATIONS


Space Within. captured by Steven Speliotis

Those who were witness, consider yourselves blessed!

On Thursday the 22nd December, there were two performances of 'Soft Corners' in The Space Within at PSPS. The event was filled to capacity. Feedback and interpretations were wild and the experience had a deeply penetrating effect- with a range of comments and conversations that happened describing it as "an industrial mating call" to "feeling like Jonah in the belly of a Whale." A job well done, our collective inspirations were amplified in subtle and powerful ways. It required no suspension of disbelief, the soft floor, rippling silk, and dry warm blowing air lulling the audience into a state of relaxation, before taking the heart mind and soul on a sound and light trip into through the psychic waves on a roller coaster of lightning and reverberation. Mostly defying description, it provoked some profound reactions, and for that I am truly thankful! It has been a really exciting project to collaborate on and produce. Many thanks Greg and Jeff. Cheers PS

Impromptu video created by Steven Speliotis

Trained at the University of Michigan,Vocalists Margaret Cassettto, soprano, and Stephan Bobalik, baritone, joined Holm and Williams. A Brooklyn native, Cassetto attended the University of Michigan, and currently lives in Detroit. She has worked under the auspices of Philip Glass, John Adams and most recently in Matthew Barney’s forthcoming film, Khu from the Ancient Evenings series. Based in Detroit, Bobalik is equally at home in contemporary works and traditional repertoire, performing regularly in several vocal ensembles. He can be heard on the Grammy-winning Naxos recording of William Bolcom’s Songs of Innocence and of Experience.

Soft Corners- Performance in Sound and Light

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Mon, 19 Dec 2011 16:43:00 +0000

'Space Within', the current project at PSPS is conceived and orchestrated by installation and sound artists Gregory Holm and Jeffrey Williams using the subtle and powerful elements of air, light, and sound.

Thursday December 22nd SOFT CORNERS. A performance of prepared piano, soprano and baritone Margaret Cassetto and Stephan Bobalik interact with choreographed light.

Performances begin at 7.30 and 8.30pm promptly

Occupancy is very limited. Please select a time slot and RSVP@psprojectspace.com

There will be an open dress rehearsal from 6.15 - 7.00 pm

SPACE WITHIN

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 17:24:00 +0000

Proposal of a pneumatic dome for New York City. Buckminster Fuller, 1962

Paul Seftel Project Space is excited to present Space Within- a Sound, Air and Light installation that explores the fine line between the physical, the elemental, and ephemeral sensory experience.   

Following the success of The Detroit Ice House and the Fire House projects, installation and sound artists Gregory Holm and Jeffrey Williams continue reconsidering existing spaces and challenging how we perceive ourselves within them. Creating a site-specific collaboration with PSPS, a pneumatic inflatable structure is utilized with banks of lights to alter the perception of Space Within, and create a womb-like experience. Soundscapes by Williams are written in tandem and are considered specifically as part of the process. Sonically occupying the physical space within the transient volume, the result is a highly evocative experience of an ephemeral sensory nature.

Space Within is intended to be experienced by small groups of people, entering into the installation for performance happenings. The project runs through December into the new year and is being considered as an incubation period in which the form of the experience is created and developed in situ throughout the run of the show.

The relationship between the elements present, create a meditative and seductive experience. A physical and virtual cloud is penetrated where flickering light and resonant sound forms come alive. How we occupy and are occupied within space are considered as part of the immersive and dynamic enclosure. The sense of being enveloped in light fields and sound waves has been an ongoing research for generations of Artists. Prevalent in the 1970’s, pneumatic inflatable structures are again re-appearing like the Tardis as we collectively seek to redefine the space we choose to occupy, and find what resonates and inspires in the process, experience and gift of Art.

'Soft Opening' Thursday December 15th 6-8pm

Thursday December 22nd 7.30pm- Prepared piano, soprano and baritone interact with choreographed light

Thursday December 29th 7.30pm TBA
Thursday January 5th. 7.30pm TBA

To schedule a private or small group experience contact:

Paul Seftel Project Space
548 W 28th St, Fl. 3 NYC
Tel : 917 388 9585
rsvp@psprojectspace.com

AN OUTLINE OF THE EVOLUTION OF PNEUMATIC STRUCTURES
by Jung Yun Chi and Ruy Marcelo de Oliveira Pauletti of Architecture and Urban Planning of the University of São Paulo.

Practical applications of pneumatic structures are quite recent and can be traced back to the period spanning from the beginning of the 20th century to the Great World Wars. From then on, pneumatics have always fascinated the public with unusual shapes and concepts. Indeed, although tension structures (which include pneumatics) constitute probably the oldest and most spontaneous structural system, their modern configuration is a recent phenomenon.

The first experiments with pneumatic structures were undertaken during the development of hot air balloons. Brazilian priest Bartolomeu de Gusmão, in Lisbon, conducted a pioneering experiment as soon as 1709. However, an effective start for the development of balloons just occurred at the end of the 18th century, when the Montgolfier brothers built an 11m diameter hot- air balloon, made by linen and paper. At the same year, Jaques A. C. Charles built the first hydrogen balloon whose apogee were the zepellins, the large rigid dirigibles of the end of 19th century and beginning of the 20th century

The Brazilian Alberto Santos-Dumont, before achieving, in 1906, the first effectively controlled flight in a vehicle heavier than air – a feat sometimes attributed to the French Clement Ader (1890) or to the American Wright brothers (1903) –, pioneered also the construction of dirigible balloons. In 1901, Santos-Dumont won the Deutsch Prize, offered by the Aero Club of Paris to the first person to round the Eiffel Tower, without touching the ground, departing and returning to the Saint-Cloud Station, in a maximum time of half an hour.

The idea of transposing the dirigibles technology to architecture tracks back to the English engineer F. W. Lanchester. His patent of a pneumatic system for campaign hospitals was approved in England, in 1918, but was never actually constructed, due to the lack of adequate membrane materials or appeal to possible clients.

THE WORLD WAR II AND THE U.S. ARMY
During the Word War II, and after the invention of nylon, pneumatics started to be used in military operations, as emergency shelters and decoys. At the end of the War, the increase in the number of military air operations demanded implementation of a large and sophisticated network of radars over the American territory. In order to protect these radars from extreme weather conditions, such as in Alaska, the American Army sponsored a group of researchers at the Cornel Aeronautical Lab, led by Walter Bird, to develop thin non-metallic shelters, avoiding interference with the radar signals. In 1948, Bird and his team achieved the construction of a 15m diameter pneumatic dome, the prototype for a series of large “radomes” (as they have been called) built by Birdair Structures. This company, established by Walter Bird, also pioneered, during the 1960’s, the commercial application of pneumatics, as covers for warehouses, swimming pools, sport facilities and factories. Other similar companies soon appeared in Europe and Japan.

THE BEGINNING OF THE ACADEMIC RESEARCH
If engineers like Bird and Stromeyer were the pioneers on the commercial applications of the pneumatics and acquisition of empirical knowledge, it was Frei Otto the first to undertake academic investigations, specially about the process of form finding. Through the IASS Pneumatic Colloquium (University of Stuttgart, 1967) and several publications and designs, Otto broadened the landscape, not only of pneumatics, but of tension structures in general. Pneumatics were also part of the repertoire of Richard Buckminster Fuller. His proposal of a pneumatic dome to cover New York is a famous example of Utopian pneumatic architecture. Realization of this project would require a radical environmental transformation, a sterilized enclosure without dust, pollution, exhaust gases and so.

GROUP UTOPIE AND THE STRUCTURES GONFLABLES EXHIBITION
During the 1960’s, a new generation of architects debuted, which disagreed with the principles of Le Corbusier modernist architecture. Radical architecture groups emerged all over Europe in reaction to the monotony of the modernist buildings. Many of these collectives embraced inflatable forms as the perfect tool with which to subvert traditional notions of architecture. At the end of the 60’s, the Paris group Utopie, that included the architecture students Jean Aubert, Jean-Paul Jungmann and Antoine Stinco, and the sociologist Jean Baudrillard, among others, formulated acerb critics about the architecture, the urbanism and the daily life of the French society. They also reinterpreted the aesthetic of pneumatic structures, using them as form of social expression, related to buoyancy, ephemerality and mobility, in contrast to the inertia of the postwar European society.

The Utopie group was strongly inspired by Buckminster Fuller, by the technological research of the US Army, and by the American comic books, from which they adopted a pop and futurist visual. It was also influenced by the Archigram Manifesto, published in England, in 1961: “a chaotic mishmash of collage, comic strips, and playful typography, all united by the group’s exceptionally specific drawings, elevations, and plans... the content championed similar sensibilities to those of Pop Art: ‘Popular (designed for a mass audience), transient (short-term solution), expendable (easily forgotten), low-cost, mass produced, young (aimed at youth), witty, sexy, gimmicky, glamorous, big business’ as declared by Richard Hamilton of the Independent Group in 1957”

Following the principles of the Utopie Magazine, in which the formalist urbanism was criticized, in 1968 occurred the exhibition Structures Gonfables at the Musée d ́Art Moderne de la Ville of Paris, which raised a large interest in architects and designers from Europe, Unites States and Japan.

The inherent portability of pneumatic structures soon inspired their use in temporary and itinerant exhibitions. A paradigmatic example was given by the Atoms for Peace Pavilion designed by Victor Lundy and constructed by Birdair. The pavilion hosted an exhibition of the US Atomic Energy Commission, traveling through Central and South America in 1960.

The use of pneumatic structures in exhibitions reached a peak the EXPO’70 in Osaka, when they were widely adopted due to the poor quality of the soil and high seismicity of the region.

DESIGN AND ARTISTIC INSTALLATIONS

Pneumatics are frequently chosen in smaller and less permanent buildings –for aesthetic, more than for economical reasons– since their sights usually provoke fascination among observers and bystanders, reporting to something futuristic and revolutionary.

The pneumatics aesthetic, which was formulated during the sixties, according to the values of the pop movement –curvilinear shapes, strong colors, bright textures and ephemerality- is being retaken nowadays, conferring to the new installations a retro-futurism atmosphere. The pneumatics return is even more impressive in the field of object design, that are less constrained in the exploration of new shapes, specially with the aid of the modern computerized design tools, and the availability of high tech materials.

It should be pointed out, however, that pneumatics (as well as other flexible structural systems), are actually quite rigid from a formal and functional point of view, since their shapes have necessarily to adapt to force equilibrium (in other words, they have to conform to funicular shapes). On the other hand, stiff structures, like beams and shells, enjoy more formal flexibility, since, in principle, they can sustain any kind of shape.

___

Elemental Spaces

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 18:02:00 +0000

A 35 mm film produced and directed by Greg Holm in conjunction with the Ice House Detroit project, an architectural installation completed last winter with collaborator and architect Matthew Radune. Musical score was composed by Jeffrey Williams.

Detroit Ice House article in ART IN AMERICA


ICE HOUSE, 2011, 60 x 84" Edition of 3. Copyright Gregory Holm

Currently on exhibition at The Cranbrook Art Museum - No Object is an Island.

Creating a Time Cloud

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 03:20:00 +0000

Elemental Forces and Captured Light.
Being There, Here Now. For the gift of vision I give thanks!

Color of Sound

noreply@blogger.com (Paul Seftel) — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 17:58:00 +0000

Heart of Space is a recent piece with many throbbing tonalities and effects created with light modulation. When a piece has so many shades and subtleties, how can it be experienced except directly? Using RGB lenses this piece becomes holographic and reveal surprising depths of seeing. Colourfields modulate as one sits within them, sealing oneself within a sensory envelope.

I remember being at the Tate Modern and sitting surrounded by Rothko's 'Four Seasons' paintings, and hearing them described by a museum docent to a blind man. It brought them to life for me deeply as i sat too with my eyes closed. Along my way, I've had such experiences of hearing sound, and that is how I know when I feel an artwork is complete. I can hear it. That's the epiphany. sometimes its just a perfect pitch, othertimes a clash of elements, industry and nature. but for me, it resonates as sound in the same way as a dance, a symphony, or a gathering of stones on the earth. The creative symphony is a journey, and this is process, the exploration of sticky substance of being 'in it' that artists must try to captivate and set free.

low light and high light

HEART OF SPACE 2011

Pigment, gesso, gold leaf and wax on polycarbonate panel 43 x 59"