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Looking back at SOFTlab's interactive “Iris” inside the Mirror Chapel in Prague

2018-11-06T13:33:00-05:00

Located within the intricate interiors of the Mirror Chapel in Prague, “Iris” is an interactive installation that New York-based design studio SOFTlab created for the city's 2018 Signal Festival, which took place last month.

Designed to blend the elements of light and sound, the circular installation has mirrors that rotate in response to movement and LED lights that respond to ambient sound.

Photo courtesy of Signal Festival.

“As the mirrors rotate, they open the perimeter allowing not only direct views of the Mirror Chapel, but also creating a ‘Mise en abyme’, mixing the surrounding chapel, viewers, and light in a vertically fragmented, recursive, and panoramic image,” SOFTlab describes.

Photo courtesy of Signal Festival.

The mirrors reflect both the Mirror Chapel's embellished surroundings while infinitely reflecting the viewer inside the installation's circular space. But when the viewer moves closer to the mirrors out of curiosity, they suddenly ...

Russian artist burns Gothic cathedral made of sticks at Maslenitsa carnival

2018-02-19T18:44:00-05:00

A 30m-tall Gothic cathedral built of branches and twigs that was set alight on Saturday (17 February) causing controversy in Russia. The burning took place at Nikola-Lenivets, a rural artists’ colony 200km south of Moscow, and was the culmination of pre-Lenten carnival festivities known as Maslenitsa. The event is often likened to the US Burning Man festival.

Artist Nikolay Polissky, founder of Nikola-Lenivets, creates impressive land art installations to burn for Russia's Maslenitsa festival each year. This Russian folk tradition is celebrated during the last week before Lent and traditionally ends with the burning of a scarecrow.

This year, the festival's title was Flaming Gothic, which is the literal Russian translation of the ornate architecture style. Although it was in line with the theme of the festival, Polissky's cathedral sparked controversy after the images and videos of it burning went viral. Some claimed it was an attack on Christianity and Russian Orthodoxy, while others asserted this played into Russian nationalist propaganda.

Flaming Gothic installation by Nikolay Polissky at Maslenitsa 2018 festival. Image: Andrei Nikerichev.

Far from his intentions, Polissky explains, “There was nothing of religious worship in my art object, of course there were no crosses, altar or any religious symbols. This is not a copy of any exis...

100+ artist-collective Meow Wolf brings their unique combination of architecture, art and technology to the Life is Beautiful festival in Vegas

2017-09-25T15:17:00-04:00

Meow Wolf is a unique collaboration of more than 100 artists and designers. They use architecture, painting, sculpture, video and audio engineering to create immersive multi-sensorial environments. The works of art they create can be walked in, climbed on and played with.

Truly multidisciplinary, Meow Wolf mixes architecture, art and entertainment to create fantastical environments.

Kate Russell courtesy of Meow Wolf

In 2016, they opened their first permanent exhibition, called “The House of Eternal Return” in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Meow Wolf transformed a former bowling alley in the industrial area of Santa Fe, into a 20,000 square foot fantastical immersive environment. The exhibition is composed of dozens of rooms and secret passages for kids and adults.

House of Eternal Return, Santa Fe. Lindsay Kennedy courtesy of Meow Wolf

House of Eternal Return, Santa Fe. Kate Russell courtesy of Meow Wolf

House of Eternal Return, Santa Fe. Lindsay Kennedy courtesy of Meow Wolf

Meow Wolf also r...

'The Parthenon of Books' is constructed with 100,000 banned books at historic Nazi book burning site

2017-07-10T19:50:00-04:00

The Parthenon of Books in Kassel, Germany is part of the Documenta 14 art festival. With the help of students from Kassel University, Minujín identified over 170 titles that were or are banned in different countries around the world, and constructed the full-size replica of the iconic temple from those books, plastic sheeting, and steel.

Photo: alexgorlin

Created by Argentinian artist Marta Minujín, 74, the monumental replica of Greek Parthenon consists of 100,000 banned books and symbolizes the resistance to political repression.

The Parthenon of Books taking shape in Kassel. Photo by Rosa Ruehling