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The New Contemporary Art Magazine
Michael Jantzen's "Mysterious Monuments" series of public art proposals have no actual meaning behind them, but are designed "to inspire stories in the minds of the visitors about the meaning behind the construction." The designer is known for blending elements of architecture with sustainable design and fine art. The status of this series, in particular, is unfortunately “unbuilt.”
When French designer Emmanuelle Moureaux first arrived in Tokyo, she became fully fascinated by the colors overflowing on the street. She found that the city's overwhelming number of store signs, flying electrical cables, and flashes of blue sky framed by various volumes of buildings created three dimensional "layers". The flood of various colors that pervade the city streets are mirrored in her design installations, which build up a complex depth and intensity of space. These experiences of colors and layers are in the inspiration of Moureaux's latest project, "bunshi" (meaning "ramification"), which means to divide or spread out into branches- a rainbow-colored suspended forest made on 20,000 pieces of paper shaped like twigs in 100 shades of color.
Maximo Reira has a background in painting, photography, and sculpture, the latter of which he applies to his innovative, functional furniture designs. For his new "Animal Chairs" series, he sculpted large, realistic animals such as octopi, rhinos, and whales, using part of their bodies to create a throne-like seat. Mostly monochromatic with a natural color palette, the chairs have an elegant and otherworldly quality to them.
Chaim Machlev is a Berlin-based tattoo artist originally from Israel whose captivating, geometric designs resemble the spiked images of cardiographs. Machlev works intimately with clients one-on-one in his private workshop where he creates custom designs suited to each person's body. Though his work appears somewhat digitized, he says he draws out each image entirely freehand before making it permanent. The lines and curves of each piece respond to the unique shape of each individual. As a result, Machlev never inks the same design twice.
Minneapolis-based artist and designer John Foster makes sparkling glass objects that look well-suited for the homes of fairies and mermaids. Interested in the geometric structures that govern various natural phenomena, Foster creates iridescent prisms that, when grouped together, cast brilliant reflections in the surrounding space. The artist works in a variety of media, including sculpture, painting, and installation, and seeks to use geometry as a way to change the ways viewers interact with the spaces around them.
Using careful arrangements of mirrors, lights, and negative space, James Nizam takes analog photographs that capture his ephemeral interventions. His simple arrangements of light beams evoke the Minimalist sculptures of the 1960s, yet Nizam's work is tangible only in the form of the resulting photo. With his geometric arrangements, he alters the way his audience views architectural spaces and draws connections between photography, design, and sculpture.
Interested in the intersection between tech and architecture, interdisciplinary design studio Loop.pH (composed of Mathias Gmachl and Rachel Wingfield) creates interactive, site-specific installations that allow the public to engage with budding technologies and scientific concepts in novel ways. One of their latest works, "Atmeture," was on view at the Letchworth Fire & Fright Festival, which took place on October 28 through November 6 in Letchworth, UK. "Atmeture" invited viewers to walk through an illuminated, porous tunnel in which fibers inflated and deflated with a breath-like motion. Though a bright, visual spectacle on the outside, the breathing work of art fostered a calming, meditative space in its interior.