I Had That Dream Again

BEAUTY: Painting--David Keeling

There is something both calming and disturbing about David Keeling's empty rooms in modern minimalistic houses with views of the Australian bush country. Much like a piece by Edward Hopper called Sun In An Empty Room, previously here, we are not sure if these rooms are full of promise or void of life.

Top to bottom: Brand New House; Lakeside; New Room With Bush View; New Windows; Summer House

No dedicated website.
http://ocula.com/artists/david-keeling/?gclid=CIin44Dh77gCFcN_QgodkR0A7g

BEAUTY: Performance Art--Beili Liu

Chinese-born artist Beili Liu is just incredible. She works with unconventional materials like thread, water, salt, carbon, bread, and burning charcoal.

For her performance piece The Mending Project, she had gallery visitors cut off strips of cloth so she could sew them back together, working under hundreds of suspended Chinese scissors.

From her website:
"The installation consists of hundreds of Chinese scissors suspended from the ceiling, pointing downwards. The hovering, massive cloud of scissors alludes to distant fear, looming violence and worrisome uncertainty. The performer sits beneath the countless sharp blades of the scissors, and performs an on-going simple task of mending.

The overwhelming situation presented in The Mending Project is balanced and softened by the silent persistence of a simple mending action. The large quantity and intense force of the scissors elevate the confrontation between the objects and the performer. The installation/performance evokes urgency, concern, and fear, while simultaneously influence viewers through the calming and healing aura of the mending action.

As each visitor enters the space, one is asked to cut off a piece of the white cloth hung near the entrance, and offer the cut section to the performer. She then continuously sews the cut pieces onto the previous ones. The mended fabric grows in size throughout the duration of the performance, and takes over the vast area of the floor beneath the scissors."

The amazing piece alludes to the role of women not only in Chinese culture but in the world, the Sisyphean tasks of slave labor in Asia and elsewhere, and the strength and perseverance of those in such situations.

Liu now lives and works in Texas. Visit her website to see some truly remarkable installations.
http://www.beililiu.com/

BEAUTY: Painting--Amber Koroluk-Stephenson

Amber Koroluk-Stephenson lives in Australia but paints suburbs that look like suburbs no matter they are in the world. And like so many artists who portray the suburbs in some form or another, Koroluk-Stephenson perceives that slippery, indefinable creepiness inherent in the suburbs. I was going to talk about the narrative in these images, but they actually seem to exist in some kind of pre-narrative state, suspended in a stillness, full of mystery.

Top to bottom: Arrival; Hidden Spectacle; Humble Abode; The Kiss; Hideaway

http://www.koroluk-stephenson.com.au/

People of the Art Museum by Grant Snider

Art appreciation as a way of life by Grant Snider.

https://medium.com/@grantdraws

BEAUTY: Installation--Sou Fujimoto

London's Serpentine Gallery is currently showing its 13th annual Pavilion Commission. Past year's structures have been designed by architects, designers, and artists such as Herzog & de Meuron and Ai Weiwei (2012), Frank Gehry (2008), the late Oscar Niemeyer (2003), and Zaha Hadid, who designed the inaugural structure in 2000. But this year's structure is designed by Japanese architect Sou Fujimoto who created a curious lattice structure of thin, white, steel tubes which covers an area of 3,800 square feet and includes social spaces in its interior.

The Serpentine layered on top of this another commission: London-based United Visual Artists created a network of LED lights that are installed along the steel tubing of Fujimoto's pavilion. At night, the lights turn the cloud-like structure into a lightning storm... or a display of what it looks like when flashes of electrical impulses travel at incredible speeds along the neural pathways of our brains.

http://www.sou-fujimoto.net/
http://www.uva.co.uk
http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2013/02/sou_fujimoto_to_design_serpentine_gallery_pavilion_2013.html

BEAUTY: Mixed Media Art--Choi Wong

For his "Halo Series," artist Choi Wong takes found antique photographs and embroiders their subjects with golden halos of all shapes, sizes, and designs, then mounts them between acrylic plates with golden rivets.

http://www.choiwong.nl/

BEAUTY: Art--Samuel Vizor

Samuel Vizor's art work, whether traditional paintings or digital works, portray unusual scenes of anxiety, danger, fear, loss, and a certain sense of dread that comes from living in the suburbs ("There's an uninvited guest in your home, go there now"). They often focus on children, families, and the separation of those two things. It is imaginative and creepy work that hits a primal chord...

Top to bottom: Aliens; Bunny Man; Family; House Visitor; Johnny Gosh; Legends of the Internet; Night Drive; Suburb; The Glitch Ghost Appears; Vivian; Window

http://www.samuelvizor.com/

The Ten Second Self-portrait

Try it: set the timer for ten seconds and sketch as fast as you can...

BY JEF

Welcome, Raven-Symoné!

Ex-"Cosby" star, actress, and singer Raven-Symoné has outed herself via Twitter. Yesterday, she wrote: "I can finally get married! Yay government! So proud of you," in reference to the Supreme Court decision striking down DOMA.

Welcome, Raven-Symoné! Continued success to you!

"Hearts Like Ours" by The Naked and Famous

From their forthcoming release "In Rolling Waves" out September 17, 2013.

The chord progression stirs emotions...

http://thenakedandfamous.com/

It must be August...

...because our classic Northern California flower, the Naked Lady, or as it's known by its Latin name, Amaryllis, sprouts up practically overnight. Like clockwork, come every August, these special pale pink trumpets literally appear out of nowhere along nearly every highway, road, yard, field, pathway, and park. They possess a fascinating, barely-there, watery fragrance reminiscent of a mildly sweet candy.

Photos by JEF