Beginning last month in April and continuing through September 2013, this 150-foot-long pedestrian bridge will emerge participants in a multi-sensorial experience.

FOG BRIDGE

In honor of Exploratorium’s reopening, the architecture and design curator, Henry Urbach, invited Fujiko Nakaya to create one of her famous fog installations across the pedestrian bridge located between Piers 15 and 17. High pressure pumped water enshrouds pedestrians with fog during ten minutes every half hour. The mechanism is programmed to take into account real-time weather so to adapt the production of fog to wind or rain.

Nakaya is mainly fascinated by the extend to which fog has an impact on one’s perceptions, obscuring sight and thus, heightening other senses. The artist is convinced, “if you have even one little experience with fog, you start to see things differently”.

SHAPING NATURE

There is something of a Demiurge posture in the works of this artist, who has completed over 50 fog installations (view examples of Nakaya’s past works here ). Her ability to shape nature through these fantasy-like fog sculptures/installations, creates spaces of synesthesia. As people are invited to wander through the misty landscapes, they become truly immersed in the work that she has created.

HOW IT ALL BEGAN

A Family Affair
Playing with water and weather is a contagious compulsion in the Nakaya family. Borned in Japan in 1933, Fujiko is the daughter of Ukichiro Nakaya, the first credited inventor of artificial snowflakes as well as a talented ink wash painter. In line with her father’s achievements, Fujiko Nakaya pioneered video art in Japan and was the first to explore the path of new technologies in landscape art.

The First Fog “Sculpture”
Nakaya first became notable for using man-made fog as an art medium in the 1970s. She participated in the design of the Pepsi Pavillion as part of the EAT (Experiments in Art and Technology). With the help of Los Angeles based engineer, Thomas Mee’s chemical-based artificial fog experimentation, Nakaya created a vast atmospheric structure outside of the building.

Keep an eye on the Fog Lady, Fujiko Nakaya! Fog Bridge is the first one of seven projects she currently has going on in five different countries.

ALREADY HAPPENED BUT NOTEWORTHY

Snap! Orlando 2013 – Motion To Light
Last weekend, people from all over the Orlando community gathered together to witness the annual four-day photography celebration, Snap! Numerous renowned and emerging photographers exhibited at this years show – bringing a tangible reality to the balance of motion and light.

Check out that amazing wake-boarding video if you haven’t already!

YOU STILL HAVE TIME TO CATCH…

May 9th: 2nd Thursday Wine & Art Stroll
Looking for something to do tonight? As usual, Arts Hub is hosting 2nd Thursday in Thorton Park from 6:30p – 9:30p. Get a $10 wrist band, grab your glass of wine at Olde Town Brokers and take a look around. We think you’ll find that art and wine blend damn well! Learn more…

May 12th: Last Day of COALESCENCE at Rollins
The student exhibition, COALESCENCE held at Rollins college is coming to an end on Sunday, May 12th. Don’t miss this last chance to check out paintings, drawings, sculpture, photography, video art, etc that has been created for this exhibition. Student artists include: Airam Dato-on, Kelly Brown, Elizabeth Countess Payne, Julia Lanfersieck, Julia McInnis, Roxanne Bates, Nikki Crewe, Andrew Berger, Alexis Csenger, and Meghan Pearis. Learn more…

May 16th: Picturing Main Street
Earlier this year, the notable locals, Andrew Spear and Gordan Spears began “curating” the show now entitled Picturing Main Street. Artist submitted works representative of the Main Street Districts in Orlando. Spear and Spears narrowed down the selection to the best, and are excited to bring you an art event that highlights Orlando’s creative culture! Held at City Art’s Factory, the opening reception for this show is Thursday, May 16th from 6p – 10p. Learn More…

May 16th: Opening Reception of Imprint @ Gallery at Avalon Island
Imprint, a local exhibition curated by Patrick Greene will kick off with an Opening Reception on Thursday, 5/16. This show consists of nine female artists – Rachel Simmons, Dawn Roe, Vanessa Diaz, Dina Mack, Patricia Lois Nuss, Brittany Metz, Lesley Silvia, Martha Lent and Emilie Finney – who explore the concept of imprint through different mediums: video, sculptures, paper-cut, paintings prints and texts.
Learn more…

May 26th: Twelve21 Gallery is open!
Typically, weekend visits to Twelve21 are by appointment only, but on Saturday, May 25th we will open our doors to the public. Our show ‘Superimpose’ featuring Weston Jandacka, Brian Phillips and Victor Perez is still up for viewing pleasure (it is that good). Ivanhoe Villages favorite vintage boutique, Retromended will be hosting their regular event, Resurrect just down stairs – so you should probably plan on being in the area.

NEARLY 130 YEARS OF HISTORY

Les Bains was Initially built in 1884 by the Guerbois family, functioning as a bath house for Marcel Proust and workers of the nearby food market. In 1978, it was rented by two friends, who transformed the historic building into a well-known night club which welcomed leading figured such as: David Bowie, Andy Warhol, Joy Division, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Kate Moss and many others.

The legend of this nightclub abruptly ended in 2010 as Paris police closed the building due to unauthorized and dangerous structural work.

AN EPHEMERAL OCCUPATION

In January 2013, the 9842.52 square foot, 6 floor Hausmanian building was converted into an artist residency. Approximately twenty street-artists – notably, Psy, C216, Space Invader, Thomas Canto, Seth and Mr. Brainwash – were invited to live there and express themselves artistically, without any restriction. Sambre for example, implanted a wood sphere, nearly 15 ft wide, in the buildings ground.

Numerous murals and gallery style works were created throughout the building, offering one of the most unique displays of street art in the world. While the building has been closed to the public due to safety regulations, artist have actively shared their work with the public through photographs and video displayed on the official website

The building was initially set to be demolished on April 30th, but it is unclear if this date was met or if the street art still remains. Regardless – these works are not made to last. The doors will close soon (if they haven’t already), artists will return home and any tangible traces of the work from these 50 street artists in Les Bains Douches will be erased.

The ephemera occupation will have provided the opportunity for the artist to rejuvenate their creativity and the owner of the mythical place to begin a fresh start. As a matter-of-fact, Les Bains will enter a new era in 2014, as the owner, Jean-Pierre Marois, decided to build a luxury hotel preserving the inventive, transcultural and slightly bohemian spirit of the late Bains Douches.

HOW IT BEGAN

The journey of the red sketchbook was conjured in the heads of Dice Tsutsumi (Japan) and Gerald Guerlais (France).

As friends and illustrators, the two dreamt about the possibilities of creating a super-sketchbook. Specifically, a red sketchbook that would cross borders and bring artists together, offering a unique display of work to art lovers around the world. That is how this herculean project – 1 sketchbook, 4 and half years, 12 countries, 72 artists, 120 pages -  begun in February 2006.

CONCEPT AND GROUND-RULES

International artists such as: Bill Plympton, James Jean, Glen Keane, Frederick Back or Hayao Miyazaki, with backgrounds in comics, illustrated books, animated pictures and video games, were invited to express their creativity on a single page of the traveling sketchbook. No theme or technique were imposed, but the artist was required to respect the work of his peers and protect the sketchbook from wear and tear.

One of the artist – Daniel Lopez Munoz (Pixar) – even designed a wooden box to protect the book during its journey.

THE CHALLENGE

What made the project so difficult to achieve was that the promising book had to be passed from one artist’s hand to the other, from Paris to Tokyo, Madrid to San Francisco. However, this contraint vastly added to the project’s human richness and authentic nature.

4.5 YRS LATER…

Sketchtravel, a book filled with sketches from around the world, has been duplicated and published by French publisher, Les Editions du Chêne, in both standard and collector versions. The latter includes, in addition to the book, a replica of the wooden box that used to protect it during the travel process. The english version of the sketchbook is now available in bookstores and on Amazon. 

Watch Sketchbook in 30seconds on Vimeo.

GIVE THEM ROOM TO READ

Since the beginning of their adventure, the two founders of Sketchtravel decided that the original book would be sold for Charity Associations. The artists involved in the project chose to allocate  this money to the association Room to Read, an organization that focuses on literacy and gender equality in children’s education in developing countries. On the 17th October 2011, the book was auctioned in Brussels for a total of $104,450(USD). The money has since been used to build libraries and schools in East-Asia.

The original journey is over but the adventure carries on through book signing events and gallery exhibitions.

Learn more about Sketchtravel on their website and blog!

The tradition, history, colors, geometric elements, symmetry…it’s all so good – and it’s making it’s way to success in the world of contemporary art.

Brandon McLean

Vasare Nar

Toni Pointe

Michael Kershnar

Bobby Wilson