MAKE: Sculptures have been a significant component of the art scene for thousands of years, but would you consider a robot ‘art?’ Like it or not, some artists are incorporating robotics and fire into their sculptures to make some of the most innovative (and terrifying) art installations we’ve ever seen.
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Fire art is something you don't see everyday because of its temporary state and need to be viewed in person. The cost of fire is also generally very expensive for short period of time limiting the number of people who get to experience the art. The other highlights seven works of fire art and the ones I found particularly engaging were: El Pulpo Mechanico, the Burning Man, and GonKiRin. ElPulp Mechanico is a giant octopus that breathes fire out of the eight tentacles and his eyes move in and out. This monster is huge and the flames shoot over 20 feet into the air. Although this sculpture is beautiful, the cost and resources abused is crazy. This piece of alone uses 250 gallons of propane a night. GonKiRin is a giant dragon that breathes fires as it moves across the city streets. One thing I particularly loved about the creators of GonKiRin was that they wanted to incorporate the community and have people interact with the sculpture. Ryan Doyle said that art is constantly blocked off by velvet ropes and that people are not allowed to touch, take pictures, and interact with the art. He wanted to break these boundaries and allow anyone to appreciate his work thorough the physical interaction. Glad I got to see this fire art because its something that I don't normally see too much of.
I love fire as much as the next guy or gal but wow that was some interesting fire. What to say, some where interesting, some where something , and others well were just a lot of fire.
So what makes Fire so interesting to us. I have been victim to the ancient stare at a bon fire for hours before in my life. When we get a fire going just right and you sit there out doors. Watching the flames dance, there is something about that. This is taken to another level, since you are not just watching you are at time being ask to participate. Participate in the destruction or the control violence that the fire is releasing.
So what is it, no clue? The sculptures varied widely and were quite interesting but we shall see what is happening. I do wonder what those tornado looking things were that were coming off of the burning man fire. Those were kind of scary to me.
Fire art is extremely dangerous but it is also incredible. Due to the the nature of fire, it is not normally used on stage but when it is, it is beautiful. I love fire art in general. These examples are so elegant and well controlled. I think the appeal of fire art stems from the fact that it is so dangerous yet so enchanting. People are always scared of danger, yet many people are driven towards it. Fire is one of those things.
After getting involved a little with the burner culture back home this summer I've become obsessed. I want to learn Fire Dancing and the such, too!! I think after going to my first burner festivalI, I understand why fire is so amazing. I used to love jut how it looked and smelt and felt against my skin. I liked the burn and sting it would cause (though the pain afterwards was always annoying). But I learned what makes fire so amazing is the fact that everything comes to an end. At one point it will be consumed in the flames. I learned about El Pulpo Mechanico before and I really want to go to Burning Man one year!! Go burners!!!
These are such wonderful pieces of art, the prospect of using fire on such a large scale is really exciting. The Serpent Mother is absolutely scary and beautiful. The height that is accomplished with the sculpture is really exciting. A great thing about using flame for these large exhibitions is that it keeps people looking at the artwork because it is really easy to get lost and even bored with large sculptures. That, I feel is a huge problem with Richard Sara’s work, it’s just big and boring. It is wonderful that these art pieces have so much to them and the size does not take away, but instead just helps with the experience. These videos of the robots are really exciting and original; it really makes me want to go see these! I love the dragon robot because it is really cool to see a different adaptation of the fantasy character. Because there is no ONE matter of fact dragon design it is exciting to see a dragon that actually has fire incorporated in it.
These are gorgeous! I especially love the first dragon! It's such a perfect mix of mechanics and flame that it looks like it could be an actual dragon from some sort of steampunk world. The movement of all of them is really beautiful and the construction seems sturdy and efficient. The scale of these alone is impressive, not to mention that they're ON FIRE! This is a great art concept and seems to be very poplar. I'd want to make sure it was safe (ex: not taking place in an empty field), but aside from safety concerns, I'd love to see one up close while it's in use. I love the lack of permanence that fire has, but how beautify, it can be while it's happening.
I definitely think that fire is an under appreciated art medium. If you know what youre doing with it, you can have so much control of what to most people seems like a wild substance. Fire is so dynamic that it can express things like almost nothing else. Also for us as humans, I think there is something rather primal about our attraction to fire, in addition to the fact that since so few people really understand it, its rather mysterious. I think these artists that are shown in this article do an excellent job not only creating visually appealing artwork, but also using fire in such a way that it is the only medium that they could have achieved their intensions with.
There are insanely cool, and I think they probably could have been pushed even further, creatively. It is an age-old art to play with danger. People are captivated by destruction, or potential destruction. We watch the circus performer fly across because there's a change she could tumble to the ground, and we are amazed by fire because it hold the potential power to consume everything around it. That being said, it is easy (I use that term very loosely) to impress or amaze a crowd with fire, but the real challenge, and opportunity, is to use the power to make us think.
This is so COOL! I firmly believe that sculpture/art should be able to use any material or resource to get an idea across. Fire is such a strong image and has the ability to tell very different stories. The enormity of some of these projects alone leaves me in awe, and I'm not even seeing it live. I don't try to bring Disney into everything, but when World of Color uses fire in the Pirates of the Caribbean sequence, it completely changes the tone and experience of the show. Granted, sculpture art is very different than a Disney water and light show, but it still shows how fire can be used to enhance a work of art by bringing it alive in a way no other element can do. Love these sculptures!
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