The Creators Project: Artist Anila Quayyum Agha has been awarded a historic total of $300,000 for winning both the $200,000 Public Vote Grand Prize and the $100,000 Juried Grand Prize at the ArtPrize international art competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan. Known as Intersections, Agha's carved wooden cube sculpture bathes the walls of the its exhibiting room in floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall patterns.
17 comments:
This is such a simple idea, i'm surprised that something like this hasn't already been done. It's also really exciting that its simple, considering we have the resources to do this right here at CMU.
I'm a bit curious to know more, like how the box was suspended without causing additional shadow on the wall. I'm assuming the artist used clear fishing line, or something close to that, but I'm also curious as how she got power to the lightbulb (unless it was battery powered).
My favorite picture in the article was the closeup. When you first look, the pattern looks quite intricate, but you really have no idea about how intricate it really is until you see the closeup photo of how each of the shapes was cut with such interesting proportion.
This piece looks absolutely amazing. I especially love how when you look at the box, it is kind of hard to tell what the pattern is, but then you look at the shadows and you can really see all the work she put into the design. But nothing is as amazing as that close up picture. Liew Brennan said, you can get the idea of the intricacy from just looking at the shadows and overall look of the sculpture, but you have no idea how really detailed it is to look up close. It makes me want to stand in that room with my face right up next to the box and stare at the design.
I am also curious as to how she hung the box and powered the light bulb. It really does seem to just float in the middle of the room. It's interesting as well that the shadows the box casts are so crisp. I know from focusing theatre lights, it takes a bit of finagling to get a gobo to be in focus on the stage, and if it isn't, it's really hard to see the pattern. So I am interested in learning how the artist found out how far form the light source her box needed to be to cast clear shadows on the wall and how strong the light needed to be.
It's so awesome to see Islamic art and architecture in a modern context. The artist has done a wonderful job of showing her audience the intricacy of her culture, yet also pushing it outside the comfort of a mosque or other Middle Eastern building. This reminds me of an exhibit I saw where a group of Iranian artists created their own modern versions of a Persian carpet. Their designs were reminiscent of the detailed rugs, yet their colors were bolder, their influences more provocative, their images reminiscent of the Green Revolution and the current political situation in Iran. I also really loved the artist's quote about her work. Looking at the pictures, you can certainly gain the stark perspective between inside and outside. The carved wooden cube after a while looks to me like an angular birdcage, entrapping the light, which attempts to project itself through the cracks of its trapping.
This is incredible. The delicacy of the pattern, combined with the scale of the projection and the way the light plays with not only the walls, but the object itself lends a sort of shadowy contrast to the piece. The detail is by far my favorite part, because it requires time and study to fully appreciate the delicacy of what she has created. That the patterns follow the Islamic tradition gives this piece some history, though it was made with very modern tools and processes. All in all, it creates incredible contrast that is very compelling and beautiful to look at. The questions that it raises (how she hung it without creating shadows, how the light manages to fill the entire box, how she made the pattern so clearly projected) make this piece seem impossible. I would love to know how she accomplished it.
I think that this art piece can introduce a whole new idea of art. Like in this piece, the art is not only the amazingly detailed and intricate box, but also the room around it. This reminds me of a chandelier I saw online that looks like a bunch of curved white tusk-type things, but when lit and hung, it casts shadows that appear to look like an intricate beautiful forest with intertwining trees which project 360 degrees all around room. Utilizing shadows for artwork is an amazing concept, especially with the growing industries of 3D printing and laser cutting. This should be taken advantage of in all fields, especially theater.
I love how crisp the shadows are and how they intermingle with the architecture of the room. I also enjoy her representation of the restricted Muslim woman as the light inside of the cage-like box which creates such beauty around the space.
I have seen a similar work in which the light inside moves and that takes the shadows to a completely new level. It seems that this movement would have detracted from the artist's intentions for the work though.
These are beautiful! I'd love to see one in person. It really is surprising that no one had though of doing something like this sooner, but I'm glad they did. The shadows are so cool and the structure itself looks so fragile and delicate. The artist is seriously deserving the award she received for this piece. It is truly gorgeous. I want to see more pieces similar with different patterns and other shapes, because the shadows are simply fantastic. This completely transforms the space it's in both through its own presence and the shadows it casts.
This actually reminds me of a conversation I had with Sean West a few weeks ago as they were CNC milling the rolling flats they for Beggar's Opera. Someone in my stagecraft mini had asked about the CNC mill and we got into a conversation about the pros and cons of being able to tell a computer to cut out a pattern for you. It's funny, because one would think that it might be a technology with no drawbacks, however Sean made a very good point stating that anything you can do with a CNC router, you can do with a hand router and some skill, and that the only way to develop that skill is through practice and education. He went on to state that many local theatres, like the ones we might find ourselves at working straight out of college, may not have the money to access a CNC mill, and you still might want to achieve the same effect of amazing cutouts and intricate patterns. While the technology is cool, people have been making this kind of intricate artwork by hand for hundreds if not thousands of years. This sculpture, though amazingly jaw-dropping and impressive, would have 10 times that effect if it were hand carved.
This is an incredible thing and has some neat possibilities. My first thought is bringing people into an immersive environment with scenes all along the walls like this could easily depict a story throughout history. Imagine if the box had been created to cast cave paintings on the wall, or a fairy tale that went around the room and the visitors could comprehend it by following it around the room. That would be so much fun!
We've gotten so focused on 3D printers, but laser-cutting is really and truly changing art in a lot more ways. Look how it's shown up in so many tangible things, this piece, fashion, model building, I can't wait for laser-cut christmas garlands (you're welcome, everyone). What a great piece of equipment for the world.
I love the complexity which comes from such a simple process of projection. The design of the walls is exquisite, there is such an attention to detail in the design that would have been much more difficult to execute without the use of a laser cutter. The wood floor in the room is actually kind of bothering me. I which the room was a completely blank slate which could be transformed by the shadows.
Our class gets harassed because we use the laser cutter when it is not necessary. I think this project is a perfect example of the combination of beautiful artistry and an appropriate use of technology.
I cannot handle how cool this is. I am mindbogglingly impressed at the intricacy and delicacy of this piece, as well as the even shadow projections that it produced. It am blown away by inspiration for what designs like this could be used for. It would be incredible to use this as the set for a high fashion spread, and to play with the shadows on models faces. Another cool idea would be to put someone inside the box to do a dance piece, and add their moving body to the pattern of shadows. This is such an incredible new way to play with light and space. I hope someone utilizes it!
For people who know me, this is one of my favorite things in the whole world!!! I will admit, it's not very original because I've seen this done so many times, but it still makes my insides tingle when I look at the photos. I love shadows so much and I think laser cutters a great tools to utilize because of the fine details they can make. (I mean this is basically what I did for my groups arcade project last year!) What is so beautiful about a shadow is that they aren't really there. You see them, but there isn't any physical object. I used to imagine myself in my shadow and what the world would be if everything was a shadow. No real things just these dark 2-D blocking of light things meshing into one then parting, whatever. It's a weird world. Anyway, like what others have been saying, the close up pictures are gorgeous. I can't get over the detail!! It makes me drool... (ew... weirdoooo)
I think this is a phenomenal example of how a simple idea can develop and evolve into a complex form of art that is breathtakingly beautiful. Shadows are immensely powerful and can be portrayed in a myriad of ways, and I think the way that this artist has chosen to do so with a cube and a single light source is 100% effective. Although I have see things similar to this before, I have never quite seen anything as perfectly executed as this display and I would be curious to know how she developed her idea and how they led her to her finished product. It is simply incredible.
It's great to see patterns and culture like this still being created today. like many have said the intricate shapes and carvings that make up the larger form amaze me and to think that all of this was first laid out on the computer and then laser cut shows how much planning was put into this. this opens up my mind about what students at CMU can use this in our projects. In some cases this technique and look might convey a message better than if we made them by hand. We have the materials, why not explore this medium?
Every once in a while, I get a hankering to do a personal project on the laser cutter. I'm not saying I have a laser cutter addition, but it's a pretty darn cool machine in my opinion. Then I find stuff like this on the internet, and it just makes me feel like so unimaginative and terrible. I can't imagine the amount of time it took in front of the computer to come up with such intricate and clean patterns. And the sizing of the artwork is just the right size for the lighting to throw just the right size shadow onto the wall. There certainly was some planning with the venue over that! As a practical question, I wonder if each face of that cube was one piece that got lasered. That seems quite large to be one continuous piece though, so if it was made up of multiple pieces, how was everything put together so cleanly? Regardless, this is some amazing work!
Other than probably using a larger laser cutter than the one that we have in the cluster, this is almost exactly the same thing as some of our basic design boxes from last year. Although her mission and the work that she is doing for women's awareness is laudable, the actual art does not seem last awesomely mind-boggling.
As a student, it is funny to think about how a piece like this could be awarded such large prizes for being so simple, when things quite like it are often done by students and other artists.
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