Opened last Friday, the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival returns with new, large-scale immersive works from renowned local and international artists and designers. The newly commissioned works include sculptural pieces by creatives across the globe: Kumkum Fernando, Vincent Leroy, Güvenç Özel, and Maggie West. Their works will act as fresh, colorful, and architectural beacons to attract, inspire, nourish and guide festival-goers, offering them a sense of joy freedom, and calm. transform the iconic Coachella landscape at various times of day and night.

From totemic figures that rise across the expanse of the Empire Polo Field to playful, floating mobiles and photographic-based installations and digital interventions, the massive installations by a selected roster of creative talent complement structures like Spectra, the seven-floor architecturally-inspired pavilion, Robert Bose’s quarter-mile long kinetic Balloon Chain, and Don Kennell’s Mustang.

The Messengers by Kumkum Fernando, comprises three monolithic figures, which appear at first as giant robots or action figures. But his “idols” — arranged in a row to create a colorful gathering place — pack volumes of meaning into their larger-than-life forms. The Sri Lankan artist, who lives and works in Vietnam, draws inspiration from the vivid colors of South Asian art and architecture, particularly Tibetan and Hindu temples, as well as from folk tales filled with gods and demons that resonate from his youth. In his practice, he collects objects, patterns, and items containing different iconography and reimagines them as contemporary art objects.

“Whenever I travel, I collect and document,” says Kumkum. “I have a library that I go through at different points in time. When I put them together, I often see unexpected things. I made a series of work completely out of window grills, another series from patterns from Persian rugs, and another from temple patterns. One day, I was arranging objects, and they appeared to form a figure. Then I thought I should make figures with these patterns.” 

The three figures at Coachella soar to between 65 and 80 feet, each standing on plinths with a base of steps where visitors can gather around the idols. Each idol is accompanied by a self-penned poem.

With Molecular Cloud, the Paris-based French artist Vincent Leroy imagines molecular clouds in the form of light, glossy inflatable objects floating above the vast green field of the festival. The artwork slowly changes, forming strange and organic shapes that reflect the surrounding revelry. As you move closer to the massive mobiles, the ground, people, and sky appear in Molecular Cloud’s reflective surfaces in a phantasmagorical spectacle that plays with your perception and detaches you from reality.

Leroy, who oscillates between the real (natural) and virtual (artificial), is interested in experimenting with the phenomena of perception. Movement is almost always his focus — the kind of movement, he says, that “inspires life, amazement, and a permanently shifting viewpoint.” Leroy slows this movement to uncover and magnify the gaps that often go unnoticed in today’s frenetic pace and performance. With Molecular Cloud, ripples, reflections, superimpositions, and the play of light plunge us into another dimension — light and airy, dreamlike, and meditative.

Los Angeles–based artist and architect Güvenç Özel engages the spectrum of human experience, from the physical to the virtual. His 60-foot-tall Holoflux is a portal to a broad digital ecosystem of ever-changing forms that you experience throughout the day. At night, the reflective surfaces of the sculpture’s spherical forms become lighting features, pulsating bright colors rather than reflecting the environment. Indeed, Holoflux is a hypermedia object with flickering lights, projections, graphics, and changing color schemes that cycle through different identities. From a distance, it appears as a sculpture, and it becomes architecture as you approach it. The nighttime projections of real-time video showing the festival action create an effect in which the sculpture appears to become invisible and then reappears.

“I consider myself a cyber-physical architect and a critical technologist,” Özel says. “Cyber-physical, meaning the work covers cyberspace and physical environments and the interaction between the two. Critical technologist, meaning engaging with new technological tools — their meaning, their impact on our social interactions, their impact on our environmental and political considerations, and how we can create more meaningful and engaging experiences to enhance the way that we socialize and communicate with each other.”

The Los Angeles–based artist Maggie West has created one of the world’s largest 3-D photography installations, reproducing her floral photographs on 20 steel structures, each covered with wood and vinyl, ranging from 6 to 56 feet tall. To create Eden, West photographed a variety of plants, each in two color schemes: warm (a combination of peach, gold, white, or pink) and cool (shades of blue, teal, indigo, and lavender). She uses lighting, not Photoshop, to color her photographs.

“By photographing familiar objects with multicolored lights, my work helps viewers look closer at some of the nature they might take for granted — like the texture of the snake plants and the stamens in the centers of the lilies,” says West. The high-resolution images appear on vinyl sheets, the warm palette on one side of each sculpture and the cool palette on the other. After dark, the sculpture comes alive with mapped projections onto the sculptures that create a vibrant light show that adds an extra colorful dimension to these already vibrant images.

“Surprise encounters with these outsized projects in the middle of the valley, surrounded by music and the collective energy of the crowd has become a much-anticipated shared experience at the Festival, and some of the works have been woven into the archetypal imagery of Coachella,” commented Paul Clemente, who manages the art program for the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. “The arts program has evolved significantly since inception and the participants, who come from around the world and from Southern California are well-respected in their fields, presenting extraordinary and thoughtful works in a setting where they can inspire, inform, and invite direct engagement with art and current social and cultural themes and ideas. It is a unique aspect of this Festival, and we really endeavor to carry that spark into the community with adjacent school programs and our on-site Coachella Arts Studios.”

Curatorial Advisor Raffi Lehrer added, “In selecting projects from around the world, our intention is to bring together artists, architects, and designers whose practices invite participation, inclusion, and transformation. We strive to create a multi-disciplinary and multi-cultural program that reflects our audience and the many performing artists that grace the stages of the festival. The resulting works will become icons — part of the identity of this year’s show. These installations act simultaneously as way-finding markers, points of the congregation, and most importantly, accessible entry points for all show-goers to experience art.”

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Architect Ma Yansong, founder of Chinese firm MAD Architects, has created Timeless Beacon, an art installation made of multicolored fishing nets and reflective films that covers an abandoned Chinese market building. The design renovated Taiping market, known as the largest abandoned building in Taiping Xu, a once bustling fair established in the late Ming Dynasty and flourished for centuries until the 1980s when fishermen, businessmen, and villagers gathered there for trading. 

However, the onset of an urbanization boom changed everything, gradually pushing young people to seek opportunities outside the village. Meanwhile, the internet era began overshadowing the need for physical markets, leading to a slow abandonment of the formerly buzzing fair. On the side of Taiping’s deserted streets, concrete houses occasionally interspersed with old brick buildings emerge. There, a couple of elderly residents sit at their doorsteps and chat, painting a picture of a prosperous era that has now gone into decay.

“I see many plants growing towards the sun from the gaps of the abandoned building. We hope to create a sense of vitality and rebirth from the ruins, so that people can feel new energy and perception from the old structure, as well as new understanding of time to this whole area,” explains Ma Yansong.

The quiet village contrasts the contemporary backdrop of a fast-growing city across the river. When the function of the place is no longer important, the emotion and inspiration it carries are the value that is left by the building. MAD intends to parallel the time scales of history and future through design, forming a surreal scene that brings people back to imagination. 

A three-story building is wrapped in reflective film, a new material that blurrily mirrors the surrounding old streets through the building’s façade and inner space, respectively. At the top, a towering multimedia light device is enveloped in colorfully delicate pieces of cloth, fluttering in the wind romantically. At night, it transforms into a new “lighthouse” of the village, creating a dreamy aura along the bankside.

Timeless Beacon, the art installation will be on show until the summer of 2024.

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As the winter weather leans towards spring break, people are anxious to get out and discover the world again. With the minimal restrictions compared to the past few years, more people are ready to take in some culture and entertainment. 

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a vibrant artistic renaissance. There are a lot of new artists that are filling the art world with their creations, interpretations, and visions. There has never been a more fascinating time in the art world than it is now. 

Whether you are an art enthusiast or just looking for a beautiful day exploring a local art festival, there are hundreds of art exhibitions to visit. The list is long, but we have compiled a few of the most anticipated shows for 2023.

Sam Falls: We Are Dust and Shadow

The Museum of Contemporary Art Cleveland

Runs Until June 11, 2023

Sam Falls’ first solo museum exhibition features new paintings and sculptures about nature. The otherworldly landscapes and plant stains in Falls’s work rival those in Abstract Expressionism. The toll we take on the planet, and the cycles of life, are showcased in this art that resonates. Using the tools of nature, Fall uncovers the beauty of earthly patterns and textures. 

Coded: Art Enters the Computer Age, 1952–1982

Los Angeles County Museum of Art

Running Until July 2, 2023

While there has been much discussion regarding the emergence of AI-generated art, artificial intelligence is on the scene whether you are talking about creating content or physical artwork. The Coded Exhibit showcases the joint creative efforts of artists and computer algorithms and the natural bent towards creative invention. 

Keith Haring: Art is for Everybody

The Broad, Los Angeles

May 27–October 8, 2023

The exhibition traces Haring’s career from his days as a student in New York up until he died of AIDS at the age of 43. This exhibition is based on Haring’s journals. It highlights his commitment to social issues like abolishing apartheid, nuclear disarmament, and AIDS research and support. The exhibition will also include interactive elements, including a black light gallery and music from Haring’s personal playlist. 

Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York

May 5–July 16, 2023

If you are a fashion lover and enjoy exploring the history of some of the most famous clothing, you can’t miss the Karl Lagerfeld exhibition at the Met. Various draftsman sketches that Lagerfeld created for other fashion houses throughout his career, along with his own designs, will be on display for the first time. 

Georgia O’Keeffe: To See Takes Time 

MoMA, New York

April 9–August 12, 2023

Known for her southwestern pastoral style, Georgia O’Keefe has been an essential part of mainstream American art. The latest collection exhibition, “To See Takes Time,” follows O’Keefe as she explores a different style and medium in more fluid, minimalist watercolors. 

Thousands of interesting art festivals, creative shows, and exhibitions are available to enjoy throughout 2023. If you have decided that this is the year to enjoy more culture, participate in one of these upcoming art exhibitions or explore galleries in your area. 

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David Chipperfield Architects has won the competition for the National Archaeological Museum in Athens. The proposal was developed together with Wirtz International, Tombazis &Associate Architects, wh-p ingenieure, Werner Sobek and Atelier Brückner. Located in the Exarcheia district of Athens, the National Archaeological Museum houses one of the world’s most important collections of prehistoric and ancient art.

The original neoclassical building by Ludwig Lange and Ernst Ziller, dates from 1866—1874, and has been supplemented with additional buildings over time. Through refurbishment and extension, the National Archaeological Museum of Athens will be modernized to meet today’s standards of quality, openness and sustainability. The re-birth of the National Archaeological Museum, which stands as a powerful link between modern Greeks and their heritage, also symbolizes the strengthening of the Greek cultural offer for international visitors following a year in which a record number of tourists came to the country.

David Chipperfield Architects draws on the essence of Lange’s original design – a romantic philhellenic idea of an urban landscape, articulated through lush open areas within the dense city grid – taking the monumental building as a starting point and framing it with nature. The plinth of the existing building is extended all the way to the street, providing a new setting for the historic landmark building, while adding two floors of subterranean galleries. In one gesture, this generates roughly 20,000 m2 of additional space and a lush green park on the roof that is open to all. Respecting the building’s historical value, the extension does not aspire to compete with the existing architecture, but forms a harmonious ensemble of spaces, finding a balance between old and new.

The design’s logic follows the existing topography of the site: an imposing neoclassical building facing a vast green plaza. The extension will contain the museum’s main public functions – ticket desk, shop, restaurant, auditorium and permanent and temporary exhibitions spaces – which are organised symmetrically, acknowledging the historical architecture. The main entrance is brought forward to street level, reinforcing the museum’s relationship with the city. Through a new façade the museum communicates openly with its urban surroundings, offering passers-by views into the new exhibition spaces.

Upon entering the museum, visitors walk through two floors of continuous, flowing exhibition space that leads them to the existing building. A refined architectural language of pure and clear volumes, diagonal views and rammed-earth walls contrasts with the historical spaces. In combination with a precise play of light and shadow, this evokes the feeling of subterranean caverns, forming a sensitive setting for exhibiting artefacts and sculptures from the collection.

The museum garden provides a cool, quiet public space elevated above the bustling city. It echoes the ancient Greek ideal of a public gathering space for all citizens. The landscape, designed by the Belgian landscape architects Wirtz International, is rich in texture. The volumes on the lower level allow for the planting of monumental trees on the roof. Lavish gravel spaces and paths, lawns, groups of Umbrella and Aleppo pines with evergreen Holm oaks and tailored shrub massings reference 19th-century parks. The park is accessible from all directions, and a sunken, sheltered inner courtyard at the heart of the complex binds together the old and new, providing an attractive meeting place for museum visitors and Athenians.

The Dutch architecture firm OMA also recently won the competition to renovate the Egyptian Museum in Turin, Italy.

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Dutch firm OMA won the competition to renovate Museo Egizio in Turin, the world’s oldest museum for Ancient Egyptian culture founded in 1824. The design creates a new covered courtyard known as Piazza Egizia and a series of connected urban rooms within the existing museum, opening the cultural space to all.

Museo Egizio is housed in Collegio dei Nobili – a complex consisting of exhibition galleries, the Academy of Sciences, and an open courtyard. Changing requirements over the past two centuries have led to numerous alterations to the museum’s architecture, closing the public areas off to the rest of the city.

“Museo Egizio, with an open courtyard, is historically a main civic space in Turin,” says OMA Managing Partner – Architect David Gianotten. “Our team believes that it is vital to restore the public nature of the museum and integrate it back with Turin’s network of public spaces. By reorganizing the current museum’s public areas, we have created the Piazza Egizia, which is a place for all kinds of activities shared between Museo Egizio and the city.”

The design is defined by six distinctive urban rooms, each with its unique scale, function, and quality. The largest urban room central to the museum is the Piazza Egizia. A central Spine connects the six urban rooms together, and also to both of the museum’s entrances on Via Accademia and Via Duse. New openings have been introduced to the current façade along Via Duse, further drawing the public into the museum and the Piazza Egizia. The six urban rooms share a ground floor pattern – inspired by the museum’s artefacts – for visual continuity.

The Piazza Egizia is a double-level, multifunctional courtyard that showcases the museum’s original architecture and traces of interventions over time. The multiple historic openings of the courtyard at level 0 – which had been closed due to the museum’s alterations – are once again opened, connecting the public space back to the city. At level -1 are the Egyptian Garden and the event and learning space. Here, Collegio dei Nobili’s original façade concealed since the 2010 renovation is uncovered. Above the courtyard is a transparent canopy. Its aluminum cladded steel structural grid is a device for rainwater collection, air ventilation, and lighting provision, answering the museum’s ambitions for sustainability.

“We have conceptualized the Piazza Egizia as a palimpsest that reveals the different layers of the museum’s history,” says OMA Project Architect Andreas Karavanas. “This approach restores coherence to the architecture and lends the museum a lucid identity, while ensuring that the institution’s new needs are fulfilled.”

The Piazza Egizia and other urban rooms are open beyond working hours for visitors with or without tickets. Their public nature offers possibilities for the museum to extend its opening hours. A selection of Museo Egizio’s artefacts is on display for the general public’s initial encounters with the museum collection.

The competition design was led by OMA’s David Gianotten and Andreas Karavanas, in collaboration with local architects Andrea Tabocchini Architecture, T-Studio, and historical consultant Professor Andrea Longhi. OMA’s design was selected among competition entries by Kengo Kuma and Associates, Pininfarina Architecture, Carlo Ratti Associati, and Snøhetta.

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Abstract artist Al Luke transformed a pedestrian crossing in Cape Town’s Sea Point neighboorgh into a colofull work of art. Located on Main Road outside of the Artem Centre near Sea Point High School, the 16m x 14m artwork piece entitled ‘Recollection’, aims to raise awareness around pedestrian safety in South Africa.

“It has been an absolute honor to be a part of this project and to share my art with the Mother City by promoting awareness regarding pedestrian safety in Cape Town. It has also been a pleasure to change the perceptions of the city’s public realm and transform its everyday infrastructure into cheerful spaces,” says abstract artist Al Luke.

The pedestrian crossing artwork project was initiated by local property developer Blok and executed in collaboration with urbanism practice and consultancy Our Future Cities (OFC). “The concept is to improve development within cities to reimagine accessibility and safety as more and more people make the move to live in urban areas. The idea of future cities that merge sustainable economic development with connected urban living to shape the next generation’s way of life is not unique to Cape Town,” says Blok’s CEO Jacques van Embden.

A similar transformation project consisting of 18 pedestrian crossings was recently commissioned by the City of London as part of the Mayor of London’s ‘Let’s Do London’ tourism campaign. The campaign was used to relaunch the creative, retail, and hospitality sectors as they were disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic. Similar projects have been undertaken in cities including Milan and Washington DC, where pedestrian crossing artwork has been used to create safer and more vibrant streets.

“For our streets to be reimagined and reclaimed as infrastructure for people rather than just cars, we need provocative and joyful initiatives like this one,” says Rashiq Fataar, urban practitioner and founding director of Our Future Cities (OFC). “We have high hopes that this initiative will sow the seeds that will speak to the larger-scale shifts that are necessary for our cities to become more vibrant and sustainable.”

“There’s a deep hunger for these types of projects in every city,” said van Embden, adding that many murals ultimately emerge as unique landmarks that promote community pride. “It’s exciting to see the demand. It’s not just about painting roads,” he continued. “Streets are the ultimate gallery. They are where art and life come alive.”

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Until Feb. 12, 2023, Superstudio, one of the busiest exhibition spaces at FuoriSalone during Milan Design Week in the Tortona district, will host the installations of eighteen international artists and collectives. Following the exhibitions in Rome and Paris, Balloon Museum is now presenting Pop Air in Milan with a new dynamic and fun installation whose works occupy a space of over six thousand square metres, designed to spark an emotional dialogue with the public.

Pop Air reflects on the new artistic expressions and techniques associated with the world of interactive exhibitions, by promoting unprecedented and site-specific works selected by Balloon Museum’s curatorial team, made up of professionals operating in the world of art, culture and communication.

The artists involved have all focused their research on all aspects of air: from being a tangible element of construction, an authentic sculpture of amazing monumental forms, to metaphysical and suspended atmospheres, endowed with a hazy and impalpable personality.

Each inflatable installation, thanks to its interaction with the onlooker, creates new spaces of physical, digital, and cultural socialisation. In fact, people are at the centre of an experiential trail involving the senses and giving rise to amazement, curiosity, and thoughts on contemporary topics.

Zoomorphic-like figures animate the exhibition trail with their bright colours and out-of-scale shapes that defy convention. One such installation is that of Airship Orchestra by Eness, a tribe of ironic-looking and playful figures accompanying visitors as they walk through and live an amazing audio experience in which light and music are engaged in a dialogue.

Sculptor Max Streicher presents Silenus, a sleeping giant of monumental dimensions whose vulnerability is revealed to the spectator. Thanks to inflatable technology, he seems to breathe or make lethargic movements, as if on the point of waking.

Everyday objects and their interaction with space are researched by Cyril Lancelin with Knot, a large knitted knot, the start and end of which are impossible to discern, and also by Geraldo Zamproni with Volatile Structure, consisting of large red cushions that seem to support the surrounding structure in a constant tension between content and context.

Cloud Swing by the US duo Lindsay Glatz with Curious Form consists of three suspended swings in a luminous cloud. The coloured lights provide a fairy-tale atmosphere and the direct experience inspires childhood recollections.

The study of nature and an observation of the equilibrium between chaos and immobility are the distinctive traits of the Hyperstudio art collective, who present Hypercosmo, and of the Quiet Ensemble duo who sign its multimedia performance and reveal A quiet storm. The installations are set in ambiences in which sea, sky and rain take on an unprecedented form.

A multiplied and psychedelic universe, wrapped in rarefied atmospheres, meets the spectator in Never-ending stories by Motorefisico, in which people’s perception of the surrounding location changes with their own movements.

The interaction between people and space materialises with the site-specific work signed Giallo 368 by the Penique Productions collective, which occupies a large space and modifies its perception: a lightweight and colourful wrapper envelops the room and transforms it into a living architecture, animated by fan-generated air, causing a sensation of disorientation in the spectator.

Aria, an immersive experience presented by Pepper’s Ghost, is a digital interpretation of inflatable art, in which the public find themselves surrounded by a multitude of fluctuating balloons and engaged in a metaphysical journey. The room is transformed into a boundless space thanks to an intense sound design reproducing the depth of a breath kilometres away, which creates truly unique sensations.

Inspired by neuroscientific discoveries regarding brain autoconfiguration, for the first time in the Superstudio space Karina Smigla-Bobinski presents Polyheadra, an interactive installation that triggers a direct dialogue with the public. Invited to take an active part in the construction of the artwork, the spectator can assemble inflatable tubes of various sizes in an infinite number of different ways and document the results of their efforts with photos and videos.

Canopy, the fruit of a collaboration between Studio Pneuhaus and Bike Powered Events, springs to life thanks to the intervention of the public. Consisting of a small wood of tree-like luminous sculptures in constant transformation, it lights up and expands when powered by the green energy produced by the participants with cycle-driven generators.

Air becomes an architectural element in Tholos by Plastique Fantastique, a tribute to ancient temples revisited in an inflatable key. This installation, whose world preview coincides with the exhibition, takes an ironic look at geometry and shapes as it reveals some unprecedented elements produced from transparent and reflective materials.

The Ginjos created by Rub Kandy are colourful and mysterious characters whose shapes evoke anthropomorphic figures.

Highly interactive ambiences of amazing design greet visitors along Balloon Street, in an experience, played out between pop-coloured works and ironic references.

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Architecture is all around us every day, and it is a very popular subject. It also covers a wide range of subjects, from skyscrapers to small huts. Every day, no matter where we go, we are surrounded by architecture, and it is no surprise that it is such a popular trend in photography. Today we’re going to give you a guide that you can follow to take great photos of architecture. If you want to find more guides and tips, go to Skylum’s blog, there’s a lot of interesting stuff there, even about how to take a good selfie.

Old and Modern Architecture

There are two different approaches to photographing old and modern architecture:

• When a straight and simple composition is used when photographing old architecture, good photos are usually obtained showing the natural beauty and elegance of the buildings. It’s usually a good idea to incorporate some of the surrounding landscape into the shot to make the photo of the building more free-flowing.

• When shooting new architecture, a more modern, abstract style is welcome. Experiment by using a wide-angle lens to get an unusual perspective or by shooting buildings from unusual angles. Also, because modern buildings are often pressed up against each other, framing a narrow frame is acceptable because it doesn’t make the shot unnatural.

Practice will allow you to adjust your eyes to take pictures of architecture. This will allow you to shoot subjects more interestingly, avoiding trite compositional techniques and putting more personality into each shot.

Using the Landscape

The answer to the question of whether to include the landscape surrounding the subject depends on the situation and the content you want to convey to the viewer. Ask yourself if the surrounding landscape will complement or detract from the subject in the photo. If the landscape complements the building, take a wider shot, and if it doesn’t, crop it.

For example, there is a beautiful old building in the middle of a modern city. If you wanted to convey a sense of contradiction, you should have included modern buildings in the shot. However, if we want to focus on the beauty of the old architecture, then the adjacent modern buildings become a distraction and should be cropped.

Long Focal Lengths and Details

If you shoot a building at too close a distance, the walls in the photo may appear distorted, as if the entire building is tumbling backward. Although this effect can be quite interesting in itself, we usually try to reduce its appearance so that it doesn’t distract viewers. 

Using telephoto lenses and photographing architecture from afar, you can get straight lines of the building walls. Also, by using a telephoto lens, you can achieve a unique abstract effect. By shooting from a long distance with a long lens, you will get a building with a leveled perspective and parallel lines.

Most architecture contains small details, such as ornate windows with beautiful mounts and decorative cornices, which are interesting to photograph on their own. Focus your attention on such details and compose your shot to emphasize these architectural features.

Lighting Features

Lighting is the key to shooting architecture. Of course, we cannot choose the location and orientation of the building in space, so the question of lighting often automatically falls away, and we have to make do with the conditions that nature provides:

• Side lighting generally enables you to get the best architectural shots. It provides sufficient light, but also casts long, interesting shadows on the façade of the building, highlighting surface details and giving volume.

• Backlighting is the worst way to shoot architecture because it makes the surfaces of objects look shapeless and dark. One of the best ways to do this is to take the sky out of the picture and use a slow shutter speed to get at least some detail out of the building. You can also shoot the building just as a silhouette or wait until it gets a little darker.

Another important point is that even the most boring architecture can come to life at night. Many modern buildings were originally designed for the night. When darkness falls, these buildings are illuminated by dozens of lamps, decorating the facades with colorful lights and casting bizarre shadows on the surface of the building. When shooting architecture at night, be sure to use a tripod and set the ISO to the lowest possible value to reduce digital noise.

More Than Just Buildings

When shooting architecture, it’s easy to get hung up on the idea that architecture is just about buildings. While this is not far from the truth, in reality, most man-made structures fall under the category of architectural photography: bridges, towers, windmills, monuments, and even lampposts. Look at shooting differently to take interesting photos that most people will just miss.

In addition to photographing the outside of a building, photographers often take pictures inside the building as well. The main problem here is the low level of light, in addition, with the large size of the room it is useless to use a flash (and sometimes it is simply forbidden). In this type of photography, you need to use a fast lens, increase the ISO value or set the camera on something solid and stationary, using the shutter timer to take the picture.

Remember that you can always use a photo editor to take away some of the imperfections. We recommend you use Luminar Neo because its AI-powered tools allow you to do even the most complex tasks in just a couple of clicks. It makes post-processing much easier and more enjoyable for the photographer.

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Choosing art is not the same as buying a lamp or a new appliance for the kitchen. Placing an artwork on a wall has to mean something to you. It should also send a message out that will create the exact vibe that you want the room to have. Therefore, you can forget about buying a frame to hang on your wall in a boutique inside a shopping center. But where can you go then? Try an online gallery.

Online Gallery helps you learn all the Artforms

You can thank technology (again) for making your life simpler. If you want to choose the right artwork, for any room in your home, all you have to do is open your computer and go on an online gallery, such as SINGULART. There you will not only find a large selection of paintings, but you will also be able to explore all various genres and media that are available in the world of art. This will turn your shopping session into a learning experience, as well. For example, it will enable you to explore the universe of modern abstract painting, something that it is not easy to do, unless you head to a museum which is specialized in this art form.

You will also get to discover what really speaks to you, when it comes to the images that you find on a painting. If you stroll through the portrait and nude paintings, and you get bored rapidly, it certainly means that this is not what you appreciate in art. You may find that you prefer nature settings, historical, or fantasy when it comes to what you hang on your walls. In any case, it will certainly leave you with a sense that you know yourself better, in terms of what you like in the world of art, once you close your session.

What are the advantages of an Online Art Gallery over a Physical One?

The first one is certainly the fact that you save time. Inside an online gallery, you will find more works than you would in a physical one. Why? There is no limit of space on the internet. That is not the case in a building. This type of art gallery will always have a limited number of walls to hang-up paintings to show to their customers. Therefore, you can find everything that you may desire, inside one online gallery. And if you don’t, you just have to continue your browsing, by moving onto another site, and start there, without ever having to move around. It will also save you money, as you won’t have to pay the bus fare or the gasoline needed for your car to take you there.

The second one is the pleasure of browsing at your own rhythm. If you find yourself inside a physical art gallery, you will always have someone looking over shoulder, trying to “help you.” On an online gallery, you can look for as long as you want and go back to a few pieces, without ever having any pressure in making the right choice.

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Melbourne-based architects Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang have built a colorful scaled-down version of Greece’s famous Parthenon temple. Built at a third of the scale of the original temple, Temple of Boom has been installed in the garden of the National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) in Melbourne for its NGV Architecture Commission.

A global architectural icon, The Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, an Ancient Greek temple, is an apex symbol of Western civilisation, democracy and perfection. Temple of Boom celebrates these interpretations, while simultaneously expanding our understanding of the iconic Parthenon building and the enduring beauty it emanates.

This year’s commission invites audiences to consider the effect of time on all architecture as the structure gradually transforms with large-scale artworks and murals painted by local artists in three phases between November 2022 and August 2023.

Drawing inspiration from the colourful and artistic embellishments that once covered the original building over two- thousand years ago, Temple of Boom debuts with dynamic and eye-catching designs ranging from floral motifs to optical illusions by contemporary artists Drez, Manda Lane, and David Lee Pereira.

Drez is a multidisciplinary artist based in Melbourne who uses colour and form to play with perspective. Drawing inspiration from art historical perspectives, including the Greenbergian Modernism and Op-Art schools, Drez’s work creates an intersection between abstract art and street art. For this installation, Drez has created a boldly colourful mural that changes composition when viewed from different angles.

Manda Lane is a muralist, illustrator and paper-based artist from Collingwood, Victoria. With a keen focus on botanicals, her art explores the interactions between the natural world and industrial or man-made objects. In this mural installation, Lane has depicted various growth behaviours of plants, creating a visual metaphor for personal expression and growth.

David Lee Pereira is a visual artist whose works explore the fluidity of gender, sexuality and identity. Influenced by the work of impressionist and surrealist artists Georgia O’Keefe, Salvador Dali and Edvard Munch, Pereira has adorned the structure with large-than-life floral motifs that draw attention to nature’s flamboyant use of scent and colour to allure pollinators.

Taking its name from the vibrations of music, Temple of Boom will be a community meeting place and an outdoor venue for a diverse program of performances, programs and music across the summer period.

Presented in partnership with the Hellenic Museum Melbourne, audiences can engage with a program of panel discussions, performances, and a VR experience transporting visitors to The Parthenon and allowing them to walk virtually around the Acropolis in Greece. The historical and cultural significance of the Parthenon and its continuing resonance for the Greek diaspora will be celebrated with further programming across the nine-month installation.

Weekly from 16 December to 14 April, some of Melbourne’s best DJs will also perform as part of the return of NGV Friday Nights this summer.

“One of the most famous examples of classical architecture, The Parthenon in Athens is often viewed as a potent symbol of Western art and culture,” said Tony Ellwood AM, Director of the NGV. “This thought-provoking work by Adam Newman and Kelvin Tsang invites us to consider how we create and imbue architecture with meaning, as well as how this meaning can shift across time periods and cultures.”

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