Comments on: Elements as Art

Elements as Art

geekyguy — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 17:50:57 -0800

Ned Kahn does really great things with fire, fog, sand, water and wind. Sadly, some don't last. Heard on WNYC's Studio 360

By: Benny Andajetz

Benny Andajetz — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 18:11:20 -0800

Those are some of the coolest things I've seen in a long time. I bet he really loves his job. Thanks.

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 18:24:48 -0800

[This is good] Thank you.

By: mlis

mlis — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 18:35:15 -0800

To the bookmarks! Thanks gg.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 18:54:26 -0800

OMG. I wish I were him.

By: hippugeek

hippugeek — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 21:11:07 -0800

If you like nature-based art that's responsive to changing environmental conditions, check out Andy Goldsworthy's scuplture/photography. He does major commissioned projects as well as small-scale works that sometimes last only a few minutes. There's a film, "Rivers and Tides," (description, oddly enough, on a socialist website) that shows him in action. I spent the whole movie wishing I were him, fff.

By: hippugeek

hippugeek — Sun, 06 Mar 2005 21:47:23 -0800

Pardon! I didn't even express my gratitude for your links, geekyguy. I'd love to see some of the dynamic water ones in action, especially. And a more offical site for "Rivers and Tides."

By: medialyte

medialyte — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 01:45:18 -0800

Nice stuff. I love this kind of thoughtful installation art. Some of it is less than effective, though. I walk by this at least a couple of times a week, and I hadn't ever noticed it as anything except a big metal structure. (We have several of these large, random hunks of metal on the U of O campus. Eugene is famous for some bad public art.

By: NinjaPirate

NinjaPirate — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 03:06:42 -0800

This is exactly the sort of link that made MetaFilter stand out when I first tripped over it, and the sort of link which has been sadly absent for months. Thank you geekguy, fabulous, beautiful stuff. It's going to influence my US itinerary substantially next time I'm over. If Kahn could only find a way of making some of these installations as energy-friendly as the destroyed Wavespout and others, he might only be a few moments of contemplation away from Zen Grandmaster.

By: geekyguy

geekyguy — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 05:37:53 -0800

I'm glad you all appreciated as much as I. I think the fire vortex is the coolest and if you are down with RealAudio listening to him describe the creation and his great fear once it was realized is great. Catch it here. medialyte - I grew up in Eugene, c. 1975-1988. Perhaps that is why I appreciate it so.

By: kaseijin

kaseijin — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 07:36:38 -0800

[this is good] I really enjoyed his fog rings when I went to the Exploratorium in San Francisco. Though it lists his tornado machine as being in New York, there's another just like it at the Fort Worth Mueum of Science and History, right outside the Omni theater. It's really a fun toy to play with -- you can disrupt the fog, and within seconds it's back in a column.

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 08:01:27 -0800

I am so tempted to build a fire vortex in my back yard. Unfortunately, my town doesn't have the correct permits to allow such. Heathen!

By: five fresh fish

five fresh fish — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 08:03:01 -0800

Oh, and that globe with the mica-filled liquid: the Vancouver Space Science Centre had a similar sort of thing, as a rotating thick disc. A buddy and I spent at least forty-five minutes playing with it. And, no, we weren't on any sort of drugs. It was just that fascinating. It would be relatively easy to build one. I wonder where I'd find a few kilos of fine-grained mica...

By: dirtynumbangelboy

dirtynumbangelboy — Mon, 07 Mar 2005 09:14:13 -0800

Yep, there's one of those globes at the Ontario Science Centre in Toronto, too. Right next to a fog vortex, presumably also by him. (Torontonians, it's in the.. dammit!!! I forget which hall. Bottom level, I think... somewhere on the right hand side as you step off the escalators. Or downscalators, as I call them.)