With the Chinese characters for “freedom” (自由) on a stamp attached to his boxing glove, Belgian artist Phil Akashi punched a wall 27,000 times to create a likeness of Nelson Mandela. He made it in tribute to the international hero, utilizing his particular brand of “seal art,” where he only uses East Asian Seals as the medium.
“I am addicted to seals, I collect seals, I paint with seals, I love seals. Creating with East Asian seals as a medium is a wonderful opportunity to tribute and to sustain a very old tradition with passion, emotion and innovation. It is also an exciting way to advance their potential with a European sensitivity.”
He used a Chinese seal and cinnabar paste for Nelson Mandela’s significance in Taoist culture. He opted for black cinnabar paste to honor Mandela’s struggle against apartheid. The painting can be found in the Shanghai Graffiti Park, surrounded by the graffiti of local street artists.
“This artwork exemplifies Nelson Mandela’s 27 years of incarceration but also symbolize his lifelong brave stand for freedom and equality. Nelson Mandela is an extraordinary artist of peace. He sacrificed his own freedom to fight for the freedom of others and therefore represents a fantastic source of inspiration for the entire world.”
The jaw-dropping effects that photo-manipulation technology allows for kind of takes my breath away. Especially the works by Erik Johansson, a photographer and retoucher from Sweden who’s currently working in Berlin. He sees photography as an outlet that allows his ideas to be fully realized, trying to make each image look as realistic as possible.
“I don’t capture moments, I capture ideas,” he says. “I get inspired by things around me in my daily life and all kinds of things I see.”
The hands of a clock and it’s frame are made of the same material – and each hand it attached to a separate frame that moves with it as it circles the space of the clock over and over again.
Two squares rotating according to the increments we’ve given time result in clean shapes at the hours and varying degrees of chaos within them. Nazar Şigaher is a designer, interior designer and artist in Turkey. He’s pursuing a Masters in the History of Architecture at Mimar Sinan Fine Arts University, just north of Istanbul.
“The hour and minute hands of Frame have frames made of material identical to that of hour and minute hands. The clock constantly changes its form as the hour and minute hands keep moving and take a given form twice a day only. Such constant change of form created by moving hour and minute hands give this clock a peculiarity that identifies with the concept of time.”
