Apr 24, 2013 | design
California artist Jayson Fann creates these spirit nests as part of the Big Sur Spirit Garden, an International Arts and Cultural Center in California’s Big Sur valley, between the Santa Lucia Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. Each nest is big enough for at least one person, and they range in scale from love seat size all the way to a 20 person nest that is wider than a highway and has a second story inside it.
Each nest is made with tree branches from local forests, each limb carefully cut and chosen to ensure that the tree itself isn’t damaged in the process. Jayson most often uses the wood from Eucalyptus trees because it’s strongest and lasts longer than most others, cutting away their leaves with a machete and transporting the harvested wood to the new nest’s building site.
To begin building the nest, Jayson first separates the wood by size.
“The process consists of fitting the puzzle of branches into a flowing form that integrates structural integrity with artistic flow,” he said, “I use tension by bending the wood and counter sunk screws that are virtually invisible to ensure a strong structure.”
Each nest creates a delicate new relationship between human and nature, one that was lost long ago when we first went indoors to shield ourselves from the elements. In these nests, we’re granted a place among the elements instead of being pitted against them, connecting us for an instant to the all the beauty that’s out there in this miracle of a world.
That’s the perfect image these pictures create. The nests are set in elegant forests and waterfronts, with the sun shining and the sky glowing, and all of these ingredients are amplified in each tree branch that’s been harmoniously joined with its brother to create a pattern of protection.
Image source: Cuded
For more information, check out Big Sur Spirit Garden’s website.
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Apr 23, 2013 | apropos//ts, art with, photography
It might be the coolest superpower ever, and with photo editing software now it’s possible: people can fly. Only visually unfortunately, not physically, but seeing the image of a person flying makes it seem like it’s that much closer to possible. Maybe someday soon it will be, inventions these days are reaching new levels of amazing – we’re basically able to reconstruct working human limbs now so jetpacks can’t be too far off. But then there would have to be flying legislation and we wouldn’t actually get to use the jetpacks legally till the year 3000.
Hint: hover for descriptions!
1. Sky Fall by Evan Borges
[zl_mate_code name=”Pink Dynamic” label=”1″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”More floating than flying, he glides eerily over the smooth top of the lake.
He’s in the exact center, and the sky’s clouds and colors are reflected in the lake below, the ripples transforming their shapes into a real kind of impressionism.”]
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: galito26.tumblr.com
2. Away to the Sky by Anka
Zhuravleva
[zl_mate_code name=”Orange Dynamic” label=”3″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”Balloons lift a girl from her center, and she’s flying without realizing it; her head falls back and her body is limp in the middle of the sky.
The scene behind her is blurred and faded – not as real as the girl in the plaid skirt who looks like she’s just flown away from the party. “]
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: unplu66ed.tumblr.com
3. Untitled by Agnieszka
Sikorska
[zl_mate_code name=”Blue Dynamic” label=”2″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”Flying is more like hovering here. A figure dressed all in black hangs a couple feet off the ground, her hair falling forward and tickling the leaves and the dirt.
She looks captive, hands held above her head and feet kicking back, speckled in dirt.”] 
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: whynotrishu.tumblr.com
4. Chairway to Heaven by Julia
Anna
[zl_mate_code name=”Green Dynamic” label=”4″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”Against a fiery red sky, the girl plays a dangerous game of musical chairs, arms outstretched for balance even though she’s not afraid of falling.
She’s almost halfway to the chair at the other end of the sky.”] 
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: i-rene.tumblr.com
5. Leaving the Body by Hands
of Skill
[zl_mate_code name=”Orange Dynamic” label=”3″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”A man levitates and leans forward, blindfolded and thrust forward by whatever’s in his hands.
A boy sits on the curb and stares up holding his head in his hand, watching the man fly past as if levitation were an ordinary thing.”]
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: myphotologbook.tumblr.com
6. The Journey by David Shauf
[zl_mate_code name=”Pink Dynamic” label=”1″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”She doesn’t have wings but she still looks like a fairy, a girl flying over the sand in the sunlight with her back arched; the petals of her skirt dance in the wind.”]
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: insaneobsession28.tumblr.com
7. Floating Chair by Hannah
[zl_mate_code name=”Blue Dynamic” label=”2″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”She sits in a wooden fold-up chair and both chair and girl fly a few feet above the ground, with tree branches stretching out like spiderwebs behind her.
She looks over the back of the chair and down, surprised at the magic she’s found in the woods.”]
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: tumblropenarts.tumblr.com
8. Head in the Clouds by
Stefano Galeotti
[zl_mate_code name=”Green Dynamic” label=”4″ count=”1″ who=”div” text=”Thick wooly clouds hide the girl’s head, but her body stick out of the fluffy ceiling like a stick stuck in the dirt.
Her body’s set against the corner of a room, the line of the wall running down behind her.”]
[/zl_mate_code]
Source: unplu66ed.tumblr.com
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Apr 22, 2013 | features, Museum of Fine Arts: Boston, museums
My little sister came to visit me in Boston a couple of weeks ago, so I took her to museums and a Boston Symphony Orchestra performance that she enjoyed more than I did (she’s a pretty talented flautist, so it figures). Carrie’s turning sixteen on Friday (!!) and I was really interested in getting her take on art, so we went to the Museum of Fine Arts here in Boston on a pay-what-you-wish Wednesday night and had the best time.
She’s only fifteen but she’s pretty brilliant. Sometimes she’d mention a comment about a painting or sculpture I’d spent hours studying, and point out something I didn’t even think to consider. Because with art, what you know doesn’t matter as much as what you see, and how you view it through your own lens of experience.
Inspired by the new People’s Choice section, read on to meet Carrie and hear what she thinks about five masterpieces on view at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston:
Hi! My name is Carrie Davis. I’m currently a sophomore at Fairhope High School, and I just happen to be the little sister of the creator of the site you’re on right now. Music is my passion, but I recently went to the Museum of Fine Art with my sister so she’s putting me to work by writing about these lovely pieces of art. I also enjoy playing the flute, riding my horse, long walks on the beach, and bacon. HAVE A GREAT DAY, OKAY?
Alex Katz, “Rush,” 1971
Rush makes me curious as to who the inspirations are, or where they came from. I love the emotion in the faces, too. It’s very interesting how some of the faces are shown straight on, some show their profiles, and others only show the back side of their head.
Detail, Alex Katz, “Rush,” 1971
Paul Cezanne, “The Large Bathers,” 1879-1906
Paul Cézanne uses an almost watercolor looking technique in The Large Bathers to get a beautiful contrast of colors between the sky and the nature. The women in the painting appear to be doing the cliché deeds of women in the early 1900s when this artifact was created, which gives the viewer a glimpse back into time. The one thing I’m most curious about is the town in the background. It seems to be civilized, yet the people are nude. Could they be a different civilization of people, or possibly a single nudist colony? I’m in love with the way Cézanne makes you think and consider the possibilities of these lovely creatures.
Alexandre-Georges-Henri Regnault, “Automedon with the Horses of Achilles,” 1868
The strength and fury of the horses in Automedon with the Horses of Achilles puts me in awe of how much bravery that man (Achilles?) must have. The foaming mouths of the horses as they rear up to the protagonist of the painting makes me astonished by the man’s power. This painting was at least eight feet tall, creating an entirely new feature that a computer screen lacks. The frame of the piece is very forceful. It looks like something that would be in a literary work by Homer. The raging horses, along with the raging ocean makes for an angry and terrifying mood.
Annette Lemieux, “Pacing,” 1988
Pacing, by Annette Lemieux, is quite inspirational. It was created so simply, yet it’s so beautiful and interesting to look at. I love how most of the foot prints are very concealed, yet the ones on the outside are so detailed and noticeable.
Detail, Annette Lemieux, “Pacing,” 1988
Pablo Picasso, “Rape of the Sabine Women,” 1963
In the Rape of the Sabine Women by Pablo Piccaso it makes me sad for the victims in the painting. The men want them so desperately, and are willing to hurt them in order to obtain that power. The poor child appears to be crying out for the men to cease, but they so crave the power and the sense of control that winning this brawl will give them.
For more from Carrie, you can follow her on Twitter, and be sure to wish her a happy birthday!
If you have your own impressions you’d like to share, use this form to join the People’s Choice Project and get your own post just like this one.
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