Brian Dettmer

I recently visited this year’s installment of the US Artists show, which took place at the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Art. Basically a way for galleries, local and national, to showcase their best and most interesting works that were up for sale. Ranging from colonial to contemporary there was quite a range on display including some amazing paper cut sculptures by Brian Dettmer. Using materials like books, maps and other printed ephemera, Brian carefully constructs astounding worlds and visions with incredible depth and composition. The pieces I had a chance to see appeared to be carved out of single books, like dioramas constructed out of nothing but hundreds of sheets of paper. Amazing stuff to see up on screen, but even more fascinating in person.

Visit Brian Dettmer’s portfolio here.

Scott London – Burning Man 2011

Take a look at this great set (100 in all) that photographer Scott London took during this year’s mother of all freak-fests, Burning Man. I’ve never been myself and honestly, I still haven’t worked up the courage to spend that much time out there in the desert without all the modern amenities I’ve grown accustomed to, but it’s amazing to see such a large group of people creating huge structures, machines and other artwork in the vastness of that terrain.Maybe next year…maybe…

See Scott London’s Burning Man photos here.

Gary Hustwit’s Urbanized

Documentarian and director Gary Hustwit has just released a trailer for the upcoming film Urbanized, his third “design” related film after Helvetica and Objectified. If the previous films are anything to go by, this surely won’t disappoint.

Learn more about the film at it’s website here.

Jenny Odell – Satellite Prints (20×200)

Spending hours and hours scanning satellite imagery, Jenny Odell, then isolates boats, farm silos, pools and parking lots and reorganizes them, creating patterns and canvases that from afar look like blobs and dots but up close, reveal a God’s eye view of our manufactured world. Prints of her Satellite series are currently for sale on 20×200.

Visit her profile page and see all the of the series here.

Lizzy Oppenheimer – USA Rest Stops Kickstarter Project

Photographer Lizzy Oppenheimer has recently launched a Kickstarter project aimed at raising funds to continue her documentation of America’s swiftly vanishing highway rest stops. With the budgets of states and towns continually diminishing, these architectural artifacts and pieces of Americana are prone to closures and neglect. Lizzy aims to continue her series of striking images and those who pledge have the opportunity to score beautiful prints and other great works from the ongoing series.

I have such fond memories of my childhood taking epically long roadtrips and stopping at these sometimes strange, but always needed rest stops. To see them slowly erased from our landscape is saddening and hopefully Lizzy can raise enough funds to continue in her efforts to document them.

Visit the Rest Stops of America Kickstarter page here.

 

Personal Work: Bowie Gridley Architects website

In early 2010, while working at Unison, I had the pleasure of working on designs and concepts that would eventually become the new website and online portfolio of Bowie Gridley Architects, based in Washington DC. Recently launched, BGA’s website is a robust and clean window into not only their extensive portfolio but also their process and methodology. Congrats to Unison and their team for another great website!

Visit the BGA site here.

weekly stimuli – vol. 37

Here’s the 37th edition of Weekly Stimuli a weekly installment of visual genius and creativity grabbed from my inspiration archives.

Enjoy the images after the jump.

Lori Nix – The City

The images above are not post-disaster documentary photographs from forgotten or abandoned urban areas, but are instead, tiny dioramas and intricate miniature sets created and then photographed by Lori Nix. Her series, entitled The City, is her most elaborate and pain staking effort to date. Hollowed out churches, destroyed hair salons, overgrown botanical gardens and vacuum showrooms run amuck are just a few of the fantastic scenes she has created.

Visit Lori Nix’s The City series here.

Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner – Kiefer Technic Showroom

Yes, the exterior panels actually move and create a myriad of different appearances. Austria’s Kiefer Technic Showroom designed by Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner was created a couple years ago, but it’s the first time I have seen it. EG+P have apparently made similar projects (according to their all German website), I can’t wait to see something like this in person one day.

Visit Ernst Giselbrecht + Partner’s website here.

(via Design Milk)

weekly stimuli – vol. 34

Here’s the latest installment of Weekly Stimuli – a batch of images from my inspiration archives.

Enjoy the visuals after the jump!