Category: Public Art Programs

Environmental Awareness

Plastikophobia Art Installation

By Delphine Hirasuna |

Plastikophobia is a new immersive art installation in Singapore made from 18,000 single-use plastic cups collected from local food markets  to raise public awareness of plastic pollution.  Although beautiful to look at, this art piece is in no way an endorsement to use more plastic.

The art project started when Canadian photographer Benjamin Von Wong and Joshua Goh at the National University of Singapore teamed up with social impact strategist Laura Francois to create an exhibition for the Sustainable Singapore Gallery.  Knowing that Singapore recycled less than 6% of its plastic waste, the team set out to draw attention to plastic pollution by making an art installation from discarded plastic cups.  In a short time, they managed to collect thousands of single-use cups from local merchants and recruited hundreds of volunteers to bring the project to life.  The end result is surreal and lovely, and hopefully disturbing.

In Singapore, plastic waste is reaching crisis proportions.  According to the Singapore Straits Time, plastic waste has increased sevenfold since the 1970s.  The average Singaporean uses and discards about 13 plastic bags a day.  The statistics are equally daunting in other parts of the world.   Studies show that 91% of plastic worldwide does not get recycled.  The toxic chemicals that leach out of plastic have had an alarming impact on the environment and all of its inhabitants.

Like Singapore, other parts of the world are awakening to the harmful effect of plastic. Just last week the EU Parliament banned single-use plastics by 2021.  It’s not just the proliferation of unsightly litter; it’s the toxins that are slowly killing us.  A solution must start with product and packaging designers who have made plastic their favorite “go to” material.

The Plastikophobia exhibit is showing at the Sustainable Singapore Gallery until April 18th.

https://plastikophobia.com

Public Art Programs

Ideas That Matter Recognizes Charity Ball

By Delphine Hirasuna |

“Charity Ball” is one of the many innovative nonprofit programs supported in part by Ideas That Matter, a grants initiative developed by Sappi Fine Paper exclusively for those in the design business. Knowing that designers are frequently asked to donate their services to create promotional campaigns (print and digital) for nonprofit causes, Sappi came up with a grant program to help defray production expenses for public awareness and fund-raising materrials. Since it was founded in 1999, Ideas That Matter has funded more than 500 programs for a total of more than $12 million worldwide for nonprofit programs that benefit communities, the environment, the planet, quality of life and human health. Charity Ball is just one of those programs. July 11th is the deadline for applying for a 2014 Ideas That Matter grant. Read how to apply by clicking on the Sappi Ideas That Matter link in the sponsor’s column at left.

Public Art Programs

Bay Bridge Birthday Lights

By Delphine Hirasuna |

The Bay Bridge, which connects San Francisco to Oakland and the East Bay, has always played second fiddle to the glamorous Golden Gate Bridge. Even though both spans are celebrating their 75th anniversary this year, the drab gray Bay Bridge never stirred the heart the way its flashy orange sister span has. The Golden Gate Bridge’s 75th birthday was commemorated with fireworks, a fancy new visitors’ center, and souvenir trinkets of all kind. On the other side of town, it was business as usual on the Bay Bridge, with some 270,000 vehicles crossing its span daily.

Read More »

Motion Graphics

3-D Mapped Projections Come of Age

By Delphine Hirasuna |

When motion pictures were first introduced in the late 19th century, people were enthralled by the fact that the images actually moved. It didn’t matter that there was no plot, no acting, no attempt to design the set. It was entertaining in itself, until it stopped being a novelty. In many ways, that has been the case when 3-D mapped projected light shows were introduced a few years back. Crowds oohed and aahed over the display of multi-colored lights on a building, the special effects of crumbling pillars and giant silhouettes of people strolling across the exterior walls. It was dazzling, magical. Now people have become blasé. Been there, seen that. The next generation of 3-D mapped projections needs to have a customized theme, a message, and an artistic sensibility.

That’s why we like the projected light show that San Francisco-based Obscura Digital made to mark the United Arab Emirates’s 40th anniversary as an independent nation. Projected onto the façade of the Sheikh Zahed Grand Mosque in Abu Dhabi, the show was designed to suit the occasion, integrating historical themes and cultural motifs with the architectural elements of the mosque. Aladdin’s genie couldn’t have done it better, but in the case of Obscura, it required 44 projectors, totaling 840,000 lumens of brightness, to cover the 600×351 foot surface area of the mosque.

Public Art Programs

Blackpool Comedy Carpet – Good for Laughs

By Delphine Hirasuna |

One of the UK’s largest works of public art, the Comedy Carpet, opened in October on the seaside promenade in front of the renowned Tower in Blackpool. Designed by artist Gordon Young in collaboration with Why Not Associates, the typographic landscape is made up of jokes, songs and catch phrases from more than 1,000 British comedians and writers. Commissioned by the Blackpool County Council to create a piece of installation art, Young determined that “Blackpool occupies a unique and important place in the social history of Britain. Comedy in all its guises is a big part of who and what we are…. Blackpool has been a magnetic chuckle point for the nation.” Young added that he also wanted to maintain the high craft standards of Blackpool’s historic architecture, including the famous Winter Gardens, library and Tower. “

The 2,200 square meter Comedy Carpet was five years in the making. Each piece (over 160,000 letters) was cut from solid granite or cobalt blue concrete, arranged into over 300 slabs and cast into a high-quality concrete so it wouldn’t fade. The Comedy Carpet has become an instant tourist attraction, with visitors walking across the promenade and reading the memorable words of legendary comedians.

Read More »