Urban Play - Sagmeister

I received an email yesterday from Scott Burnham, the curator for Droog Design's Urban Play, an international project that promotes creativity in the public domain. Stephan Sagmeister's typographic installation "obsessions make my life worse and my work better", made out of 250,000 Euro cent coins was removed overnight by the Amsterdam police. While it was anticipated that the installation would be interacted with and portions disturbed and removed over time, the full and swift removal of the installation was unexpected. The story behind the removal is even more unexpected (in Scott's words):

"It seems that the Amsterdam police were called by a resident of one of the overlooking buildings early Sunday morning to report that someone was "stealing an artwork". As the story goes, people were pocketing a few of the coins, which was also expected, but things got a bit out of hand when a resident saw this happening. So the police responded, and, in a rather bizarre instance of police efficiency, they proceeded to "secure" the artwork, by sweeping up the entire installation."

It's a shame that the piece met its end this way.

All photos via Anjens.

Light Calligraphy by Julien Breton

Julien's light calligraphy is simply beautiful. The contrast of the fluidity of movement and the implied control necessary to control the light source is very inspiring. I especially like the image on the left, which shifts out of the two-dimensional and creates a radial space for the writing.

Beijing Olympics Opening Ceremony

In case you missed China's AMAZING opening ceremony for the Olympics on Friday, here are some images of my favorite moments, via Boston.com. London has some big shoes to fill, in my opinion! The New York Times also did a feature on the fashion exhibited at the opening ceremony. I thought that several of the African nations had the nicest costumes, and that most of the western countries had outfits that made them look like airplane stewardesses.

Cai Guo-Quiang: I Want to Believe

I am not normally excited to see what's coming to nyc museums, but the Cai Guo-Quiang: I Want to Believe opening in two days at The Guggenheim looks so interesting that I will make a point to see it.

More than seeing the finished works themselves, I wish I could have seen the month-long installation process of the works. The museum staff documented the process and there are photos and a short video of the process for Inoportune: Stage One . I enjoy these because it reflects the idea that the pieces are part of a whole process and not just a final product. The documentation emphasizes the incredible theatrical nature of the complex installation. If only they had opened to the public during this, it would be far more exciting than the final show.

Photographs by David Heald and Kristopher McKay, Guggenheim Museum Photography Studio

Royal de Luxe

This is an amazing piece of performance art by Royal de Luxe. They built a giant marionette and walked her through various cities. She was controlled with by a crane and attended to by a multitude of lilliputians. I wish I could have seen it live.