Katie Hosmer's Blog – April 2012 Archive (53)

Cathedrals across the globe are always a hot spot for tourists. Generally, the first thing anyone does upon entering one of these monumental sites is to look up and appreciate the incredible size of the space. The vaulted ceilings always have a major wow-factor, and the overall massive architectural detail of a cathedral is just mind-blowing.

American photographer David Stephenson…

RE:site and METALAB teamed up to win this commissioned award from Texas A&M University for an installation in the new Memorial Student Center 12th Man Hall. The team’s success in the competition came from their ability to, “harness the potential of programmable LEDs, remote sensing, parametric design and digital fabrication to create an open ended narrative of the story of the University.”…

When I saw these incredible illustrations by freelance designer David Fuhrer, I was immediately reminded of the mnemonic my teacher taught us in school: My Very Energetic Mother Just Served Us Nine Pizzas. That learning technique helped me to remember the order of the planets in terms of distance from the sun: Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. That was when…

Every person has strengths, flaws, quirks, tendencies, and a variety of life experiences that collectively determine his or her personality. In thinking about this concept, Zurich-based photographer Anna Halm Schudel was inspired to create this collection of portraits—a series of large-format images that are composed of thousands and thousands of tiny images, each only one square…

As many artists know, ‘vanitas’ can be defined as a type of symbolic art, often including symbols like skulls, rotten fruit, hourglasses, and other items related to the brevity of life and the certainty of death. Talk about a downer! However, London-based artist James Hopkins’ series Vanitas is quite a clever, modern take on this still life genre.

The artist uses everyday items like…

In the past, we’ve seen the creative artist duo Herakut as they worked their magic along the streets of Tel Aviv and Los…

Roxy Music: 'Country Life' (1974)



If you are a graphic designer, you will immediately recognize these little squares that represent Pantone swatches in Adobe design software. British artist David Marsh took these functional little squares and turned them into something completely new. Take a step back to get a really good look at the pixilated…

This post is sponsored by Volvo, a company that designs with meaningful purpose to combine the benefits of form plus function, and to enhance your…

L.A.-based photographer Ian Ruhter began his career using film and processing it in a darkroom. As the digital era progressed, the artist felt something was lost. So, he built a giant camera in the back of his van and got back to the basics of photography with an early photographic technique called wet plate collodion processing. The results are spectacular!

The complicated process…

In elementary school, I was completely captivated by the concept of photosynthesis. I did my science fair project on this study of how plants convert carbon dioxide into energy—I mean come on, nature is fascinating! So when I saw this conceptual building idea, I was immediately hooked.

Developed by IAMZ Design Studio and architect Ahmed Elseyofi, World of…

Crete-born photographer George Christakis is a modern day Surrealist. His visual art, generally photo manipulations, includes a collection of haunting photographs that seem to have hidden meanings or don’t quite make sense. A woman balancing on the top edge of a skyscraper, a person floating under a bridge in an umbrella, a man flying a tree as if it were a kite. These are the types…

Lithuanian-born and New York-based artist Zilvinas Kempinas is quite known for his installation pieces involving unspooled videotape and electric fans. This delicate piece, entitled Tube, is an 80-foot long walkway formed by stretched strips of old VHS magnetic tape. (Kind of makes me wonder what was on that tape to begin with). Kempinas forms a thought-provoking environment…

Designer Maarten De Ceulaer’s new furniture design, the Mutation Series, is like a collection of unruly science experiments. The pieces seem to be growing and transforming before our eyes. The Belgian designer will present the work at this year’s Milan Design Week 2012 and says, “I want to use my work to tell stories, to stir people's emotions, to tickle their imagination or to…

The extreme energy of San Francisco-based artist Michael Page pops off of the canvas in all of his paintings. Each creation is a kaleidoscope of colors swirling together to form fascinating mythical narratives. Through an abstract mix of paints and free flowing lines, the glowing lights of otherworldly realities come to life.

Page’s previous work focused more on darker realms…

As a young widow with three kids, my mom had to do it all. She had a fulltime job, she cooked, cleaned, and kept us healthy, she drove us to all of our events and activities, she tried not to kill us when we drove her nuts, and she did it all with incredible strength and flair! For every mom out there, this series called She Can Leap Tall Buildings by photographer Heidi…

Fairytales don’t generally offer much room for interpretation. For the most part, the story involves good triumphing over evil and everyone living happily ever after. However, Liverpool-based designer Rowan Stocks-Moore decided to jazz things up a bit. In this eleven poster series, he captures the essence of Classic Disney films while also offering the…

From a distance, this Sky-catcher wall installation seems to be a simple wave-like pattern filling the walls of the Museum De Paviljoens in Amsterdam. As viewers step closer, a discovery of unimaginable details will blow you away. Artists Jonathan Puckey and Luna Maurer actually took the sky and hung it on the walls.

Years ago, Maurer installed a camera…

It’s tough to deny the cuteness factor of the baby animals found in 22-year-old Dara Scully’s photographs. It’s also tough to tell what’s really going on under the surface of these images, entitled Little Dreamers. In the series, the Spain-based artist features herself as the main character in a fictional, childlike fantasy world where youth and playful escapades…

Book lovers and theatergoers alike, consider planning your next vacation to Argentina to check out this spectacular, one-of-a-kind bookstore built within the old Grand Splendid Theater in Buenos Aires. Located in the neighborhood of Recoleta, the structure originally opened as a theater in May 1919 with all kinds of performances gracing the stage, and then served as a…

It’s incredibly energizing to be in a big city, surrounded by crowds of people, flashing lights, and cars zipping past. It’s a complete sensory overload! Things move quickly, though, and sometimes it can seem like you are caught in a big blur of commotion. In these Cityscapes, photographer Stephanie Jung has developed a way to prolong a single moment of this chaotic excitement,…