Found Art – Page 11

Today’s Pic: Discovering Nature’s Stunning Art Show

August 31, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Praying Mantis captured by Amy Eyrie in Calabasas, California

It’s never about “looking” for the moment — it’s about being receptive to it.

My yoga teacher Amy Eyrie has walked past this iron gate hundreds of times. She passes it every time she teaches a class at our gym. On this day, she noticed something different, and decided to grab her iPhone. She stopped to take the obligatory wide shot to document the occasion, and then realized there was something else going on: Art in the making.

Closing in, Amy saw the two planes of color xanax (left: violet, and right: dusty rose) showcasing the delicate beauty of this insect’s willowy limbs. She zoomed in, and captured this “painting” with perfect composition and line. The color was not altered here. And it may not be coincidence that the mantis’s underbelly matched the deep purple of the gate. It’s the perfect alignment of timing, light, and photographer’s instinct.

I sort of think nature wants us to discover her creative moments. It’s how she can connect with us and earn our respect. We just have to be kind enough to notice.

Today’s Pic: The Hidden Art of Renovation

July 31, 2015 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Cement floor with spray paint guides for electricians and engineers. Midtown Manhattan corporate renovation project.

If you look closely, way cool images just emerge from the floor.

I’m pretty sure the temperature reached close to 8000 degrees in New York this week. The sweat poured off my brow, and my hair stuck stubbornly to my neck. I hated life. Then, on a tour of a construction site in a skyscraper I’ll be working on in midtown Manhattan, I looked down and found reason to smile.

Spray painted markings used to communicate placement of electrical wiring and other conduits that keep a corporate machine on the grid. They could have been rough sketches for a Hieronymus Bosch painting, some secret codes from a tech convention, or a faraway glimpse into the cosmos.

In any case, these images were just waiting to be found; I’m glad they found me. Because suddenly, the brutal heat gave me a break, and I got inspired from the simple act of observation.

Pipes, Pumps and Valves: The Art Of Modern Plumbing

October 31, 2014 by Lonnie Lardner

(Pic #1) Roof drain rain discharge line, Santa Barbara, California

“The only works of art America has given are her plumbing and her bridges.” — Marcel Duchamp (1917)

Lately, I’ve been obsessed with the colorful, clunky metal shapes decorating farm land in Camarillo, California. These forms also appear in basements, maintenance yards, and water treatment plants that no one notices. From Southern Cali to the bowels of turn-of-the-century skyscrapers in NYC, you can find the most elegant, gentle curves serving man’s plumbing needs. Pretty basic stuff. But they are both sculptural and beautiful.

(Pic #2) “Fountain” by Marcel Duchamp (1917)

Perhaps the most famous plumbing fixture in history appeared on the American fine art scene in 1917 – when French conceptual artist Marcel Duchamp submitted a “readymade” porcelain urinal titled, “Fountain” to an exhibition that would ultimately reject the work. (Pic #2)

Duchamp dismissed the assumption that art must be linked to the “craft of the hand” and instead argued that a work of art should be primarily arthritis about the artist’s idea — a contention that became one of the most far-reaching principles of 20th century art.

To me, there is real beauty in these utilitarian objects. Check out the ones we’ve collected below. Heck, I even like the sound of the names assigned these sweet supplies, like: backflow preventers, hose bibs, swivel joints, valve actuators, flush valves, and discharge lines. TMI ?