Elwin Nicholais

My mind is being blown by cheoreographer Elwin Nikolais.












My dancer friend Allison Peacock sent me a link to the video below.

Allison Peacock

LYTHIC
Nikolais Dance Theater.
Directed by Alberto Del Saz.
Performed by Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company


I was immediately entranced, and watched more dances cheorgraphed by Nikolais... This one reminds me of Kraftwerk: mechanical, light-hearted, quirky

Dime in the slot from MECHANICAL ORGAN
Nikolais Dance Theater.
Directed by Alberto Del Saz.
Performed by Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company

Clique from IMAGO

Nikolais Dance Theater.
Directed by Alberto Del Saz.
Performed by Ririe/Woodbury Dance Company

Dani Marti - Extreme weaving created from unexpected materials

While browsing one of my favourite blogs right now, Apartment Therapy, I came across a post about the artist and extreme weaver Dani Marti's Rope patterned cement walls (here's the original post).  I found out that his other works are just as impressive.  

Image from Apartment Theapy.

The following images are from Dani Marti's website.

the pleasure chest, glasgow

second hand necklaces, rosaries, and tubular mesh for mussel farming on wood, 
120 x 120 x 6cm

here's a detail of the piece above.

george polypropylene, nylon and polyester on wood, 200 x 610 x 8 cm

this one looks like it's made from synthetic yellow rope. Here's a detail of the above piece.  

this is made of plastic scouring pads

Pres'Quille

Artist Clare Graham - wonderama

I learned of artist Clare Graham from this Ready for the House blog post, which pointed to an article in LA Times Magazine called Clare Graham: Wonderama.  CG makes elaborate sculptures from recycled materials that he has obsessively collected.  Interestingly, CG classifies his work as craft and not fine art.
Here's a selection from his mission statement posted on his website: 


"Childhood rituals have grown with adult veneers and have turned into a manifestation of obsessive compulsive order. Art has been added as a legitimizing manifestation that allows a semblance of sanity. The collections themselves have become a source of raw material for manipulation. Materials are assembled in vast numbers so that they take on form and substance beyond the single unit appeal."

These are made from "pop tops" (as CG called them on his website).  Otherwise known as pop tabs. 

These are made from beer bottle caps.  I love the rope-like quality of these ones.

CG is originally from Atikokan, Ontario.