The London List: teamLab take over the Pace London gallery with interactive exhibition, ‘Transcending Boundaries’The London List

Posted in Art, London, London List
By Sam Bathe on 3 Feb 2017

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Reminiscent of the iconic Rain Room in Barbican’s The Curve gallery, Transcending Boundaries is a collection of remarkable interactive, digital artworks from Tokyo-based, teamLab. Including eight installations across three rooms in London’s Pace Gallery, the artworks surround visitors, transforming and changing shape as guests move through the space. From a virtual waterfall that flows around your feet, to flowers that bloom across visitors’ clothing, pieces are created in real time depending on how you interact with the gallery space. Exploring the role of digital technology in transcending physical and virtual boundaries, Transcending Boundaries runs until March 11th at Pace Gallery.

Pace London, 6 Burlington Gardens, London, W1S 3ET
www.pacegallery.com/exhibitions/12840/transcending-boundaries

Photographer Sean Lemoine captures California’s rocketry enthusiasts at the Lucerne Dry Lake

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 2 Nov 2016

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After studying crime scene photography at the University of California Riverside, LA-based photographer, Sean Lemoine, used his investigative eye to capture California’s rocketry enthusiasts. Getting together at the Lucerne Dry Lake for an event last June, Lemoine offsets the colourful rockets and larger-than-life crowd against the washed-out, pastel landscapes. Show the rest of this post…

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Check out more of Sean’s work on his site: www.seanlemoine.com

The London List: Artist Liz West creates a stunning rainbow installation for the 2016 Bristol Biennial festival of designThe London List

Posted in Art, London List
By Sam Bathe on 3 Sep 2016

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Part of an on-going series titled Your Colour Perception, visual artist Liz West has created a remarkable immersive light installation for the 2016 Bristol Biennial. Taking over almost an entire floor of The Pithay building, Our Colour is a glorious rainbow tunnel, drenching visitors in colour and light. So vividly recreating the full spectrum of a rainbow, West hopes to question guests; does colour change the way you feel? “I observe that after moving through the space, people often go back to the colour they find most comfortable,” West explains. “They will then stand, sit or lay there for some time to reflect.” Our Colour is part of the 2016 Bristol Biennial and runs until September 10th.

Our Colour at The Pithay, All Saints’ Street, Bristol, BS1 2LZ

Henrik von der Lieth’s video for Mass & Fieber track ‘James Bomb’ is the perfect secret agent title sequence

By Sam Bathe on 30 Aug 2016

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A preview to their play which will open next summer in Zurich, Henrik von der Lieth has created a sumptuous video for Mass & Fieber’s sultry track, James Bomb. Inspired by the James Bond franchise’s iconic title sequences, the music video blends an electric colour palette with course texture and detailing as a secret agent sleuth tracks down a mysterious villain. Releasing an album and performing the music in concert this summer, expect updates about Mass & Fieber’s play, also titled James Bomb, later this year.

Photographer Thom Pierce captures the majestic Lesotho townsfolk in series ‘The Horsemen of Semonkong’

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 19 Aug 2016

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Nestled high up in the Drakensberg mountains, the region of Semonkong, Lesotho, is made up of many small villages, almost entirely inaccessible by car. With villages up to four hours apart, the local population take the routes by horse, to herd, to trade and just go about their daily life. Spending eight days in the region in May 2016, photographer Thom Pierce captures the majestic horsemen and women against the even more astounding Lesotho landscapes. Show the rest of this post…

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Photographers Isabelle Chapuis and Alexis Pichot let off colourful clouds of smoke where you least expect them for series ‘The Blossom Project’

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 18 Jul 2016

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Shot around the globe from Norway to Morocco, photographers Isabelle Chapuis and Alexis Pichot‘s The Blossom Project is a celebration of the earth and its creative potential. Examining the juxtaposition of natural landscapes and an alien presence, The Blossom Project questions the presence of humans in our world, and what the planet would be like without us. Show the rest of this post…

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Photographer Kasper Nyman celebrates his love of shooting hoops with series ‘Cities of Basketball’

Posted in Art, Photography, Sport
By Sam Bathe on 23 Jun 2016

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Shooting basketball courts from around the world, Danish photographer Kasper Nyman juxtaposes the sacred hoop against backdrops from the project blocks to the beach. Finding a commonality instead in the game on-court, his series Cities of Basketball celebrates the sport going back to its routes, and classic pick-up games against friends and fellow locals players. Show the rest of this post…

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Check out the rest of the series on the Cities of Basketball site: www.citiesofbasketball.com

Film Review: Alice Through the Looking Glass

Posted in Film, Illustration, Reviews
By Martin Roberts on 26 May 2016

Alice in Wonderland and Tim Burton seemed like a perfect match of source material and director, but the film that resulted in 2010 was a disappointment – lacking a sense of magic, and ultimately forgettable. Now, six years later, James Bobin (The Muppets) has brought us Alice Through the Looking Glass, a somewhat belated but, as it turns out, not unwelcome sequel. Show the rest of this post…

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This time around, Alice (Mia Wasikowska) must travel back to Wonderland (or ‘Underland’, as it was known in the first film) to try to snap the Mad Hatter (Johnny Depp) out of a depression brought on by an item he found in the forest, which lead to him to believe that his long-lost family, whom he thought dead, may actually be alive. To do this, Alice must employ the power of the Chronosphere, a device that will allow her to travel through time and revisit past events. In order to reach the Chronosphere, however, Alice must cross paths with Time himself, as personified by Sacha Baron Cohen.

The film succeeds where the previous one failed, in that it attempts to actually have a story, and to tell it. Where the first film got bogged down in a rambling mess of CGI, this sequel establishes that things are at stake, and although some of the backstory feels contrived, it is done well enough that the quest feels meaningful, and the finale can muster up some suspense.

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Thankfully, Bobin and screenwriter Linda Woolverton (improving hugely on her screenplay for the first one) give Mia Wasikowska more of a chance to make an impression, so it feels like Alice is actually important beyond people simply talking about her importance. Johnny Depp is still doing his baffling Mad Hatter performance and still treads a fine line between endearing, weird, and just plain annoying, but this time at least has some plot to work with. Most of the rest of the supporting cast return, primarily in tiny cameos, and thankfully Helena Bonham Carter gets to reprise her fun Red Queen role. As Time, Sacha Baron Cohen brings a mix of silliness and surprising weight, and although some of the character’s jokes aren’t really very funny (same goes for his little helpers), the character is well implemented, and his lair has some nice visual touches.

It still all feels a little unfocused and rambling, but this time much less so. There are contrivances in the story and  some of the performances still hover on the annoying side, but this sequel is surprisingly a better effort than its predecessor, with some fun action and inventive visuals to enjoy.

3/5

Christopher Payne’s new photo series, ‘Asylum’, is both haunting and mesmerising in equal measure

Posted in Art, Photography
By Sam Bathe on 9 May 2016

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Traveling to 30 US states to visit 70 mental hospitals, photographer Christopher Payne captures their haunting, eerie atmosphere in his new series, Asylum. As care practices shifted in the mid-20th century, populations of nearly half a million patients in 1948 declined rapidly over the following 30 years, meaning hundreds of insitutions now lie in total decay. Show the rest of this post…

For Christopher Payne, it was a photographer’s dream.

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Check out more of Christopher’s work on his site: www.chrispaynephoto.com

Portuguese llustrator Tiago Galo creates fun, little characters, with a twist in every scene

Posted in Art, Illustration
By Sam Bathe on 3 May 2016

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Learning his trade in small fanzines while finishing a degree in architecture at Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, illustrator Tiago Galo creates little, plump characters, almost ready to take on the Olympics. Always with something else going on, Tiago’s tongue-in-cheek humour in really clever and engaging, with his chunky creations leaping out at you from the screen. Show the rest of this post…

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Check out more of Tiago’s illustrations on his site: www.tiagogalo.com

FAN THE FIRE is a digital magazine about lifestyle and creative culture. Launching back in 2005 as a digital publication about Sony’s PSP handheld games console, we’ve grown and evolved now covering the arts and lifestyle, architecture, design and travel.