Remember when terrorists stormed the Taj Mahal Palace Hotel in India, killing at least 163 people? During that three-day siege the hotel, a Moorish-Florentine palace that opened in 1903, was ravaged by fires, gunshots and explosions. The roof collapsed, and intricate woodwork was burned away. Paintings by modern Indian masters like Vasudeo S. Gaitonde and Jehangir Sabavala were covered in soot and fungus. The Taj Mahal hotel is an important architectural landmark playing a critical role in supporting and housing Indian art.

Over the last 21 months, the hotel has been gutted and renovated. A group of five specialists spent 10 months restoring nearly 300 pieces of art, working in the Crystal Ballroom, where guests and staff sought refuge during the attack. Today this artwork restoration will be on display.

Newly transformed by Nuno Sottomayor and  Sam Baron, we can see why this Portugalian escape has been re-named Hotel FAVORITA.

photos (c) Pedro Lobo

Hotel FAVORITA

YEKPARE

Yekpare is a story teller to narrate 8500 years’ story of Istanbul. The story has symbols by from Pagans to Roman Empire, from Byzantine Empire to Latin Empire, and finally from Ottoman Empire to today’s Istanbul.

A building which we play on is Haydarpa?a Train Station has brilliant architectural forms. Connection between middle east to west as Istanbul since 1906 was formed by Haydarpa?a. In 50’s; it was a door millions of emigrant. Internal migration triggered chaotic order of Istanbul dialectical daily life scenes. Either its conceptual and political and geographical position or its location’s depth of field to watch the entire show from Kad?köy coast; Yekpare is dramatic as a representation.

First day of the performance is also 47th death day of famous Turkish poet Naz?m Hikmet Ran. We started with his quote:“At Haydarpa?a Train Station, in the spring of 1941, it is three o’clock. Sun, exhaustion and rush lay on the stairs” (from his epic novel Human Landscapes from My Country).

Art Direction & Visuals:
Deniz Kader – Canda? ?i?man

sourced from: Nerdworking

For those of us who have still not gotten over the trauma of learning to read a numbered face-clock in first grade, this sleek, type-based clock by Beirgert & Funk seems like a comforting resolution (although it may not have become useful until 2nd grade advanced reading class). The front panel of this stunning piece is made of polished acrylic glass and the frame, from lacquered wood.

QLOCKTWO makes you pause and allows a different view of time. The typographic front combines the moment with the written word and makes it a statement. „It is half past eight.“

This clock forms a perfect square and seems to hover freely at the wall. A matrix with symmetrically arranged characters constitutes another square in the interior. Some of these characters shine in pure white to form words that describe time. - QLOCKTWO

The front surface is made of polished acrylic glass. The lacquered wooden body supports it by means of eight magnets. That way the front surface can be replaced without visible attachments. There are satin stainless steel or five colours of polished synthetic glass to choose from, each generating contrasts or consistencies in interplay with their surroundings.

When it is activated, the timer sets itself exact to the second and adjusts the brightness of the characters to ambient light. QLOCKTWO is available in several languages, you only need the appropriate front panel.

All colours are each available in german, english, french, italian, dutch, russian, danish, norwegian, swedish, arabic, swiss german, portuguese, catalan and spanish.

In Matthew Palladino ‘s most recent work, surreal-esque renderings come to life in watercolour on cold pressed paper.

I haven’t heard much about anything exciting coming out of the Glasgow art scene in awhile, so I decided to do some digging. The post industrial landscape of the city has always been ideal for an emerging and sustainable art scene that I am delighted to share with you.

Check out this exhibition at the Museum in Glasgow, Scotland by Scottish artist Sophie Cave showing over fifty disembodied human faces that depict a whole range of emotions. Fifty heads in total make up the this stunning installation.

To achieve these images, Susan Burnstine made her own cameras with lenses from plastic, old camera parts and household objects. Twenty cameras in total. The results are absolutely beautiful and refreshing.

www.susanburnstine.com

My night project is building and I’ve added new works to the gallery.
Experimenting with long exposure photography is proving to be an addiction!

www.melissamercier.com

Konoike Tomoko caught my attention with her “Story Series” (2004-2006) of massive paintings presented in reverse order from Chapter Four to Chapter One.

In her recent solo exhibition, entitled “Inter-Traveller,” Konoike discovers the roots of human imagination in the state of mind of a traveler who crosses various borders and travels to the center of the earth, an invisible world that lies at our feet. In addition to some of Konoike’s best-known works featuring her signature creatures, including six-legged wolves, the ball-like faceless creature called “mimio,” leg-only children in red sneakers, and knives flying around the sky, the exhibition will incorporate a large installation comprising new works with sound. It will invite viewers on a trip via the center of the earth to discover the fount of imagination in our everyday world.