Inio Asano

Inio Asano is a Japanese manga author, who is best known for creating character driven, realist stories. His work is widely appreciated in Japan, one of Japan's national newspapers “Yomiuri Shimbun” called him the voice of his generation. My reason for picking a page from his manga Oyasumi punpun was both the beautiful and unique art, and the engaging story behind it.

            Manga is a form of sequential art, a narrative made up of images and presented in sequence. It uses drawings, dialogue, monologue and narration to tell a story. These parts of the manga cannot be separated, each builds on the others to deliver the story in a way that is unique to this medium. Inio's work has seen huge success, one of his manga (Solanin) even received a film adaptation.

            One of the main characteristics of Inio Asano's work, realism, can be seen in both his drawings and his stories. In Oyasumi Punpun, he doesn't try to beautify the characters beyond what a normal human child should look like, and the story talks about the dark aspects of growing up instead of being nostalgic about childhood. In the picture this reflects well, apart from the one odd cartoonish character, who is the main character of the manga, and since the story is presented from a 1st person perspective, the author chose to draw the “self image” of the character, instead of his physical form.      Levente Tibor Szabó

Csurák Erzsébet

Erzsébet Csurák, the painter of this work of art, is a contemporary Hungarian silk-dyer.

Art has played a huge role in her life since her youth: she won several drawing competitions, she regularly attended to an art camp in Tokaj, where she was influenced by the spiritual atmosphere, gained powerful experiences, and met Zoltán Lantos, who made a big impression on her, and on her latest outlook. She graduated and became a drawing-teacher. At this time, she preferred water-colour painting and graphics. She moved to Győr, and started to organize the cultural life of the city. Later on, she became acquainted with silk-painting and pursued silk-painting studies in Vienna. In 2010 she had her first independent exhibition.

This is a 90 cm wide and long painting, painted in 2014. The title in English translation would be: Rope-dancing above the town. It was painted with gutta technique, by which it is meant that the artist sets off the contours, so it is a contouring technique. The first step of the painting process is to draw the contours with a contouring material, and the second is already to paint the picture itself. The function of this technique is to separate the colours and the forms, but sometimes it can also merge them into one another, as the artist chooses. The technique requires the painter to be quick, as the paint dries fast, keeping the artist from changing anything, like putting another coat of paint on the painting (she could only paint on the light parts with dark colours).

At first sight, it is a very colorful painting, and it usually makes people happy, but it also seems a little bit complex. It is difficult to say what you see immediately because you might see many things, thoughts come into your mind one after the other, wondering, what it is about. Some might consider it a problem, but others like it exactly for this reason, because it is thought-provoking.

Personally, I divided the painting into parts, and started to think about them individually, and then, surprisingly the thoughts meet with each other and become one. Firstly, as I see it, the town, which occupies the most part of the work, is one big section. The town is carefully elaborated, the windows and the railings are distinctly visible, and it makes the impression that it is a busy town with life in it, though there are no people. It is possibly the colours and the contours, which set off everything make me feel like that. Secondly, when I look at the work, I see a line what separates two sections, and because of the title, it would be the rope. So the second, upper section is the ”above town part” for me, and here I can already see some real life, people appear. The little creature on the left, what I consider as a dog, is important for me, because the dog is a returning figure of my dreams, and I usually can not decide about these dreams, in which a dog appears, whether they are good or bad, because it often changes during my dream, so somehow I feel, if two worlds were merged into one another. And if I project this feeling to the girl, standing, or dancing on the rope, I have a similar feeling. Dancing on a rope seems dangerous, even if someone is skilled. It arises the question, will the girl fall down? What I feel is uncertainty, and the variety of outcomes. If the girl falls down, then the town swallows her and she disappears in the chaos, gets into a world where she may never escape from. On the other hand, she has a chance to keep the balance and succesfully walk through the rope, and get to the people. I also imagined, that she suddenly takes a jump and disappears from the picture, because outside it, another incomprehensible world exists, where she wants to go, because she feels that she does not fit anywhere, and that is probably the risk of dancing on the rope makes me feel that. Like everything was possible, everything could happen, but it is never sure, what really would, like in a dream... This a strong connection between my dreams and the girl, because they both express uncertainty for me. Moreover, a human being could be discovered on the left in a meditation posture. Meditation is a condition, when the person's body is physically in the real world, but his mind is somewhere else, in an undefined place, and connecting this to the two figures (dog and the girl) referred to above, it is the third element in connection with uncertainty, being between or in two worlds at the same time. This painting tells a lot of stories, but I believe, that everyone has their personal interpretation about it, as we all have our own imagination.

I chose this painting, because I personally know the artist, and was lucky to play at her exhibition once. Her paintings deeply affected me, so when I found out that I have to give  presentation about a work of art, I knew that I want to talk about one of her paintings. Fűr Veronika

Paul Gaugin (1848-1903)

Nafea Faa Ipoipo (When will you marry?), 1892

Oil on canvas, 102x78 cm.

Location unknown

When will you marry? is a masterpiece by the French Post-impressionist artist, Paul Gauguin. It is an oil painting from 1892 , which nowadays has become the most expensive artwork ever. It was sold privately by the family of Rudolf Strechelin for the highest price ever paid, 300 million dollars.

Eugène Henri Paul Gaugin , who was underappreciated until after his death, is now recognized for his experimental use of color and synthetist style that were distinctly different from Impressionism. His work was influential to the French "avant-garde" and many artist such as Pablo Picasso and Henrri Matisse.

He was an important figure in the symbolist movement .

In the artwork of "When will you marry?" we can easily see how Gauguin paints a beautiful landscape and how he plays with colorful and vibrant colors and with light. (Which is one of the most important characteristic of his movement , where artists started to paint nature , landscapes and "real life".)

The artwork was created when Gaugin travelled to Tahiti. He was looking for "an edenic paradise" where he could create pure and primitive art. He wanted to show the culture of Tahitian people and he wanted to escape from the European society.

The painting is colorful , a combination of vibrant yellows, blues, reds, and greens.

Two Tahitian women sit on the ground, with a diverse landscape of trees, water and mountains behind them.

I would like to focus the attention on the position of their flowers. In the Tahitian culture if the flower is on the right ear , you are single and open to love and if it is on the left, you are married . The Tahitian girls got married as soon as possible because it was a privilege for them and their families.

Also the clothes give us a clue of their traditions. The girl who is married wears more striking clothes than the other, which may denote freedom.

To sum up, married girls had more privileges and freedom and they received more respect and it denoted that girls were healthy to have a family than singles girls. Guadalupe Costan

Kiss Viktor (1993-)

Joker

Pencil on paper, A4.

Kis Viktor was born in Hungary in 1993, and considering the fact that he is still alive he is a really talented contemporary artist. He currently lives in Törökszentmiklós, a little town near the capital. He started drawing a few years ago and since that time he has improved a lot both in skills and technique. I first met him at the airport where we worked together and I would not have thought that he was so talented. Work isn’t always bad, I’m really thankful that I could meet him and we  became friends, even if he is not my colleague now.

Although it was not long ago that he got into this business he improved a lot throughout the years. His work of arts were/are drawn with pencil mostly, but he has used pen and felt-tip pen as well. Now he is digging deeper and deeper into colour pencil portraits which is not so easy according to him. He has a facebook page where you can easily find his works, and an instagram page as well if you are interested in his art.

https://www.facebook.com/KV_Art-201213776669073/?fref=ts

Instagram: @kis_viktor_

Joker is the biggest enemy of Batman, who is one of the most important characters of the DC universe. An interesting fact about these 2 inhabitants of Gotham city is that neither of them have super power, but both of them are the most dangerous superheros/villains of DC. Although they are similar they are the opposites of each other at the same time. This drawing is of Heath Ledger from Nolan’s movie. The origin of the scars on his face are mysterious because there are many possible theories about their genesis. One of them is that Joker’s father was a drinker who beat his mother one night in front of little Joker and he got shocked. Then his father cut him a smile to make him happy. The other version is something similar. He had a gorgeous girlfriend who had an accident which made her face ugly. Joker didn’t want her to feel uncomfortable so he put a blade in his mouth.

This drawing of Joker that I chose is one of my favourites. Not just because of the impressive emotions which can be found on the face but of the detailed parts like the wrinkles around the eyes and his mouth. This picture’s size is A/4 and it was originally made to decorate a motorbike, so Viktor had to do it digitally too. It was drawn with colour pencils only and it took him around 8 hours to make it. He needed to mix the different colours to achieve this amazing colorful mixture. He uses 10 different shades of blue and purple for instance. Maybe all of us look at the eyes at first sight and he managed to draw them the most eye-catching parts of the picture. Sándor Cintia

Jules Lenepveu (1819-1896)

Joan of Arc in Armour before Orleans

This heroic depiction of Joan of Arc exists thanks to the hard work of the neoclassicist painter Jules Eugene Lenepveu who worked on this image as a part of the historical story of Joan. Born in Angers in 1819, Lenepveu was a dedicated student in the École des Beaux-Arts, where he became the pupil of the famous French painter François-Édouard Picot. Dedicating his life to arts he later enrolled into the École Nationale and after winning the Prix de Rome he travelled to the famous city to finish his studies. He later became well known after the world witnessed his gigantic historical paintings, just like the Joan of Arc picture in question. A series of historical paintings, these works of art were commissioned by the Pantheon de' Paris in 1886: Lenepveu was tasked to create The Joan Wall, which he managed to finish in four years time. The esteemed artist passed away eight years later in 1898 in Paris.

This particular painting and its pairs are often mistaken for frescos or a murals but this was not the case: the 15'2" tall paintings are indeed made by oil painted on a massive canvas which was then attached to the back of the wall with the so called 'marouflage' technique used in the late 19th century. As was mentioned before, the serious of paintings arecall the heroic deeds of the national heroine Joan of Arc, who lead the French to victory in the battle of Orleans only to be later burned to death after she was branded a heretic. To her honor was this Wall erected and through Lenepveu's work we can retell the tale of the girl with divine convictions who changed the tide of war and the fate of the French in a heroic struggle.

The reason why I chose the work is twofold: first and foremost my love and fascination towards the medieval history made this piece of art a wonderful candidate, especially because I am drawn to knights and chivalry. This is, however, where my second interest came in: seeing a female knight in an age when women were generally oppressed and considered as nothing but valuable items creates a great contrast and a belief in freedom, the freedom that anyone can achieve. The painting does not only depict one heroic act for me: it shows me the infinite possibilities one can become, the destiny that must be forged by ourselves. The tale of Joan of Arc is not only a tale of glory and tragedy but is also a lesson to us all: it matters not whether we are young or old, male or female for we are the shapers and forgers of our fate. Such freedom and goals do not come easily, one must be prepared to work hard for them - but in the end if we push onward with all our hearts we will lead ourselves into glory. Krisár Péter

Sources:

https://crowcanyonjournal.wordpress.com/2014/07/10/paris-2014-the-pantheons-story-of-joan-of-arc/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jules_Eug%C3%A8ne_Lenepveu

René Magritte (1898-1967)

The Castle in the Pyrenees, 1959

Oil on canvas, 150x200cm

Jerusalem Museum, Israel

The original title of the piece is ‘Le chateau des Pyrénées’ and it is by René  Magritte, a Belgian surrealist painter. He lived from 1898 to 1967 and he painted this picture in 1959. It is an oil painting, 150x200 cm and it can be visited in the Jerusalem Museum in Israel.

Magritte always created thought-provoking pictures, placing ordinary images into unusual situations. He created a disturbing atmosphere in his images but he claimed that he only wanted to fascinate with them. He wanted to capture mystery in his paintings and he stated that mystery needs no explanation;that is why his paintings need no explanation either. So in spite of what he said about his works being purely for entertainment, I think there are some hidden meaning in this image, a message to the audience. For me, this oeuvre represents the unreachable hopes and wishes, the feeling of daydreaming.

The title refers to the idiom ‘castles in the air’, which means the hopes, which have very little chance of happening. Magritte borrowed the title from a gothic novel with a strange atmosphere, which was a favorite book of his friend, Henry Torczyner, who commissioned the painting. This picture shows a castle in the air as well. The rock is unreachable from the ground; it is isolated from everything, making it impossible to get to the top of it to the castle. It has a mysterious atmosphere just like in dream, where even a huge rock can levitate above the sea. The image is controversial as in my opinion it depends on your mood whether you find it scary or beautiful. It is the same with your dreams, they may seem hard to reach but if you are in a good mood you can feel that everything is possible. Bedő Anikó

Steve McCurry

Sharbat Gula, 1985

I was eager to present something special, and suddenly I recalled this rapier glance of the aquamarine eyes … After that I did not hesitate anymore what to talk about. My 2D presentation was dedicated to the most recognizable photograph in the world today – Sharbat Gula, was taken by Steve McCurry.

Steve McCurry is considered to be one of the most outstanding documentary image-makers of the present. The heroes of all his shots are filled with strong emotions, from joy to hatred.

McCurry is the recipient of numerous awards, including Magazine Photographer of the Year, awarded by the National Press Photographers Association. This was the same year in which he won an unprecedented four first prizes in the World Press Photo contest. He has won the Olivier Rebbot Award twice.

Steve McCurry has covered many areas of international and civil conflict, including Beirut, Cambodia, the Philippines, the Gulf War, the former Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, and Tibet. He focuses on the human consequences of war, not only showing what war impresses on the landscape, but rather, on the human face.

This is how McCurry describes his shots: "What is important to my work is the individual picture. I photograph stories on assignment, and of course they have to be put together coherently. But what matters most is that each picture stands on its own, with its own place and feeling."

Speaking about his photo “Sharbat Gula”, it is necessary to mention the following things. A girl with the beautiful name Sharbat Gula that later was called “Afgan Mona Lisa” was 12 years old when she was photographed in a refugee camp in Pakistan, in December 1984. She appeared on an iconic cover of National Geographic magazine in June 1985 and immediately became world famous. The haunting image of the green-eyed girl became an international symbol of refugees and of political and social unrest in the region. The girl that was the epitome of innocence and defenselessness, sank down into the soul of millions. Each day Steve McCurry had been receiving letters from people from all over the world with offers to send money to the girl, adopt her or even marry her; that is why the photographer decided to set up an expedition to find Sharbat Gula. Finally, he found her in 2002, and the world learned of how much she had changed and endured over the ensuing years. What is curious, “Afgan Mona Lisa” had no idea about her incredible popularity.

While looking at this photo, it seems that all the conditions were specially created for taking such a wonderful picture because everything is perfect and harmonic in it.

And yes, I would definitely hang this photo on the wall of my house!  Viktoriia Evdakova

Emma Sulkowicz (1992-)

Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight) was a senior thesis performance carried out by Emma Sulkowicz, a student of Columbia University in New York City. The story of this endurance performance piece began in 2012 when Sulkowicz alleges she was raped in her dorm room. The student she accused was found not responsible in 2013 by a university inquiry into the allegations. This sparked a fire in Sulkowiczes heart and as soon as the spring semester in 2014 began, she started carrying her dorm room mattress with her where ever she went. She vowed to do this until her rapist was expelled from or left the university. She ended up having to carry that weight all the way into her graduation ceremony; with her rapist never facing any real consequences for his actions. What sparked my interest in this piece was her perseverance and strength. She was strong enough to not only speak about the traumatic experience that happened to her, but literally carry it with her every step she took, showing the world that justice was not carried out. And instead of getting depressed and locking herself into a room she was strong enough to continue living her life and showing everyone who was in a similar situation that you can pick up the pieces yourself and keep on going no matter what. What struck me the most from this piece is the fact that she wasn't ridiculed and laughed at, but people started helping her carry the weight every time they saw her struggling to carry it by herself, showing the beauty of humanity. Dora Ordanić

Denisovskii, Sokolov-Skalya, Lebedev-Kumach

Stencil

1601 x 1231 mm

I’m proud that the pen has been equated to the bayonet,
And among other weaponry in the battle
The Bolshevik’s burning word
Helps to inflict a blow against the enemy.
Maiakovskii! Realizing your dream,
Both poet and artist are at their post.
Verse and prose, drawings and vibrant posters
Tirelessly and menacingly massacre the enemy!

As this is a propaganda poster with a poem written on it, the picture is affiliated with more than one artist, namely three (two draughtsmen, and one writer).

Nikolai Fedorovich Denisovskii (born Moscow 1901; died Moscow, 1981) was one of the founders of TASS, and served as its director from 1941 to 1946. During this period, he designed approximately forty posters for the studio. In 1962 he was awarded the title People’s Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Pavel Sokolov-Skalya (born Strel'nia, 1899; died Moscow, 1961) served as the artistic director of the TASS studio during the Second World War. One of the most prolific artists working for TASS, he designed approximately 200 posters for the studio between June 1941 and November 1946. Sokolov-Skalia was twice awarded the Stalin Prize (1942 and 1949). In 1956 he was given the honorific title People’s Artist of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.

Vasilii Ivanovich Lebedev-Kumach (born Moscow, 1898; died Moscow, 1949) was a soviet poet and lyricist. His “Song of the Motherland,” written with Isaak Dunaevskii, was adopted as the unofficial anthem of the Soviet Union until 1943. In 1941 his songs won him a Stalin Prize. In June 1941 he published “Holy War,” which quickly became one of the anthems of World War II. A member of the Communist Party from 1939, the writer was a deputy to the Supreme Soviet. He also served as a naval officer during the war, while writing songs and poems for the daily press, satirical magazines, and the TASS studio.

The TASS studio was mentioned in all three of these short biographies. The TASS News Agency (Informatsionnoye agentstvo Rossii TASS) was, and still is, Russia's largest news agency, owned by the government. The original agency was formed in 1902, which later (July 1925) became TASS. After the Operation Barbarossa commenced in June 1941, a number of artists joined forces under the auspices of TASS, and started producing propaganda posters to bolster and keep up the morale of the Russian citizenry. These artists, despite the brutal totalitarian regime of Stalin, fully committed themselves to the defense of the Motherland. Halmai Attila

Johannes Johannes Vermeer

Girl with a Pearl Earring,1665

Oil on canvas, 44.5x39cm

Mauritshuis Royal Picture Gallery, The Hague, Netherlands

Nicknamed the "Mona Lisa of the North", this beautiful painting - one of the most famous Baroque portraits - shows that, in addition to his mastery of Dutch Realist genre painting, Johannes Vermeer was also a master portraitist.

The composition of Girl with a Pearl Earring is delightfully simple. Unlike most of the other paintings by the Delft master, the subject here is only a simple head of a girl looking over her shoulder at the viewer. No hint of a setting is provided, other than its atmospherically dark tone. This too is unusual for the mature Vermeer. The unusually direct contact between subject and spectator, and the slightly parted position of the lips, presents a sense of immediacy so great as to imply significant intimacy. The girl is wearing a simple brownish-yellow top, which contrasts strongly with her bright white collar. A further contrast is offered by her blue and yellow or turban (or chaperon) which gives the picture a distinctly exotic effect.

The final but most noticeable feature of this picture is the girl's enormous, tear-shaped pearl earring. A similar item of jewellery can be seen in A Woman Brought a Letter by a Maid (aka Lady with Her Maidservant) (c.1667, Frick Collection, New York). This pearl earring, possibly along with the girl's turban, may unlock the meaning of the painting. Varga Timea

http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/famous-paintings/girl-with-pearl-earring.htm

Andy Warhol

Male Nudes

Polaroid prints

Andy Warhol (born as Andrew Warhola) was born on August 6, 1928 and died on February 22. 1987. He was an American artist and was leading the pop art movement. His works explore the connection between artistic expression, celebrity culture, and advertisement.

It is very important to mention that he was gay. He said in one of his last interviews that he was still a virgin, but there are some facts which show it is not true (ex-lovers, sexually transmitted diseases).

As you can see, I choose one of his great art pieces, from the Male Nudes collection. The reason I choose it is quite complex. First of all, I like everything about human bodies. The shapes, shadows, the structure of the body, muscles etc. in this picture you can see a perfect male body with every single detail on it. Second of all, I do like controversial art pieces. They always make me feel confident and brave. I always think that if someone is brave enough to exhibit a controversial topic and just doesn’t care about the negative opinions then why shouldn't they do that? It just gives me power to make what I truly want.

All in all, Andy Warhol is still one of the biggest artists in my life and he did make a huge impact on me and my life. To end up the short summary about the polaroid, I’d like to include my all-time favorite quotation by him: 

"Other people can change their attitude, but not me.” (Andy Warhol) Patrik Sebestyen

Gian Lorenzo Bernini

The Rape of Proserpina, 1621-2

Gian Lorenzo Bernini was an Italian artist, who was perhaps the greatest sculptor of the 17th century and an outstanding architect as well. It is said that Bernini created the Baroque style of sculpture .

The Rape of Proserpina is a large Baroque marble sculptural group, executed between 1621 and 1622. Bernini was only 23 years old when he made it.

This sculpture was made for Cardinal Scipione Borghese  who was the paton of Bernini.

Borghese gave the opportunity to expand Bernini´s art and he helped him get established as an Italian sculptor and architect of this era. Bernini created many sculptures to define Cardinal Borguese’s taste in Baroque.

Proserpina is an ancient goddess from the story, Myth of Springtime.  She is the daughter of Ceres and Jupiter.  In this sculpture Proserpina is being abducted by her uncle, Pluto.

Pluto wants Proserpina to marry him and live with him in Hades.He wants Proserpina to be the queen of the Underworld.

This sculpture represents Proserpina’s fight against Pluto.  Bernini shows us the agony Proserpina feels.  He carved marble tears on her face. The tears look like they are literally dripping down her face. He shows Proserpina’s lips, slightly opened, as if she were screaming and begging for help.

 Behind Proserpina and Pluto, Bernini included Cerberus, a three headed dog. The Cerberus is the guard dog for the Underworld, only allowing the dead to enter but never allowing them to leave.  Cerberus is barking and you can see every detail on it.

The hands of Pluto wrapped around Proserpina gives the impression that his fingers are digging into her soft flesh. Bernini paid a lot of attention to the details; you can see that on Pluto’s muscles in his back,  the tears on Proserpina’s face, and the wind blowing her hair.

Bernini integrated fabulous detail in these figures, enough to make one forget he was even using stone and not soft material to create it. Bernini makes his sculpture appear to be as soft as the human body.

“The Rape of Proserpina” shows beautifully what a master Bernini was with stone. Costan Guadalupe

Boat

Playa de la Malvarossa, Valencia, Spain

This fountain represents a boat. It is called the Water Boat Fountain, in Spanish Fuente del Barco de Agua. The fountain is located at Playa de la Malvarossa in Valencia, Spain. There are similar fountains, for instance, in Portugal or in Israel, but they may not be as popular as this one. What is special about this fountain, is that it is very close to the water, and it gives the impression that it is already in it, so people may feel that they are sailing on the sea, while they are walking on the promenade, and looking at it. On the other hand, that is what is strange about the fountain, that the boat is not in the sea, though it is meant to be there.

 The structure of the boat is quite simple: there is a skeleton, probably made of some kind of metal, but I could not find any information about this, or about the designer. In itself, it may not attract the attention of a passer-by, though the shape of the boat is really beautiful, but the water makes it indisputably special. The skeleton spurts out water, "filling” the hull and the sail with water-drops, but as I discovered, the sail does not always operates. Though the fountain is not very complicated, as the water jets, it creates a calming effect for me, that is what fountains usually do. As I see, the splashing of the water and the view of the fountain calm people down.

I chose the Boat Fountain, because I found pictures of different fountains in my brother's old papers by chance, and as I regularly go boating with my father in the summer, it immediately aroused my interest. Fűr Veronika

Chichester Cross, c.1500

West Sussex, England

Chichester’s Market Cross is in a very cozy and old-fashioned city called Chichester. It is located very close to the sea, so you can hear and see the seagulls all over the town everywhere. If you go to West Sussex in South-East England I recommend you to visit this place. When you enter the town at first you can see a huge cathedral. Not far from it in the middle, where all the four main streets cross each other stands this monument, the Cross. It is a very popular meeting plot surrounded with several shops. In the 16th century this Cross provided a covered market place for the traders. It is believed to have been built in 1501 by Bishop Edward Story, who gave 10 pounds to the Mayor of Chichester for the ground on which it is built.

The material of this amazing building is Caen stone and it was built in late Gothic style. Until 1746 the clock on the cross was square but later it was replaced by 4 new round-shaped ones. The monument itself is an open arcaded octagon with buttress piers at the angles terminating in finials carrying iron standards. Carvings are placed on every side including 2 wide mouthed gargoyles, a winged monster, a sea horse, a goat, a double headed eagle, a stallion, a sheep, a salmon, a deer, a camel, a winged lion and last but not least a wyvern, which is a winged two-legged dragon with a barbed tail. Sándor Cintia

Bori Kereszturi

Selfie Coat

In this photo you can see one of the best art pieces I've ever seen in my life. The long selfie coat. 

It was designed by a young, Hungarian feminist girl, Bori Kereszturi. She studies at the New York University, majoring in Studio Art. 

She's very passionate about everything in connection with women and fashion. Her main goal is to empower women in the form of fashion and encourage women to dress for themselves. She said that "The way you dress has a huge effect on how people treat you." Her style is definitely unique, she just described it like "BORI". There is no other way to describe it. She also wants to make an impact on young women. Currently she's working on establishing her own brand. It's going to be affordable, eco-friendly, in addition, she wants women to feel the same way she does when she gets dressed. When she's wearing this coat she's in control of her own body and herself and feels empowered. It's the so called self-awareness; she wants every woman to understand this feeling. Her inspiration is New York City, people can voice their opinion there, because the city just makes everybody feel brave. According to her, fashion is somebody's personal style, and however you personally choose to present yourself in the world. Patrik Sebestyen

Venetian Mask

The famous Venetian mask is not something that needs to be introduced to lovers of festivals. A traditional item stemming originally from the Comedia dell'arte, the mask became something that was used on an everyday basis by the denizens of Venice for long centuries. Whether just concealing the wearer, hiding away his or her social standing or to show off the wealth and beauty during a carnival the colorful masks were used very frequently until the 18th century regulations. At the start of the 1700s they were restricted to be of religious use and for carnivals - the everyday use became heavily limited due to various reasons the government did not want to deal with. Later, towards the end of the 18th century, this restriction became stricter and the masks may only be worn for three months counting from the 26th of December. Still, celebrations and other social events required the partakers to use such fabulous accessories - and so the people did that with pride.

Though the main attraction and the most often recognized face covers are the 'Bauta' masks (such as the one on the picture here) many variations do exist. The aforementioned mask is from the full face covering type which was generally used by almost everyone, either for pure concealment or for various events. This, however, was not the one for the robbers and thugs to use since it was officially prohibited to wield a weapon when wearing a mask like this.

Perhaps the most famous other two types of masks are the 'Columbina' and the 'Plague Doctor' masks respectively. The former half-face mask was popularized by early actresses in the Comedia dell'arta who claimed that they did not want their beautiful face to be fully covered. To compensate for this, these were much more elegant and beautiful in color schemes and ornaments and were either tied to the head of the wearer by a ribbon or by holding up a baton in events like social gatherings of the nobility.

The 'Plague Doctor' mask has a much more macabre tale since originally it had neither the purpose nor the aspiration to be worn in carnivals. The pale white disguise, as its name implies, was used by doctors during the plague epidemic, believing that it would grant them protection from lethal diseases. Nowadays the masks are far more ornamented and actually have decorative color on them. The most notable subtype of these masks were the 'Beak Doctor' ones with a bird like design.

Of course these three 'main' masks are not the only ones which people favored. Various, other designs were present throughout the history of Venice: the 'Volto' , larva or ghost mask which was similar to Bauta was used quite frequently, the 'Moretta', mute maid mask was for the shyer people or perhaps for servants who had to hold the mask tight to their face by biting on a button or a bit but were enhanced by their mysterious aura and beauty they radiated. Others like 'Scaramuccia', a roughish adventurer or 'Pulcinella' a crooked nosed hunchback person were more of an indication of social standing and were worn by people who either identified as somebody from that class or just wanted deception to be their veil and ally.

The end of the 18th century sadly brought an end to the endless carnivals and celebrations when in 1797 Venice became a part of Lombardy-Venetia as a result of the Austrian occupation and in the next year the carnivals were put to halt, drowning out the merry voices of celebration with deafening silence for a long while. Nowadays the carnivals are held annually and many people visit it to enjoy themselves and to purchase souvenirs from the majestic city. Knowing Venice's current plight it is questionable how long will these exquisite events be held... but until the day comes that the hungry waves swallow the streets of the legendary city one should definitely visit it at least once... and join the faceless crowd of masking celebrants. Krisár Péter Attila 

http://themascherade.com/contents/en-us/d5_Page_5.html

Kiyevskaya Station

Moscow Metro

The Moscow metro is a rapid transit system serving Moscow, Russia. The first line was opened in 1935. The Moscow metro is an extravagant underworld featuring Art Deco styling, baroque plasterwork, marble columns, elaborate chandeliers, stained glass and ceiling mosaics. On the Moscow Metro, taking the subway is akin to walking through a national heritage site.

One of the most outstanding stations is Kiyevskaya, it is situated on line 5 (Koltsevaya line), The design for the station was chosen in an open competition held in Ukraine; the entry submitted by the team of E. I. Katonin, V. K. Skugarev, and G. E. Golubev was chosen as the final design.        

Kievskaya features low, square pylons faced with white marble. The station's large mosaics celebrate Russo-Ukrainian unity. Both the mosaics and the arches between the pylons are edged with an elaborate gold-colored trim. At the end of the platform is a portrait of Vladimir Lenin. Levente Tibor Szabó

Alexander McQueen (1969-2010)

Decaying Dress, 2007

This piece is the exquisite work of the late Alexander McQueen's Sarabande collection for Spring/Summer 2007. It is called the Decaying Dress. What is so unique about this piece of both clothing and art is that it is changing every single day right before our eyes. McQueen stated in an interview with Harper's Bazaar that his mood at the time he was making the collection was darkly romantic, which is best visible in this dress. It is made out of flowers, some of which real and some made out of silk. So even as the model wore it to the runway the dress was changing, with tiny little petals falling out of it as it sways and moves across the runway. Most of us can only imagine the experience the audience had on that day. Imagine coming to a fashion show and suddenly having a model come out in something that reminds all of your senses of spring, something that changes, even if just a tiny bit, every time it moves. Imagine how that dress looks today, 9 years since its making, a great many of its parts forever gone, some of it rotting away, and some of it slowly losing all smoothness and color, leaving what once was a gorgeous representation of spring and all of its beauty decayed and deformed in a way that is still breathtakingly beautiful enough to stand in a museum where people can gaze at the creation of a true artistic genius of our time.  Dora Ordanić

Alexander Milov

Love, 2015

Burning Man Festival, Nevada

There were thousands of beautiful works of art at this year’s Burning Man festival in Nevada, but there’s one that really caught people’s eyes and invited them to interpret its meaning. ‘Love,’ by Ukrainian sculptor Alexander Milov, features two wire-frame adults sitting back to back with their inner children reaching out to each other from within. At night, the inner children lit up as well.

You’re free to come to your own conclusions about the piece’s meaning (and share them with us in the comments), but here’s what Milov wrote about the piece on the festival’s website: “It demonstrates a conflict between a man and a woman as well as the outer and inner expression of human nature. Their inner selves are executed in the form of transparent children, who are holding out their hands through the grating. As it’s getting dark (night falls) the children chart to shine. This shining is a symbol of purity and sincerity that brings people together and gives a chance of making up when the dark time arrives.”

The beautiful message it sends isn’t the only reason why this work is so important – it’s also the first time that a Ukrainian artist received a Burning Man grant to create his art. Varga Timea

http://www.boredpanda.com/burning-man-festival-adults-babies-love-aleksandr-milov-ukraine/

Moai, 1250-1500 AD

Easter Island

Carved stone

Everything mysterious has always attracted me, and again I wanted to tell the audience some words about an artwork that has haunted the minds of many people. I opted for Moai statues.

887 giant human figures carved by the Rapa Nui  between the years 1250 and 1500 A.D., are located at the Easter Island, the most isolated inhabited land in the world (1900 km from the nearest destination).

The stone blocks, carved into head-and-torso figures, average 13 feet (4 meters) tall and 14 tons. The effort to construct these monuments and move them around the island must have been considerable—but no one knows exactly why the Rapa Nui people undertook such a task. Many archaeologists suppose that moai symbolized authority and power, both religious and political. But they were not only symbols. To the people who erected and used them, they were actual repositories of sacred spirit. And, probably, the reason of Rapa Nui locals’ disappearance because they used cut-down trees as a tool for movement of the statues, and, finally, deforested the island. However, there is no written and little oral historical evidence so the only thing we can do is to do some more thinking about what we have already known.

In my point of view, disappeared authors of silent moai statues left us a sort of message: we should take into consideration possible consequences of our heavy activity, and not let it kill us.

Well, it would be complicated to hang this artwork on the wall. However, I would like to hang with pleasure a collage consisting of small pieces of photos with moai that were taken from one angle, but at different time of day. Viktoriia Evdakova

Damian Nenow

Paths of Hate, 2010

Animated movie

Paths of Hate is a 2010 short animated movie directed brought to life by Polish animator Damian Nenow. The actual animation features two unnamed, fictional World War II pilots. They are dogfighting for hours, and completely lose their humanity in the process. The intended message of the animation is first and foremost, that war can twist people so much, that complete strangers can go to the harshest extremes just to hurt each other. Halmai Attila

http://www.platigeshorts.com/paths-of-hate.html

Tanah Lot Temple,

Bali

Bali is called ’the island of thousand temples’ but there are only seven sea temples around the Balinese shores. The Tanah Lot Temple is the most popular among them as it is very beautiful, especially in the sunset.

The Balinese name for the island is Pura Tanah Lot. Pura means temple and tanah lot means sea and land so the name refers to the illusion of how the small island floats in the middle of the sea. The island is made of volcanic black rock and there is a small temple on it, which was built in the 16th century by a Hindu priest called Nirartha. It has two courtyards like all the Hindu temples and a single tower, which is the most sacred place. In the base of the rock, there is a fountain with fresh water, which provides holy water for all the nearby temples.

According to the legend Nirartha was a traveling priest who decided to rest for a while in the West coast of Bali as he found the shore really beautiful. He started to teach Hindu tenets to villagers, which made their chief angry so he wanted to expel Nirartha from his land. Nirartha used his power to shift a rock, which he used to meditate upon to the sea. He built a shrine on top of it to worship the sea gods. He turned his sashes into venomous sea snakes to protect his shrine from intruders. There are sculptures of sea snakes on the entrance as well, which are said to harm only the ones who will harm the shrine. There is also a legend that if you touch the sea snakes while praying, your prayer will come true. So the temple has a high importance in Balinese mythology. There are still several traditional Hindu ceremonies and religious events held there every year.

Visitors can only reach the island when the tide is low otherwise it is dangerous because of the high waves. The erosion destroyed the rocks so much that in 1980 they had to replace the original with artificial rocks. Today there are thousands of tourists and pilgrims there and the place is highly commercialized.

The other piece I wanted to include in my presentation is the installation called Antiroom II, created by Elena Chiavi, Ahmed El Mad, and Matteo Goldoni. It was made by architectural students for an architect workshop in 2015 and it can be found near the shores in Malta. This is a floating island as well and it can be reached only by swimming or on a boat. It is an isolated space in the sea with its never-ending circle and the inner pool. The designers said that ‘It is an eternal circular temple; it aims to go beyond the concept of time. One can enter its core and express his unity with the sky and the cosmos.’

I chose the Tanah Lot Temple for my presentation as I have always found Bali a fascinating and exotic place with its beautiful landscapes and its traditional architecture. This temple is particularly captivating as sea temples are rare and it has an interesting story as well and I thought it is worth to show it to everyone. I decided to include the Antiroom in my presentation as I loved how its concept connects to this topic. It is a modern version of a sea temple, its construction is beautiful, and it has the same aim, to experience something, which you can’t experience when you are not isolated from the everyday life. Bedő Anikó