Here’s the statement related to this piece of art:

At a distance of 18,000 km from the earth the elephant Würsa would be able to balance on her trunk. It is on the basis of learned scientific calculations that Daniel Firman reached this conclusion and came to produce this extraordinary work which confounds all our certainties regarding the gravitation of bodies.

This hyper-realist sculpture calling on the skills of a taxidermist conjures up ideas of both lightness and of heaviness, so enabling the artist to offer a novel and spectacular physical and psychological experience.

Exploring the huge territory of sculpture, Daniel Firman presents anonymous characters and elements from everyday life in situation that seem to be in precarious equilibrium. For more than a decade he has been developing a unique formal language and is particularly interested in the question of bodies: Würsa à 18,000 km de la Terre, a novel creation made specially for the Palais de Tokyo is the new expression. (Source).

Same sculpture, but on the artist’s official website. Daniel Firman is a French artist born inn Bron (France) in 1966. He currently works and lives in Paris.

Artist’s statement:

In my work this romantic ideal of union with the natural world conflicts with our contemporary impact on the environment. These pieces are in part responses to environmental stressors including climate change, toxic pollution, and gm crops. They also borrow from myth, art history, figures of speech and other cultural touchstones. In some pieces aspects of the human figure stand-in for ourselves and act out sometimes harrowing, sometimes humorous transformations which illustrate our current relationship with the natural world. In others, animals take on anthropomorphic qualities when they are given safety equipment to attempt to protect them from man-made environmental threats. In each case the union between man and nature is shown to be one of friction and discomfort with the disturbing implication that we too are vulnerable to being victimized by our destructive practices. (read on)

First spotted via Who Killed Bambi.

“The Callipygian Venus or Venus Kallipygos, (Greek: Ἀφροδίτη Καλλίπυγος Aphrodite Kallipygos, “Aphrodite of the Beautiful Buttocks”), is a type of nude female statue of the Hellenistic era. In an example of anasyrma, it depicts a partially-draped woman, raising her light peplos to uncover her hips and buttocks, and looking back and down over her shoulder, perhaps to evaluate them.” (read more)

“Emmanuel Frémiet (December 6, 1824 – 10 September 1910) was a French sculptor. […] In the meanwhile he had exhibited his masterly “Gorilla Carrying off a Woman” which won him a medal of honour at the Salon of 1887. Although praised in its time, this work now evokes ridicule from some observers for its depiction of a gorilla abducting a nude woman, presumably with the intention of raping her - something not totally alien to actual gorilla behaviour, but orangutans, especially, have been recorded attempting to abduct female humans. Accordingly, this act has caught the public’s imagination, as witnessed by the repeated popularity of the King Kong theme.” (Wikipedia)

Summary: “Poster promoting library use, showing a man in a pose based on Rodin’s “Thinker.”

Great serigraphy posters by the WPA. More available HERE.

Previously on Skandalon

“The cheetah measures 24” high (61cm) and 50” nose to tail (127cm) and weighs about 40 lbs. She took about 60 hours, spaced over 10 weeks time to build. She’s constructed out of the usual electrical conduit, transmission parts, and 20 gauge steel.” See Andrew Chase official website.

Source: Album de la construction de la Statue de la Liberte. (more info). Repository: The New York Public Library. Photography Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. See more information about this image and others at NYPL Digital Gallery.

“Dustin Yellin (born Los Angeles, July 22, 1975) is a contemporary artist living in New York. His artworks are based on a unique process of painting 3d forms in resin. Common subjects in his artworks are biological imagery. While historic artists like Leopold Blaschka and Ernst Haeckel have used their techniques to represent real biological forms, Dustin Yellin’s artworks exist as permutations of natural life and form. His paintings use a method to represent 3d forms that is reminiscent of both lenticular images and rapid prototyping. The technique approximates a static volumetric display and is autostereoscopic as his artworks appear three dimensional without the use of special glasses or viewing equipment.” (Wikipedia)

“The Glue Society is a creative collective based in Sydney and New York comprising writers, designers, art directors and film directors. Established in 1998 by Gary Freedman and Jonathan Kneebone, The Glue Society’s work encompasses everything from broadcast entertainment, commercials, print advertising, graphic design and books to art exhibition, live events, installations and sculpture.”

Read more about “Pigeon” at Creativity Online