Al Farrow’s gun part sculptures
|Al Farrow just did a show with me at the Martin Irvine Gallery in Washington DC. He builds religious reliquaries and mosques out of gun parts: AK47s and Uzis, in particular. They’re really beautiful. It sounds gimmicky but it’s actually extraordinary. The newer stuff that he’s doing is extremely time-consuming. His work is very meticulous, and the beauty of the craft is a striking contrast to how instantly and senselessly life can be taken.
Tagged: sculptures, weapons
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The anti-war stance and bleak outlook on the human condition isn’t exactly subtle in Al Farrow‘s sculptures, but if you’re going to be blunt about a statement, you might as well say it with flare and conviction, which is exactly what he does with his awesome body of work, particularly his Reliquaries series in which he builds churches, mosques, temples, and religious relics out of bullets and guns. Read more
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The futuristic retro sounds of DJ Z-Trip
This guy is my favorite DJ. He’s the inventor of the mash-up, but his skills go way beyond that. I love to DJ, but when i do, I play a lot of classics. I don’t stick to new stuff because I’m not trying to pull out the top forty banger for the club. That’s what I like about the way Z-Trip plays. He actually inspired me to start DJ-ing in the first place. He mixes hip-hop with classic rock, eighties, and all sorts of weird stuff you wouldn’t think would go together. He’ll have people dancing to Deep Purple, for instance, who would never usually listen to a Deep Purple record. It’s a real skill to be able to entertain and educate at the same time. That’s what I try and do with my art, and that’s what I enjoy about DJ Z-Trip: that ability to slip the cool, lesser known songs in there, which works because of the inertia of the stuff people do know. He understands how to navigate that balance.
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I bought three pieces of Spanish artist Roberto Mollá’s work at the recent Art Basel show in Miami, which we both exhibited at. He works on off-white graph paper, which immediately sets up this very firm grid, and then he paints these very graphic black and white patterns into certain areas of the composition. He also does larger things, like circles and teardrops of red paint, around which he works these incredibly meticulous pencil drawings in various styles. If a graffiti artist was also an impeccable illustrator, this is what the work would look like. It’s all based on a foundation of anatomy, but it’s drawing upon the style of traditional Japanese artwork at the same time. So in one of his pieces, for instance, there is a woman riding on a Koi fish with a screen design of trees behind her. The tension between all these elements is fascinating. At a glance they are graphically powerful, but then they also have this meticulous subtlety which is just beautiful. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (3)
Pia said | 27 January, 2009
Finally! Guns being used for something useful, blowing minds instead of brains.
TheAnnotatist said | 16 January, 2012
I think the whole thing is gimmicky and misperceived. I think the works are aesthetically wonderful, but the subject-matter gives no credence to the artist’s knowledge of the subject what-so-all. If anything, mosques are places of non-violence and tranquillity. He may as well recreate a Buddhist Monastery too. Maybe Al Farrow should recreate White House out of bullets and guns.
HAVE YOUR SAY
This pack contains two pillowcases — ‘yours’ and ‘mine’. So you no longer have to fight over the pillow. Just pick one and sleep tight.
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The Arquebus Clothing Brand, based in Brooklyn, is dedicated to designs that are self-expressive and meaningful through imagery or typography. They are bold, positive, inspirational, motivational, witty, philosophical and very wearable. We love these pieces inspired by nature, history, and everyday living. Some favorites can be found in the Lost At E Minor store.
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Megan said | 23 January, 2009
Nice write-up. I saw that third piece at the de young in SF and was pretty blown away.