Modern Art? More please!

Anyone who knows me, knows I am far from artistic. I tried my hand a few times on DeviantArt, but they were piss-poor. I have never been very good at viewing the prettier side of life and so, much artwork is wasted on me.

I once visited the Modern Art museum in London with my girlfriend, only to view much of it as a joke. For instance, one "exhibit" was just a television, playing a looping clip of some french guy, dressed as a jester, jumping around and stomping his feet, having a tantrum. Maybe if I was stoned, that may have made sense, but I wasn't... So it didn't.

Recently, however, I have been coming across modern artwork on the internet that has not ony impressed me, but interested me also! The two main types I shall point out today, for anyone who hasn't witnessed them yet, are Smoke Art and Reverse Graffiti.


Smoke Art, is pretty much as you'd imagine. People use smoke to create art. I guess a lot of it is purely luck, trial-and-error, as to whether you create something visually appealing however artists can mould the shapes somewhat as well as specify the colour of the smoke by burning certain fuels. In addition to choosing the right setting/background, some interesting visuals can be achieved.









These three examples above are purely experimental art. The artist creates smoke and lets nature takes it's course, documenting the whole process to pick out the best images. The smoke can obviously be manipulated by moving the source and blowing air around the enviroment. The lighting also has a huge effect on the image.



The image above is enhanced by the intense colours. These are created solely by changing the fuel. In this instance, by burning incense sticks.



Finally in the above image, Smoke Art is enhanced further via digital manipulation. Some argue that this detracts from the artistic value, however for the right purpose, you can see how stunning the image can be. This technique is mainly used in advertising. You may have seen an anti-smoking campaign that features a burning cigerette with the smoke rising up into the shape of a skull.



Reverse Graffiti is probably my favourite "modern art" of all. I am sure you have all seen this before, in the form of someone writing "Clean Me" on a dirt-ridden car? Well a few artists have taken this concept 8 steps further. Simply put, Reverse Graffiti is the process of creating art by removing dirt, dust or grime from the environment.



The above piece of work is by an artist going by the nickname "Moose - aka Paul Curtis". If you live in or around London, you may be lucky enough to see some of his work, that's if the weather doesn't beat you to it.





The above images are from a tunnel in Sao Paulo, Brazil by an artist named Alexandre Orion. There is a video somewhere on Youtube documenting this entire piece.



Now, here is an example as to why these guys take the "Clean Me" concept 8 steps further. An artist named Scott Wade was responsible for this artwork. Apparently, it is his car... And his daughter.